How to Conduct Online Surveys
LeTNet Lunch „n Learn
March 2006
Survey Policies
Allsurveys must comply with
LeTourneau University‟s Research
Policy, Section 4.1.5 of the
Faculty-Staff Handbook
http://www.letu.edu/administrati
ve/HR/handbook/
Forms are located on Start! page
under “Forms / Publications”
Benefits of Online Surveys
Inexpensive – no paper copies or
postage
Saves time – quick to distribute,
no need to retype submitted
answers, faster turnaround times
possible
Collects accurate data – no need
to retype submitted answers
Online Survey Tools
Microsoft Exchange and Outlook
Send an email message with voting
buttons
Recipients (on Exchange) “vote” by
selecting an option in the message
Sender‟s sent message tracks and
tallies all responses
Great for quick responses to single
question
Creating a Vote Message
email message, then click
Create
Options button in toolbar
Creating a Vote Message
SelectUse voting buttons
check box
Choose voting button names
OR
Create your own names by typing
any text you want, separating
button names with semicolons
Message Options
Creating a Vote Message
Under Delivery options, select
the Save sent message to
check box
Choose a folder to save in by
clicking Browse – choose
something like “Votes” rather
than Sent Items
Click Close, and then click Send
Responding to Vote Message
Open the message
Click appropriate voting button
If desired, edit the message text
Responding to Vote Message
Ifviewing the message in the
Reading Pane, vote by clicking
the InfoBar near the top of
message and then selecting
appropriate voting button
Viewing Voting Responses
Open the original message you
sent – either in Sent Items
folder or selected folder
Click the Tracking tab
Viewing Voting Responses
Can also click the InfoBar on a
received message and choose to
view voting responses
Opens up the original message to
the tracking tab automatically
Online Survey Tools
Survey – A web-based survey
tool
Located at a LeTourneau-owned
URL - http://www.letu.edu/survey/
Create and administer online
surveys consisting of various
question types
Control administrative access
Export results to a spreadsheet
Getting a Survey Account
Send a request to
techsupport@letu.edu
Before opening a survey for data
collection, make sure you have
obtained all necessary approvals
according to university research
policies
Survey Main Menu
Creating a Survey
ClickCreate New Survey
button
Enter a survey name and click
OK
Can also Copy an existing survey
to use as a template for a new
survey
New Survey Menu
Edit Entry Form
“Entry Form” is the survey instrument
Can add questions and/or text
Add Question
Click Add question here or Add
question above
Multiple Choice
Multiple Answer
Short Answer
Comment/Essay Question
Add Text
Click Add text here or Add text
above
Formatting Text
Must check HTML option above
Bold: text
Italics: text
Underline: text
Color: text
Line break:
Header: text
More at
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmo
nkey/reference/html_cheatsheet/
Completing the Entry Form
Can edit each item, copy an
item, delete an item (no
warning!), and move items up or
down
Can edit the font and colors
Can add HTML code in a header
and footer
Use Preview button often
Click Done when done
Edit Exit Page
After participant submits the
completed survey, they will see the
“exit page”
Other Options
Change e-mail notification
Enter an e-mail address that will
receive notification every time
somebody fills in the survey
Add/remove administrators
To give other Survey account
holders access to survey menu
Edit entry restrictions
Specify an optional password
To Publish Survey
Obtain proper approvals first!
Click Open for Data Collection
on survey menu
Copy resulting URL and paste in
email message inviting
participation in survey
Cannot edit entry form when it is
open for data collection
To View Results
Click View Results on menu
View the summary results
displayed, OR
Click Show details of all
entries
Can delete a response or view
one response
Click Back to menu when done
To Export Results
Click Export Results on survey
menu
Choose a delimiter based on
expected responses (for most
surveys, use the pipe | symbol)
Indicate whether or not to
include questions and labels as
first row of export
To Export Results
Uncheck any questions that you
do not want to include
Can choose to export question
answers in separate columns – 0
for unselected, 1 for selected
Click OK
Click link to display data
Save as text file on computer
Import into Excel
Open Excel
Click Data -> Get External
Data -> Import Data
Locate saved text file and click
Open
Choose Delimited, click Next
Click in Other box and enter pipe
symbol, click Finish, then OK
Import in Excel
Once data is in Excel, use Excel‟s
analysis tools as needed
Can CAREFULLY use Find and
Replace to search for phrases
and replace them with numbers
Strongly agree -> 5
Agree -> 4
Neither agree nor disagree -> 3
Disagree -> 2
Strongly disagree -> 1
Options for Viewing Results
Change access restrictions
Specifywhether a password is
required, and whether others are
allowed to view results
Delete results
Provides a warning before deleting
Close for data collection
Make survey unavailable for further
entries
Questions?