Surveys are just one tool for
getting the information you need. Before you decide to conduct
a survey you may want to ask yourselves the following questions:
Who is the audience
for the results of the survey?
Will the results be used to convince elected officials
that an issue is important?
Policy makers and the media often need to see that the
public is concerned about something in order to sway them
to pass legislation or to give your issue media attention.
Survey results are one way to communicate what people
are experiencing especially if little information is already
out there on the issue. A survey also shows that people
took the time to investigate and document what is occurring
in the community.
Does the information
we need already exist?
You don't want to put your time into doing a survey if
you don't need to. Many times you can find the information
you need on the Internet or at the public library. Government
agencies also collect data that you can get by submitting
a public records request. Often times the information
the government collects will not be what you are looking
for, either because they asked questions that don't match
what your group would have asked or they asked a different
set of people. In this case, creating your own survey
lets you have control over what kinds of questions are
asked and who will be surveyed. A survey may not always
go deep enough, however. When this happens, interviewing
members of your community and collecting their stories
will be the best method. You may want to run through the
following checklist to see if a survey is the right tool
for you. If you answer 'yes' to the following, you may
not need to use a survey.
Yes
No
Is the information available on the Internet?
Is the information available at the library?
Can we get the information by filing
a public records request with a governmental agency?
