Surveys

In real life

Why might a survey be useful in these real-life situations:

a developer planning to upgrade a shopping centre
a council that is concerned about the declining population of the local area
a government faced with the decision about how to spend $50 million to address environmental issues?

Tools used in surveys are observation, tallies and questionnaires.

Using the tally system

You can visually survey an area through observations and collect meaningful data. Tallies indicate the frequency and prevalence of what you’re measuring. For example if surveying traffic you might note every 10^thvehicle that passes you and what type of vehicle it is, for example: truck, bus, car, van etc.

How to set up a tally card.

Creating a questionnaire

Questionnaires are similar to interviews in that you are asking questions. Information is gathered and although the responses received may not be as detailed as an interview they have the advantage of being easier to collate or summarise. Data is quantitative. Like an interview, an effective questionnaire needs to be well planned.

How to create a questionnaire

Using a questionnaire

When administering your questionnaire, be clear and polite. The results collected usually form some part of a more formal fieldwork report. Be prepared to carefully collate all your results.

How to use a questionnaire.

Quiz question

What is the biggest questionnaire in Australia?