Surveys

Surveys are a quantitative research method used to gather information from a particular group of people about their preferences and experiences.  Surveys contain a set of questions that respondents can fill out online, through the mail, or in person. This information helps researchers understand how people think about a particular topic, and can provide more backing to your qualitative research findings.

Steps

  • Establish the aim of your research. If you have too broad of a topic you might ask too many questions. If your aim is too narrow you might miss valuable information.

  • Determine your demographic. Choose a group of participants that will provide quality and accurate responses to your questions.

  • Figure out how many responses you need to get strong data that you can confidently analyze.

  • Write your survey questions

  • Distribute your questions through the appropriate channel(s) for your demographic. ie. online, mail, in-person.

Tips

  •  Contact BC Stats to conduct a survey for your service

  • Keep in mind that what people say may not be how they behave or what they need.

  • Use survey data to back up findings from qualitative research.