FEATURES AND STRUCTURE OF

SURVEYS
 1. How can information be
ESSENTIAL gathered using a survey?
QUESTIONS 2. How can surveys be
distributed?
 WHAT IS A SURVEY?

● It is a method of data collection where the

researcher provides people with a
questionnaire and the respondents’ answers
give data to the researcher towards
answering a research question.
WHAT IS A SURVEY?

● The purpose of a survey is to gather

information from a large number of people
in a set amount of time.
● You must make sure that your questionnaire
can bring out the data you need from your
respondents.
WHAT IS A SURVEY?

● You should develop a set of objectives for

your research and a list of your target
information.
● This list of objectives and research goals will
serve as your plan for the survey
questionnaire.
WHAT IS A SURVEY?

● A survey can be given in different ways:

postal survey, telephone interviews, face-to-
face interviews, and internet surveys.
● Each type of survey requires a slightly
different design, although they all tend to
use the same types of questions.
WHAT IS A SURVEY?

● A self-administered questionnaire should

have clear instructions and questions, follow
a logical order, and avoid complex filtering.
● In an interviewer-administered
questionnaire, the questions can be more
complex as the interviewers can clarify them.
 STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE
QUESTIONS

● Structured questions offer the respondent a

closed set of responses to choose from.
● Data gathering and analysis through
structured questions are much simpler and
take less time to answer.
STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Structured questions are best used in the

following situations:
● When you already have a deep
understanding of the responses.
● When you don’t have to capture new ideas or
thoughts from the respondent.
STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Example 1
How much time do you spend on homework in a
day?

[ ] One hour or less

[ ] Two to three hours
[ ] Four to five hours
[ ] More than five hours
STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Rating and Ranking Questions

● Sometimes, you will be more interested in
getting a person's opinion on a subject.
● To capture varying degrees of emotion or
satisfaction on a subject, it is best to use
either a rating or a ranking question.
STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

● A rating question asks respondents to

explain the degree in which they feel about a
certain topic.
● A ranking question asks respondents to
explain how they feel about something by
comparing it to other items in a list.
STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Example 2

Please describe how you felt about the most recent school
field trip:

[ ] 1: Unsatisfied
[ ] 2: Somewhat satisfied
[ ] 3: Satisfied
[ ] 4: Very satisfied
[ ] 5: Extremely satisfied
STRUCTURED OR FIXED RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Example 3
Example of a ranking question:
Please rank the following school activities in order of
preference, with 1 being your most favorite event and 4
being your least favorite:

[ ] Field Trip
[ ] Pep Rally
[ ] Intramurals
[ ] School Dance
A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE DOESN’T HAVE TO HAVE
ONLY ONE TYPE OF QUESTION. FEEL FREE TO ADD
AS MANY OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES AS NECESSARY,
INCLUDING THE NON-STRUCTURED QUESTIONS
WE’RE ABOUT TO COVER.
 NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS
● Non-structured or open-ended questions are
items where there is no list of choices to answer.
● Respondents are simply asked to write their own
response to a question.
● Non-structured questions are ideally used when
you are exploring new ideas and are not really
sure what to expect from the respondents.
NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

Example 1
What did you like best about the school fair that
was held last week?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

Example 2
Which part of the school fair did you enjoy the
most and why?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

A partially structured question can also be

formatted in a way that there are set
responses but the respondents are expected
to explain their choice.
NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

Partially Structured Questions

In some situations, you may have a partial list
of answer choices, but you may still have some
doubt or uncertainty about other possible
responses and are open to new ones.
NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

Example 3
Why did you decide to sign up for a school fair
committee?

[ ] I wanted to be involved in preparing for the fair.

[ ] I was asked by my teacher to sign up.
[ ] I signed up with my friends.
[ ] I thought it would be a learning experience.
[ ] Other: _____________________________________
NON-STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

● Note that it is partially structured because it

is an open-ended question that has some set
answers.
● These act more as suggestions or
hypotheses, and that the “other” option is
provided in case the respondent has a more
specific answer to the question.
REMEMBER THAT IDEALLY, YOU
SHOULD HAVE ALREADY SET
OBJECTIVES FOR YOUR SURVEY AND
ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE
LOOKING FOR. SINCE NON-
STRUCTURED OR OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS ARE FOR EXPLORING
NEW IDEAS, IT IS BEST NOT TO USE
TOO MANY OF THESE IN YOUR
QUESTIONNAIRE.
1. Go back to your group's survey questions
from the Explore section.
2. Revise your questions to strictly follow two
differently-structured formats.
 QUESTIONS

1. What is a self-administered survey?

2. What is a partially structured question?
QUESTION

What advantage could using a partially

structured question have over using a non-
structured question?
A survey is a method of data
collection where researchers gather
information through answers from
respondents.

The purpose of a survey is to gather

information from a large number of
people in a set amount of time.
There are two types of questions
that can be used to collect
information from respondents:
structured and non-structured.