The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #151193   Message #3526869
Posted By: JohnInKansas
15-Jun-13 - 07:23 PM
Thread Name: Have you the necessary qualifications?
Subject: RE: Have you the necessary qualifications?
Creating a useful survey for almost any purpose is a near-impossible task for most people, including especially those who have an "agenda" (one of the regulars who wants to "improve" something?)

Interpreting the replies, to do anything worthwhile with them, is perhaps even worse, and for "amateur" surveys just "never happens." The replies come in, but nobody knows what to do with them so they go in a pile (or now, maybe in a spreadsheet?) that nobody ever looks at.

Since almost anything asked will offend someone, an "experienced" surveyor (making at least a second or third attempt?) may choose to make it clear that replies to any "personal" questions may be omitted, although those who take exception to something will get mad anyway. If you're easily offended, just assume you can "shoot a few blanks" and don't answer the ones you don't like.

Without seeing the survey, it's impossible to offer a real opinion, but for similar ones I have seen (many times) about all anyone is going to get from the responses is a mailing list of those who bothered to respond, so there's little need to take most of these things very seriously.

John