Surveys provide quick and inexpensive ways of obtaining information. A questionnaire or checklist can be sent to a large number of people via regular mail or e-mail. Surveys can also be conducted over the telephone. Before designing your survey, carefully examine samples that relate to your topic. To legitimize the survey, state its purpose and any sponsors. Create bias-free survey questions that progress from easy, non-threatening questions to more difficult, open-ended questions that require written comments. Avoid technical terms and words with double meanings. If you allow the recipients to respond anonymously, you may receive more honest feedback. Although many recipients may choose to ignore the survey, those who respond will provide the necessary data for your research study or project.
When you conduct individual or group interviews, you can probe deeper than you can in a survey. As you develop a relationship with the respondents, you can ask more questions and respond to any of their concerns. Before starting an interview, prepare a script with standardized questions that specifically address the issue or topic. Use common, everyday language and take note of the respondents' facial expressions and body language throughout the interview. When asking open-ended questions, decide whether you wish to suggest answers or solicit a wider range of possibilities. Although this process can be more costly and time-consuming than a survey, you will get in-depth information from the respondents.
Use focus groups to gather opinions and encourage discussion about a specific issue or project. Start by selecting a group of six to ten individuals to participate in a one to two hour discussion. Determine the topics of discussion and create questions that are logical and easy to understand. If you are the moderator of the focus group, introduce the purpose of the session and the ground rules for discussion. Create a warm, inviting environment that nurtures different points of view and encourage participants to respond to all comments. Do not pressure any of the participants to develop a consensus or make decisions about different courses of action. Appoint an assistant moderator to record and observe all group interactions. At the end of the session, he presents a brief synopsis of the discussion for reaction and feedback by the participants. Although this data collection tool may be the most costly and time-consuming to implement, a good moderator can elicit considerable depth and understanding of the issues or concerns.