Forty years ago, I conducted my first online survey as part of my master’s thesis. This was a time before the advent of the World Wide Web and the widespread use of the Internet. The predominant survey methods then included landline phone calls, postal mail, or mall intercepts. However, I was aware that numerous online innovators were operating systems on personal computers known as bulletin board systems (BBS). Through two or three modem phone calls to a random sample of these systems, I successfully gathered hundreds of responses. Several operators even called me to thank me for the survey.
The project faced opposition. The business professor on the committee quit after reading the near-final thesis, unwilling to be part of it. After graduation, I presented the research to the Midwest Association of Public Opinion Researchers. The discussant questioned the rationale behind conducting an online survey.
Years later, while working at the same school where I completed my master’s program, I found my thesis in the library. There was an old joke that you could place a $5 bill in your thesis, and twenty years later, it would still be there. My thesis had been read and dog-eared, and notes were written in the margins. The thought that people tortured themselves with my first major writing project filled me with dread.
There are excellent online survey systems these days. Some are little more than an enhanced word processor. Others provide multiple-question formats and dashboard systems for client reviews. However, now that creating a survey is so easy, new problems arise. First, survey fatigue is endemic. Everyone wants us to answer just a few too many questions. Everyone believes they can write a survey.
Today, surveyors must be flexible. People are unwilling to answer the phone, email or paper mail. You have to wonder if you are close to a representative sample. Worse still, the ease of creating and distributing surveys has led to an explosion of “quick questions.” While I am still able to collect responses if I can create a connection between the respondents and the project. It is more difficult these days. How do you do it? Let’s exchange ideas.
Modern Media Barn 