LESSON 11 WHAT IS A SURVEY REPORT?

Target:
At the end of the lesson, EXPLORE
you will be able to:

• Determine the objectives Think-Pair-Share: With your partner, conduct an informal survey to find
and structures of survey
reports
answers to the following questions:
• Design, test and revise
survey questionnaires 1. How long have you been an Internet user?
• Gather information for 2. How many hours per week do you spend using the Internet?
surveys 3. Where do you often access the Internet?
• Conduct surveys
• Disseminate written forms
4. What is your primary reason for using the Internet?
of information from
surveys
• Write a well-written Guide questions:
survey report for various
disciplines 1. Is the survey the most appropriate method for the question-and-
answer activity above?
2. Of the four questions, were there sub-questions that you wanted to
raise, but were not appropriate to the structure of the survey?

Because survey reports are based on research, they provide useful information to
stakeholders and ordinary readers.

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 EXAMINE

Refer to the following table and decide if the commentary sufficiently

explains the table.

Table 1
Demographic profile of the sample

Frequency %
Age
16-17 172 34.4
18-19 203 40.6
20-21 106 21.2
Over 21 19 3.8
Gender
Female 478 95.6
Male 22 4
Year Level
1st year 137 27.4
2nd year 77 15.4
3rd year 103 20.6
4th year 183 36.6
College
CAS 192 38.4
CBEA 224 44.8
CIHDS 25 5.0
CED 59 11.8
500 100

In Table 1, the age range of the respondents was from 16 to 21 years old
and above. Majority of the respondents were 4th year students (36.6%),
female (95.6%) and at the time of the study were enrolled in courses
under CBEA (44.8%).

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What is more difficult: analyzing
the survey findings or gathering
them?
Aside from the stakeholders and
various academicians, who are
the other readers of a survey
report? Do these various readers
have a different perspective
on and appreciation for survey
reports?
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Survey Report Defined
A survey report is a type of academic writing that uses research to provide
information about a topic. It involves questions that are formulated
based on the research objective, to be answered by respondents and
later analyzed using appropriate data analysis methods. Survey reports
involve report writing which is a very important element of the survey
research process.
To be able to disseminate the information from the survey, you need to
have good writing skills. Without good writing skills, the survey report
is at risk of being misrepresented or not explained well. When this
happens, the objective of the survey is not achieved, for it is the aim of
survey reports to present the survey data in a manner that is engaging
and understandable to various readers.
Survey Questionnaires
Survey questionnaires are the basic tool of survey reports. They are the
forms containing the questions that the researcher will ask during the
survey. Just as the objectives of survey reports vary, so do the types of
questionnaires that you need to formulate.
The kind of questionnaire you will use depends on your research
objective. Questionnaires may range from the most basic—the yes or no
type, which requires respondents to tick off appropriate boxes containing
the given responses—to the more complex: close-ended, which requires
respondents to choose from among given options; and open-ended,
which requires respondents to provide answers to thought-provoking
questions.
While survey questionnaires have often used the pen and
paper as main instruments in conducting a survey in the
past, the advent of the Internet has made it possible
to resort to using web-based questionnaires, which
is actually more convenient as it requires less
time and resources in gathering data.
Another way of conducting a survey is through
interviews. While it requires basically the
same types of structured questions as
the questionnaire, the face-to-face
interaction between the researcher
It is important and respondents in an interview
to have a well- gives more opportunity for in-
designed questionnaire depth discussion of open-
that asks the right ended questions, thus allowing
questions to be able better understanding of the
to measure the opinions, respondent’s answers.
beliefs, and experiences
of your respondents.
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Parts of a Survey Report
Just like other forms of academic writing, the survey report contains
these basic parts: introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction

This part of the survey report contains the information regarding the
writer/researcher’s purpose for conducting the survey and the time and
manner of gathering the data. The introduction should answer why the
survey was conducted; who were involved in the study; who conducted
the survey; when it was carried out; and how it was carried out. All of this
information is summed up in the introductory statement. For example:

In the summer of academic year 2017-2018, 899 respondents were involved

in the survey using a questionnaire to determine their academic consultation
habits and practices, as well as their insights about the current academic
consultation practice at MC University.

Here are some typical phrases and expressions found in the introduction
of most survey reports:

The purpose this survey report is to identify the causes of

depression among selected senior high school students.

It is the aim of the survey report to...

This survey report hopes to...

This survey was carried out to identify the reasons why

incidents of juvenile delinquency are high among selected senior
high school students.

This survey was conducted by means of the questionnaire to

find answers to this question: what are the most popular apps used
by millennials?

Main Body

The body of the survey report contains all the information collected
during the survey research process which has been tabulated, analyzed,
and explained.

When you write survey reports, you are required to classify your data to
make sense of them. For instance, you need to classify and divide your
respondents in terms of their demographics. In the Explore section of
this lesson, you were asked to conduct a mini-survey to determine the
Internet use of your classmates. In analyzing the data, you might wish
to classify and divide them according to age, gender and academic track.
If your questionnaire includes information about the respondents’
hobbies or interests, you might wish to trace the correlation between
their frequency of Internet use and their interests or hobbies. When

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 you include this information, use subheadings and separate tables to
explain each set of findings. Well-formatted tables help in presenting
your findings more efficiently and clearly. Graphs are also very useful
in simplifying and effectively communicating statistical information in
pictorial form.

Some typical phrases and

expressions found in the main
body of survey reports include:

On the whole, this survey

involves 60% of the entire
senior high school graduating
class.

In practice, researchers
have sought to determine
if a correlation exists between
two variables—in this case
between the respondents’
Tables and graphs that are properly formatted and labeled can enhance hobbies and Internet use.
the reader’s understanding and interpretation of the data being presented.

Conclusion

The concluding part of the survey report is where all the collected
information is summed up and further analyzed and discussed. In
addition, a recommendation may be added to enhance the worth of the
survey report and to address the implications cited in the survey report.

Here are some typical phrases that you may use in your conclusion:

To sum up, this survey shows that it’s not only genetic
predisposition that causes millennials to be vulnerable to
depression.

It is clear that juvenile delinquency is on the rise, and will

continue to rise with the advent of modernization and all its
attendant ills.

If any conclusion may be drawn from the data, it is to point

to the fundamental role of parents in the rearing of their children.

The survey indicates that Internet use among millennials will

continue both in frequency and intensity in the coming years.

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For a clearer example, read the following survey report:

Survey of Internet Use among Selected Senior High School Students

A team of English faculty from MC University conducted a survey among

selected Senior High School students during the special term of academic
year 2017-2018. The aim of the survey was to determine aspects pertaining to
their Internet use.

The questionnaire was used to conduct the survey which consisted of two parts:
the first part consisted of questions about the respondents’ demographics
including age, gender, academic track; the second part consisted of questions
about the number of years spent as Internet user; reasons for using the
Internet, preferred location for Internet use; web browser, type of Internet
connection, and apps that they frequently use.

The survey yielded the followed results: one-third of all respondents, or

33.3% used the Internet less than 9 hours per week, while two-thirds, or 67%
used it more than 9 hours per week. The survey also revealed that while one-
third of the respondents or 33.3% still use dial up, broadband is the typical
connectivity mode. The survey also revealed that Internet usage was male-
dominated, with 61% of the male respondents using it more frequently than
the female students, who registered a 39% Internet usage.

If any conclusions may be drawn from the data, they are as follows: The
use of the Internet will continue to be strong among these groups even
after senior high school as broadband and Internet connectivity improve. It
is safe to presume that the heavy usage from the STEM and HUMSS tracks
also correlates with their Research subject; users with two years of research
courses were on the Internet more frequently than their other counterparts.

Guidelines for Writing Survey Reports

1. Always use the present tense.

Example: This survey indicates that no disparity exists between males and
females regarding Internet use.

2. Use reported speech, not direct quotation.

Acceptable: The respondents claim that their frequency of Internet use is

due to its popularity and entertainment value.

Unacceptable: According to respondents: “We use the Internet because it

is popular and provides entertainment.”

3. The formal, straightforward and impersonal style is preferred.

Acceptable: Nothing in the data suggests that this trend will be reversed in
the future.

Unacceptable: I have seen nothing in the survey to suggest that they will
be able to reverse this trend in the short to medium term.

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 4. Use reporting verbs such as claim, argue, cite, state, report, agree,
INTEGRATE complain, suggest, points out, opine.

Example: This survey suggests that a correlation exists between frequency

How might surveys be useful
of cellphone use and incidents of clinical depression among selected senior
even in everyday circumstances?
Do you think surveys might be high school students.
useful in finding answers to even
the most trivial concerns? 5. Make your survey report more exact by using percentages and
proportions.

Example: 75% or 375 of the 500 respondents were surveyed; of the 9,545
senior high school students, only 75% or 7,159 of the total population were
involved in this survey.

These exact quantifiers are more concise than the following vague
expressions: a majority of the respondents; a large number of
people; a significant proportion of those involved in the survey.
Avoid using these phrases as they do not contribute to the clarity
and accuracy of your survey report.

Political
Source Crime Education Corruption Unity Economy Transport Energy
Stability
Public Perception
Survey
(Sept ‘08)
Media Analysis
(May ‘09)
Merdeka Polls
(June ‘09)
Cabinet Polls
(July ‘09)
Image by Pemanducomm is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons / Desaturated from original

Businesses, organizations, and politics—all have relied on the power of surveys to indicate accurate
and incontestable results.

CHECK

A. Refer to the mini-survey in the Explore section of this lesson and write a
short analysis reflecting the results.

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