Re. Online surveys?

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

     Barb Miller reports problems getting a decent response rate to a
     WWW-based online survey. Barb, maybe you should just include your
     survey as part of Windows 95 and let Microsoft collect the data for
     you? <grin>

     More seriously, you didn't note what proportion of your target survey
     population actually use your WWW site, so I can't comment any further
     on that aspect. Assuming that you're specifically targeting those who
     do use the site, don't forget that most people have far better things
     to do with their time than fill in surveys that won't get them
     anything. (We have exactly the same problem.) This guarantees a low
     response rate, and those who do respond are unlikely to be typical of
     your overall audience.

     To get a decent amount of feedback, you really only have two choices:
     make the people want to fill in the survey (since you work for the
     government?, offer a free IRS audit "get out of jail free" card for
     the first 20 respondents), or talk to a stratified sample of your
     audience (orally, not in writing) and persuade them to help out by
     participating. The latter is the more practical approach. You could
     also try denying access to your site anyone who won't register by
     filling in the survey form, but this may simply convince people to
     bypass your site for something more friendly.

     Send along more details and I'll see if I can explore this further.

     --Geoff Hart    @8^{)}
     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

     Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of
     our reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.