Survey Construction Techniques

Survey Construction Exercises

Practice creating several survey instruments. For each survey, choose a topic. Some possible topics are (1) an evaluation of your campus security department, (2) a survey of students' opinions about some current campus, local, or national issue, or (3) a survey to determine students' knowledge about important issues, such as the effects of alcohol on pregnancy. Select topics that you find interesting. For each topic, create a short survey of 10 items. Be sure to include appropriate demographic items to describe your sample. Use a different response form (type of items) for each survey so you can try out the different types of items.
Try creating surveys for populations other than the college student population. For example, write a brief survey for sixth graders on some topic appropriate for them. You might focus a survey on parents, most of whom have not gone to college. Another group could be high school students, high school drop-outs, or persons with mild mental retardation (i.e., an IQ of 55 to 70). Note that each of these populations have different characteristics, and remember one of the basic rules of thumb: "Always keep in mind for whom you are writing these items!" As you plan the survey and write the items, follow the steps in Table 13.2, and keep in mind all of the suggestions that we made above. Happy item writing!