Knowledge Bank

Structured Surveys

March 25, 2022, Evaluation Observatory

The kind of tools a researcher uses to conduct their surveys, is determined largely by the evaluative questions to be answered, and whether the mode of answering them is qualitative or quantitative. When it comes to Quantitative Research, Structured Surveys are generally preferred over other tool formats (Singh et al., 2017). A Structured Survey in essence is a questionnaire which has pre-planned and predefined questions (IGNOU, n.d., p. 11), and where interviewer collects data, usually face to face, using technologies like a computer or over telephone, rather than allowing the respondent to self-administer the interview (Singh et al., 2017). In resource or technically constrained settings, these interviews may also sometimes be administered manually, with pen and a printed form over paper. The interviewer generally reads the questions in exactly the same manner as they appear in the survey questionnaire.

Survey can have following types of questions (Singh et al., 2017),

• Open-ended questions: These questions do not have pre-coded options.
• Dichotomous questions: These questions have two possible answers like yes/no, true/false or agree/disagree.
• Multiple-response questions: These questions have many probable answers.

In the case of Structured Surveys, questions are predominantly close-ended, which means that respondents have to choose answers from a fixed set of choices; however, may also include certain open-ended questions.

Once a decision to use a structured survey has been made, the following aspects need to be integrated into its design (Singh et al., 2017):

For in depth understanding

• 
• Book Chapter: Quantitative Social Research Methods

  Written by Kultar Singh, Chapter 3 of this book guide researchers on research instruments with special attention to Structured Surveys – instruments, techniques and norms which need to be followed.

• 
• Book Chapter: Structured Interviewing and Questionnaire Construction

  Written by Susan C. Weller, this chapter discusses in detail the variety of methods available for interviewing, and methods for questionnaire constructions.

Case Study

• 
• Education: When are large-scale surveys on education useful?

  Published by Oxford Policy Management, this documents reflects on large-scale education surveys conducted by their education team in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

• 
• Health: Development and validation of a structured survey questionnaire on knowledge, attitude, preventive practice, and treatment-seeking behaviour regarding dengue among the resident population of Sabah, Malaysia: an exploratory factor analysis

  Published by BMC, this study assesses and develops a reliable and valid Knowledge, Attitude and Practice survey on the subject of dengue that is suitable for the resident population of Sabah, Malaysia.

Toolkits

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• Survey CTO

  Survey CTO is most commonly used questionnaire programming software in development research. It based on Open Data Kit based software. This link will guide you for the steps and best practices in Survey CTO programming. Also, this survey CTO guide and video tutorial will be gives comprehensive overview of the software.

• 
• Kobo

  KoBoToolbox is a free and open source software which allows to collect data in the field using mobile phones, tablets or computers. This toolbox is a how-to guide on using KoBoToolbox for one’s structured surveys. Also, use this video tutorial for a comprehensive overview of the software.

• 
• CSPro

  The Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro) is a public domain software package used by hundreds of organisations for entering, editing, tabulating, and disseminating survey data. It supports data collection on android devices (phones and tablets). This guide will help practitioners use this software, while this video tutorial gives a comprehensive overview of the same.

• 
• Survey Monkey

  SurveyMonkey is a well-known online survey software that helps you create and run professional online surveys. It makes it easy to create a survey from scratch, or from a template, add logic, customise it to your liking, and then preview and test it, before sending it to your respondents. This guide will help practitioners on using this software; while this video tutorial is useful for a comprehensive overview.

• 
• Google Forms

  Google forms are one of the easiest ways to create an online survey and it also provides options to create a variety of questions as per the needs of the survey. It is a free app which anyone can use to create a short survey, and even provides for data validation checks needed for simple quesitonnaires.

• 
• Remote Survey Toolkit

  Developed by 60 decibels, this toolkit – which was prepared in response to the COVID 19 situation, provides tips and Cheat Sheets to conduct remote phone surveys. It also provides sample questions for the same based on the Lean Data methodology.

Further Reading

• 
• Guidance Document: The Lean Data Field Guide

  Developed by Acumen, This document is designed to serve as a field guide to help practitioners conduct Lean Data projects. It is a practical and action-oriented document to guide researchers on using lean data methods for survey research.

• 
• Video: Introduction to Lean Data

  Published by UNDP Singapore Global Centre, this video provides brief overview of lean data approach with the help of examples.

For a broad overview

• 
• Guidance Document: Developing and Writing Structured Questions

  Developed by United States Government Accountability Office, this document guides practitioners on developing structured survey questions to collect data. It discusses aspects like writing appropriate questions for high-quality responses and deciding what type of questions to ask.

• 
• Book Chapter: Chapter 1.7.1 Survey Research (p.11 – 13)

  Published by Egyankosh, this document defines structured questions and discusses different types of structured questions with illustrations.