Ed Halteman: Creating a Useful Survey

We’re happy to welcome survey expert Ed Halteman to the SurveyGizmo family. Ed took his first course on survey design in 1978 and has designed and analyzed more than 250 surveys in the past 10 years. Ed, who has a master’s degree in applied mathematics and a Ph.D. in statistics, currently heads Survey Design and Analysis (SurveyDNA.com), a company he founded in January 2003. Here’s the first of many blog postings, articles and other forms of valuable insight Ed will be sharing with SurveyGizmo users.- Heidi

Who needs to do a Survey? I already have enough reports on my shelf!

Simply put, the ONLY person (or company) who might need to do a survey is someone who has a decision to make — a decision that will drive action. Even then, needing to make a decision is necessary, but it isn’t sufficient for creating a useful survey.

If you’ve done surveys, how many times have you said any of the following when the results came back?

• “Now I know what I should have asked” or
• “I don’t know if I believe these answers. Let me see who answered this way” or
• “Wow this is great information! I’m going to show it to so-and-so and see what they think”or
• “There is a lot of information here. I’m going to set aside some time to go over the survey report next week.”

These are the warning signs. The survey report is headed for the shelf!

How do you avoid ending up with another survey report on the shelf and no usable information? There are no guarantees, but you can improve your chances greatly by asking yourself if you need to do a survey and pinpointing which specific decisions you are trying to make. Then, go one step further and ask yourself how each survey question will be used to help you make those decisions.

Remember, focus pays off for surveys, just as it does in so many other areas. Stick to what you need. As we say in the business, “nice-to-know” doesn’t count. With the right approach, the survey itself won’t be your main focus — making decisions and taking action will be!

Do yourself and your respondents a favor. Save a survey for when you have a decision to make!

Dr. Ed, “A SurveyGizmo Survey Expert”

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