Audience for this book

This book is intended for professionals (or aspiring professionals) in Learning and Development (L&D), Human Resources Development (HRD), Organizational Development (OD), and Performance Improvement (PI) who want to learn how to design self-administered survey questionnaires using closed-ended questions and response scales, administer those questionnaires, and analyze the resulting quantitative data using Excel.

If you are one of these professionals, begin by assessing your current knowledge and skills in survey design and data analysis. Consider where you fall within the following five levels—novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, or expert. If you identify yourself as a novice or advanced beginner, this book will serve as a practical guide to help you build foundational knowledge and skills. If you are at the competent, proficient, or expert level, you may find this book valuable as a reference or job aid for specific aspects of survey design and data analysis.

Approaches used in this book

Knowledge should be drawn from credible and reliable sources, such as empirical research and the insights of subject matter experts. This book uses this evidence-based approach, drawing on both research findings and expert knowledge to teach you essential concepts and principles for designing survey questionnaires.

Equally important to teaching strategies are learning strategies. One of the most effective ways to gain new skills is through hands-on practice. This book also uses this learning-by-doing approach, providing numerous examples and practical exercises.  These activities are designed to help you get up to speed with the knowledge and skills needed to confidently design self-administered survey questionnaires in just a few weeks.

Content of this book

Throughout this book, the terms surveys, survey items, and data specifically refer to self-administered surveys, closed-ended survey items, and quantitative data, respectively, unless otherwise noted.

This book is designed to help you understand the overall process of survey design and data analysis using the 5W1H method. You will follow the five Ws and one H steps in the following sequence—Why, Who, What, Where, When, and How—as illustrated in Figure P-1:

Figure P-1 The 5Ws and 1H Method Used in Survey Design and Data Analysis Process

The seven chapters of this book will walk you through a step-by-step procedure for designing surveys and analyzing survey data:

In Chapter 1, you will begin with key principles and initial steps for planning a survey. You will learn to recognize surveys as one of several data collection methods—each having advantages and disadvantages. You will also explore the types of projects where surveys are appropriate and determine whether to collect data from an entire population or a sample of that population.

In Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, ythe focus shifts to designing closed-ended survey items with suitable response scales. You will learn how to generate the type of quantitative data needed for analysis. Additionally, you will explore different survey designs to capture factual data and measure constructs such as perceived quality and value.

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, you will dive deeper into evidence-based principles for crafting effective survey items and response scales. You will also explore different types of survey questionnaires tailored for specific projects such as evaluation, performance analysis, and instructional design.

In Chapter 6, you will explore various online survey tools for administering the surveys you have designed. You will compare the features, strengths, and limitations of several popular online survey tools such as Google Forms, Qualtrics, and SurveyMonkey, to help you select the tools that best fits your needs.

In Chapter 7, you will learn the importance of preparing raw data through different data screening techniques. You will also learn how to summarize and visually present your data using charts in Excel. Using hypothetical datasets provided in the chapter, you will practice data screening and chart creation to reinforce these skills.

Appendix A offers additional guidance on analyzing survey data using Excel’s Data Analysis Toolpak. With hypothetical survey scenarios and datasets, you will learn how to perform basic statistical tests, including correlation, paired samples t-test, and independent samples t-test with Excel.

Throughout the book, you will find numerous examples that illustrate survey design principles, along with sample survey items you can adapt for your own use. Each chapter concludes with an activity designed to help you apply what you’ve learned and build confidence in survey design and data analysis.

Use of this book

After studying and practicing with this book for 50+ hours, you should feel reasonably confident in using surveys in a variety of organizational projects, including evaluation, performance analysis, and instructional design.

If you are an instructor at a post-secondary institution, you may use this book as a primary textbook for a short-term course on survey design and data analysis, or as a supplemental resource for a semester-long course involving survey-based data collection.

If you are a practitioner, this book serves as a self-guided resource to assist your survey design and data analysis efforts in real-world projects.

For those learning to conduct evaluations, this book serves as a valuable companion to my other book, 10-Step Evaluation for Training and Performance Improvement (2019), published by Sage.

Ultimately, I hope this book, Survey Design and Data Analysis, equips both practitioners and emerging researchers with fundamental knowledge and skills needed for effective survey design and basic data analysis, laying the groundwork for more advanced topics such as scale development and statistical data analysis.

Seung Youn (Yonnie) Chyung, Ed.D., Professor
Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning
Boise State University
Boise, Idaho
USA