Analysis
Analyzing survey data is an important and exciting step in the survey process because the results can reveal important facts about the audience, uncover trends that might not otherwise have been identified or provide irrefutable facts to support future plans. By receiving in-depth data comparisons from Singo the client can begin to identify relationships between various data that will help understand more about the respondents, and guide the client towards better decisions.
To make sure the client receives valuable and accurate information Singo will use consistent data gathering options and assist our client in creating a survey that works. Many survey firms make or allow common mistakes when creating surveys.
There are three common mistakes made in survey creation:
- Questions not asked will not provide critical information
- When surveys are created, the customer might know what they are looking for but in doing the survey Singo might identify other factors that could be useful for the client. We will suggest additional or re-worded questions or additional options to existing questions to aid in the analysis.
- Don’t alter data to compensate for bad survey design.
- It’s common for surveyors come to conclusions that are not supported by their existing survey design. Singo will work with our clients to make sure the questions and options are targeted to provide the information needed.
- Don’t project data to non-respondents
- With our near real-time reporting it will be easier to identify bad survey design, low number of respondents or vague or ambiguous questions. Singo will help design the surveys properly from the beginning or help identify questions that might need to be changed or provide additional options.
Singo will look at the big picture and ask the following questions:
- What is the customer’s overall goals?
- Do the questions and options “make sense”?
- Do the responses make sense?
- Singo will look at the detail of the responses and help identify respondents that answered questions in a way that doesn’t make sense and look closely at the answers to open ended questions. If the responses aren’t valid they will be discarded in the final analysis but made available to the customer.
Creating a correct survey is the key to accurate analysis. Analysis is the most important aspect of any survey research project. At the completion of the survey data collected must be turned into actionable information. The process of analysis can lead to a variety of alternative courses of action. Mistakes during analysis can lead to costly decisions down the road, so extreme caution and careful review must be followed throughout the process. Carelessness during analysis can lead to disaster. Singo staff has the experience and knowledge to make sure your survey results and analysis is a success.
Depending on what type of information you are trying to know about the audience, you will have to decide what analysis makes sense. It can be as simple as reviewing the numbers or graphs that our reporting creates, or conducting in-depth comparisons between questions sets to identify trends or relationships. For most clients, a basic analysis using charts, cross tabulations, and filters is sufficient. On the other hand, more sophisticated users may need a more complex statistical analysis using high powered analytical tools such as SPSS, Excel, or any number of number crunching applications. Singo has that option available if needed.