Data is necessary for making informed business decisions, and surveys are an essential gathering method. They allow a business to collect information from their target market, which can help a business strategize better ways to appeal to their customers. In order to create a high quality survey, there are four essential steps to the design and execution process.
During the initial planning stage, the survey’s purpose and objectives are defined by responding to the “five Ws”: Why is the research being conducted? What questions ought to be made? Who are the intended recipients? When should the survey be carried out? Where will participants take it? Once these questions are resolved, the survey’s questions need to be authored. These will need to be clear, objective, and always driving the respondent in the direction of the core information the business is seeking.
After writing the survey, it is launched into the execution phase, where the actual responses are gathered. Once there are enough responses, analysis methods are used to transform the raw data into useful insights. Visual charts, such as line, bar, and pie charts, are a great way to clearly identify any important trends, which can be created using Excel and other software.
