Survey and Questionnaire
What is it?
Surveys and questionnaires are sets of questions/forms that seek to collect affective measures such as feelings, values, attitudes, interests, beliefs and perceptions. [1]
Why is it used?
During needs analysis, surveys provide a means to collect non-cognitive measures that have an impact on performance. [1] They gather information on what is currently happening within an organization. [2]
How is it used?
Surveys can employ open-ended/essay questions, or closed/scaled questions to identify human performance needs. They can be distributed electronically, orally, or as written forms. [2]
Great caution should be taken to ensure the respondents are representative of the larger population.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Real World Examples
National surveys are conducted to gauge public opinion on legislative policy or proposals.
Resources
1Rothwell, W. J., Hohne, C. K., & King, S. B. (2000). Human performance improvement: Building practitioner competence. Houston: Gulf.
2Suter, W. N. (2006). Introduction to educational research: A critical thinking approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.
Resources
Suter, W. N. (2006). Introduction to educational research: A critical thinking approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.
Surveys and questionnaires are sets of questions/forms that seek to collect affective measures such as feelings, values, attitudes, interests, beliefs and perceptions. [1]
Why is it used?
During needs analysis, surveys provide a means to collect non-cognitive measures that have an impact on performance. [1] They gather information on what is currently happening within an organization. [2]
How is it used?
Surveys can employ open-ended/essay questions, or closed/scaled questions to identify human performance needs. They can be distributed electronically, orally, or as written forms. [2]
Great caution should be taken to ensure the respondents are representative of the larger population.
Advantages
- Convenient to develop and administer
- Ability to reach a large number of respondents
- Data is based on real-world observations
- Low cost
Disadvantages
- Respondents may not provide the most accurate answers
- Surveys with close-ended questions have lower validity
- Scaled responses can be ambiguous, meaning different things to different people
- It is difficult to gather fine details
Real World Examples
National surveys are conducted to gauge public opinion on legislative policy or proposals.
Resources
1Rothwell, W. J., Hohne, C. K., & King, S. B. (2000). Human performance improvement: Building practitioner competence. Houston: Gulf.
2Suter, W. N. (2006). Introduction to educational research: A critical thinking approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.
Resources
Suter, W. N. (2006). Introduction to educational research: A critical thinking approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.