TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY.

1. Identify your research goals and objectives

By defining your objectives, you can answer questions such, "What sort of information
am I collecting?" Is it broad or specific? Is it intended for a specific or broad audience?
The major purpose of your study will be to define the answers to these questions. They
describe why you are undertaking the survey research and what you want to
accomplish with it. An aim is a defined action that aids in the achievement of research
goals. Typically, there are numerous targets for each aim.

The results of a survey are only useful if you know how to utilize them correctly. Once
you've identified your goals, you'll have a clearer understanding of what you want to
learn and it will be easier to develop questions.

2. Defining the population and sample

The key to properly establishing this group is to focus on a select section that can
supply you with reliable and impartial data.

This group might be wide or specialized depending on your objectives and the type of
information you are looking for. It is rarely practical to survey the whole population
that is being investigated, therefore a sample population is surveyed instead. This
group should reflect the whole subject population; its size is determined by a variety of
criteria, the most important of which is the size of the subject population. As a result,
the larger and more representative the sample, the more reliable the poll.

3.Decide the type of survey method that will be used

You need to precisely determine what mode of collecting data you will be using. The
ways of conducting a survey may depend on sample size, location, types of questions,
and costs of conducting it.
in person surveys, online and mail surveys

4. Design the questions

Choose between closed-ended and open-ended questions when writing inquiries.
Closed-ended questions feature predetermined answer alternatives, but open-ended
questions allow respondents to build their own response.

To ensure the reliability of your survey research results, each question in the survey
should be properly crafted. They should be directly relevant to the aim of the survey
and contain enough information to be answered correctly.
6. Analyze the collected data

As there are various methods of conducting a survey, there are also different methods
of collected. After you have processed the data and sorted the responses (usually with
the help of a computer program), you should clean the data by removing incomplete or
inaccurate responses.

Depending on the type of questions utilized, there are different data analysis methods.
For example, open-ended questions require a bucketing approach in which labels are
added to each response and are grouped into categories.

Closed-ended questions need statistical analysis. For interviews, you can use the
qualitative method like thematic analysis and for the Likert scale, questions use
analysis tools (mean, median, and mode).

7. Create a report based on your survey

The last of the 7 steps in conducting survey research is creating a report. Analyzed
data should be translated into units of information that directly correspond to the
aims and goals you identified before creating the survey.

Depending on the formality of the report, you need to include different kinds of
information:

Your initial aims and goals

Methods of creation and distribution

How the target audience or sample was selected

Methods of analysis

The results of your survey

Problems encountered and whether they influenced results

Conclusion and recommendations

OBSERVATIONS

Direct (Reactive) Observation

In direct observations, people know that you are watching them. The only danger is
that they are reacting to you. As stated earlier, there is a concern that individuals will
change their actions rather than showing you what they're REALLY like.

Continuos monitoring (CM) involves observing a subject or subjects and recording

(either manually, electronically, or both) as much of their behavior as possible.
Continuos Monitoring is often used in organizational settings, such as evaluating
performance. Yet this may be problematic due to the Hawthorne Effect. The
Hawthorne Effect states that workers react to the attention they are getting from the
researchers and in turn, productivity increases. Observers should be aware of this
reaction.

Time Allocation (TA) involves a researcher randomly selecting a place and time and
then recording what people are doing when they are first seen and before they see you.

Unobtrusive measures

involves any method for studying behavior where individuals do NOT know they are
being observed
The main problem with unobtrusive measures, however, is ethical. Issues involving
informed consent and invasion of privacy are paramount here. An institutional review
board may frown upon your study if it is not really necessary for you not to inform
your subjects.