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Reader Surveys

Chris Lowrance, 2/27/2006, 1:45:21 PM

My editorial staff is trying to put together a reader survey. The only problem is, we can seem to find any kind of "starting point" for our questions.

Has anyone conducted a successful survey they would be willing to share the structure of? Perhaps there is some kind of "model survey" I haven't found? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris Lowrance
Executive Editor
The Carolinian
UNC Greensboro

Responses

Cynthia Horen, Adviser, TCC Times, 3/9/2006, 2:43:29 PM
You might think about your survey in terms of problem/solution. That is, what do you want to know and why do you want to know it?

Start by explaining to the readers why you are conducting the survey--why you are asking the questions.

That should guide how you order your questions (from the broadest to the most specific seems to work well; at various points, folks may reasonably "drop out" of further answers if the questions don't apply to them).

Try to avoid open-ended questions (harder to sort/count). If you use a most-to-least kind of scale, make it even-itemed (2 or 4 choices of answers) to force folks away from a neutral, often meaningless, response.

Marc Wood, 3/13/2006, 2:22:57 PM
Someone's posting to this thread on Sunday was erased by a power outage at our office early Monday morning. If you posted it, please repost it. Thanks!

Chris Lowrance, 3/13/2006, 11:08:31 PM
Oops, Mark, must have been me. I was just thanking Cynthia for her advice.

km, 4/4/2006, 4:00:27 PM
Let me suggest an electronic survey tool such as surveymonkey.com or zoomerang.com. These both have free versions, but also have education versions for about $300 per year and are well worth it. No more counting our surveys and you can easily disaggregate the data, for example if you just want to see how the females answered or the freshmen vs. the seniors. They have instant graphs too and sample surveys with questions.

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