1 Conducting surveys
What are the reasons for carrying out surveys in academic life?
List your ideas below.
(a) ___
(b) ___
(c) ___
(d) ___
2 Questionnaire design
Writing an effective series of questions is a vital part of conducting a survey. You must think
carefully about what your aims are, and how to achieve them in the simplest way. There is no
value in collecting a mass of information that is irrelevant to your topic.
Surveys
UNIT
4.6
Surveys, in which people are asked questions about their behaviour or opinions, are
a common feature of academic work. This unit deals with the design of effective
questionnaires for surveys, and presents a suitable structure for reporting the
results.
Note that these questionnaires are designed to collect data from large numbers of
people fairly quickly. Another research method uses a longer interview for a more
detailed response; this is not dealt with here.
To replicate other research