Survey Tips and Resources

Transcription

1 Survey Tips and Resources A. Getting Feedback from Young Children...18 B. Measuring Youth Developmental Assets (Soft Skills)...19 C. Improving Response Rates...20 D. Parental Consent...21 E. Online Surveys

2 A. Getting Feedback from Young Children Verbal memory, comprehension and reasoning skills are generally limited in children between the ages of 2-6. They do not differentiate easily between what is said and what is meant. Therefore standard quantitative questionnaire techniques often pose substantial problems for the age group. Less structured methods (qualitative) such as interviewing, focus groups and observation are often more appropriate. 3 When gathering quantitative data from young participants it is important to remember that more specific design issues apply to young children vs. adults or adolescents. To successfully survey young children consider the following design points: Always keep in mind the age of the respondents and use language appropriate for their age. Questions should be clear, well-defined, unambiguous and relevant to the child s experience. Avoid complex questions. Response choices should be simple and should not contain too many options. Use a variety of methods to present the information. The way children are asked questions in surveys has an impact on the reliability of responses. According to Breakwell, et al., a strong bias exits in children as they tend to say yes irrespective of the question or what they think about it. 4 Consider using pictures scales like the one below to get responses from children. As noted, qualitative methods are often more appropriate for evaluating young children. Small group discussions can be particularly useful with children ages 2-6 as long as evaluators work to ensure that children will not feel intimidated by having others present. These groups can often provide a friendly, comfortable environment for young children

3 B. Measuring Youth Developmental Assets (Soft Skills) Many summer programs focus on developing competencies and assets like communication skills, conflict resolution skills, leadership, self-confidence what are sometimes called soft skills. These are typically much more difficult to measure than academic learning. As a starting point, programs may want to ask the different stakeholders (e.g., students, parents and staff) to rate how these skills have changed over the course of your program. It is important to first identify what skills / competencies your program is targeting, and second, to define these in easy-to-understand terms. Wherever possible, ask about specific behaviors. How do you know if a child has improved his/her leadership skills? What behaviors would you observe? Who can report on these observed behaviors? See Section 3 for tips for writing questions and Section 9 for sample surveys. Organizations like the Search Institute have studied these development assets and developed surveys for measuring them. National and state surveys, like the Youth Risk Behavior Survey also will include questions focused on assets (in addition to asking youth about negative behaviors like drug use). Links to these organizations are included in Section 8. Note that the Search Institute instruments need to be purchased. You can also develop questions that are specific to your program and what skills you hope to develop in program participants. 19

4 C. Improving Response Rates Include information about the survey in your application materials. Let parents know that they are expected to complete a survey as part of the program (along with other expectations). Survey respondents during your program. If there is a day or time when parents are at your program, use some of that time for parents to complete a survey. Integrate surveys into your program activities. Schedule your survey as part of the program, not as an add-on after the day or activity has ended. Emphasize the importance of the survey. Tell parents how you have used survey results in the past, and how their feedback will help to sustain and improve the program. Keep it short, ask interesting questions. Make it look professional. Provide multiple opportunities for respondents to complete the survey. If you are mailing a survey, send a reminder post card and a third reminder with another copy of the survey to improve your response rate. Offer incentives. If you are mailing the survey, include an addressed, stamped envelope for parents to mail back the survey. If you have difficulty getting parents to complete the survey at an event, use a prize drawing as an incentive (e.g., parents get a raffle ticket when they hand in the survey). 20

5 D. Parental Consent Most summer programs require parents to sign a consent form for participation in program activities. These forms can also include consent for programs to conduct child/youth surveys, with information on how the surveys will be used. For example, most programs can state that surveys will be confidential, and that responses from individual children will not be reported. When possible, include a consent form as part of your application packet, so you receive parental consent before the start of your program. Below is a sample developed by evaluator Anita Baker as part of her evaluation of a New York summer learning initiative. PARENTAL CONSENT For Youth Involvement in the Study of the Summer Learning Initiative I give consent for any photographs of my child to be taken by XXX, which will be used to illustrate and advance its work on behalf of children and summer education. In addition, I give consent for my child to participate in an electronic assessment test and to respond to a camp satisfaction survey if asked, and I grant permission for this camp to release limited background information about my child for the sole purpose of reporting about overall camp enrollment. This information will be used to measure and make assessments of this program. Child s Name: (please print) Date: I have read the above and agree. Parent s Signature: Date: 21

6 E. Online Surveys Online surveys are an excellent way to survey participants, if your program has a computer lab or computer access. We realize that many programs and families do not have access to computers, so this will not be an option for all programs. Typically, survey responses will be automatically stored in a computer database, and the responses tabulated. However, most of these companies will charge programs for administering more than a small number of surveys. Below are summaries of different online survey services (taken mainly from their websites): 1. Survey Monkey: Features: Using a web browser, you can create your survey with an intuitive survey editor. Select from over a dozen types of questions (multiple choice, rating scales, drop-down menus, and more). Options allow you to require answers to any question, control the flow with custom skip logic, and even randomize answer choices to eliminate bias. Collecting responses is as simple as copying and pasting a link to your survey. You can send a survey invitation to your own list using our simple list management tool. Track who responds to your survey, and send follow-up reminders to those who don't. View your results as they are collected in real-time. Filtering allows you to display only the responses you're interested in. You can download a summary of your results in multiple formats as well as download all of the raw data you've collected either as a spreadsheet, or in database format. Pricing: Survey Monkey offer three membership levels: Basic (free), Monthly Pro ($19.95 per/month) and Annual Pro ($200/year). A basic subscription allows 10 questions per survey and up to 100 responses. Monthly Pro allows an unlimited number of questions per survey and up to 1,000 responses per month (over 1,000 results in a $.05 charge per response). Annual Pro offers unlimited survey questions and responses per month. For more information on membership level features, visit the survey monkey website. 2. Zoomerang: Features: Zoomerang online surveys are an easy, professional way to collect and analyze market research, employee surveys and customer satisfaction surveys. Online surveys allow you: to develop unlimited survey questions, create multi-page surveys, select mandatory questions for "must have" information, send visitors back to your website upon completion, receive unlimited survey responses, personalize invitations with participant information, use your own "Sender" and "Reply to" addresses, send 22

7 reminder s for maximum response rate, see survey results immediately online, filter to segment your results, save custom reports, among others. Pricing: The table below provides subscription options: Subscription Options: Annual 3-Month 1-Month Professional $599 $199 $75 For Educators $350 $99 $75 For NonProfits $350 $99 $75 Zoomerang also offers a Basic version at no cost that includes: Limited to 100 responses per survey Maximum 30 questions per survey See survey responses for 10 days 3. Survey Console: Features: SurveyConsole is web based software for creating and distributing surveys. It consists of an intuitive wizard interface for creating survey questions, tools for distributing your survey via or your website, and tools for analyzing and viewing your results. You simply build your survey and it to a list of potential respondents. SurveyConsole will take care collecting and recording the responses. Results are available in real time. Pricing: 1. Offers a Free Basic Trial Subscription for a limited time. 2. Web Professional: Includes, UNLIMITED surveys, UNLIMITED responses, 24x7 Live Support and 30 Day Guarantee. Features: Upload Images/Logos, Integrated System, Real-Time Reports Pricing: $15/month or $149/year (save 15%). 3. Corporate License: Includes, UNLIMITED surveys, UNLIMITED responses, 24x7 Live Support and 30 Day Guarantee. Features: Complex Surveys, Advanced Analytics, Custom Reports Pricing: $249/month or $2499/year (save 15%). 4. Enterprise Edition: Includes, UNLIMITED surveys, UNLIMITED responses, 24x7 Live Support and 30 Day Guarantee. Features: Centralized User Admin, Collaboration Feature Set and Custom Stylesheets. Pricing: $849/month or $8499/year. 23

8 4. Survey Methods: Features: It provide companies with effective, easy-to-use survey creation and analysis tools which can be used for measuring and improving customer satisfaction, loyalty, revenue and profitability. As a unique feature, Survey Methods provides free Professional accounts to Educational Institutions and Non Profit Organizations as part of an alliance sponsorship program. In order to pre-qualify you must meet the following requirements: Pricing: a. You must be an authorized representative for your educational institute or nonprofit organization. b. Your address must be assigned to you by educational institute or non-profit organization. c. You must be an active employee, staff, of faculty member of your institution or non-profit organization. d. Your organization or institute must agree to post a SurveyMethods.com reference link on their official web site that is visible to the public. The details on the link will be provided when you application is approved and must be posted by your institution or non profit organization for 2 years. e. On your research report, you must state SurveyMethods.com as the Tool used to conduct your research. f. If you pre-quality, and wish to submit an application then fill out the online application form 1. Offers a Free Basic Subscription to create an unlimited number of surveys containing up to 20 questions each and can collect up to 500 responses per survey. 2. Advanced Package: Includes, UNLIMITED surveys and up too 1000 responses per survey. Pricing: $9/month. 3. Professional Package: Includes, UNLIMITED surveys and up to 5000 responses per survey. Pricing: $39.00/month. 24