Discussion of Online Surveys
We had an on-line survey option for both our study of performing arts presenting organizations and our overhead costs study. To see the demo of the online overhead costs study, go to http://www.coststudy.org. Both were designed by the Center for Survey Research at Indiana University.
In both studies, a smallish minority (more than a handful, but not a lot more) of people/organizations chose to fill out the online version. They got a unique username and password in a cover letter that they used to login and get access to the survey. If we had removed this restriction, I'd like to think that a few more folks would have taken the online option. Most of our respondents returned the paper version of the instrument. However, if the online version was the ONLY option, we might have gotten a good deal more responses that way. I wouldn't normally recommend that an online survey be the only means of data collection, but its probably a fair option for a short membership survey.
Kennedy and Vargus, "Challenges in Survey Research and Their Implications for Philanthropic Studies Research," in the Sept 2001 issue of NVSQ includes some discussion of web-based survey research. John Kennedy, by the way, runs the CSR at Indiana University.
(Mark Hager)
-------
The value of using an online survey depends on a number of factors:
- Are respondents likely to have ready access to the web? For ARNOVA members, the answer appears to be a resounding YES.
- What is the desired sample size and questionnaire length? If, for example, you only need 100 responses and a high response rate for a short set of questions, a web survey is probably not worth the effort. On the other hand, if the concern is maximizing the number of responses at the lowest possible cost and response bias is not expected to be a problem, a web survey is relatively appealing.
- The value of the web survey is certainly enhanced by having a ready-made list of emails and communication channel (ARNOVA list serve) to solicit responses or from which to draw a sample. As Mark says, combining the web option with mail (or phone) might make a lot of sense for ARNOVA.
- We received a wide range of quotes on the cost of developing a web survey. IU CSR did it for a couple of thousand, I believe. A different offer (part of an overall Overhead Cost Study proposal) was more than $10,000.
Online Survey Tools
There are free and low-cost options readily available on the web such as http://www.hostedsurvey.com/ or WWW Survey Assistant if someone wants to do the work inhouse. I thought I had heard something about UI experimenting with online survey tools also.
(Tom Pollak)
----------------
WWW Survey Assistant - free for nonprofit use
Sample information:
The URL to your survey is:
http://or.psychology.dal.ca/~wcs/SAhtml/TomPollak/Nonprofit_Financial_Practices.html
Users of the application version of this editor must copy this URL and
paste it in their browsers to see their survey.
Applet users should see their surveys automatically.
Windows Application users can use CTRL-C to copy highlighted text, and SHIFT-INS to paste.
Survey Monkey - http://www.surveymonkey.com
To view the results of your survey without submitting data go to:
http://or.psychology.dal.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/~wcs/SAprojects/TomPollak/Nonprofit_Financial_Practices.pl?summary=1