Questionnaires
Questionnaires are a very useful method of community consultation when carefully planned and designed. Respondents are able to present their individual suggestions and possible solutions.

When planning a questionnaire it is important that all questions included are relevant to the task and assist in achieving the objectives.

Questionnaires can be delivered and answered by the respondent in his/her own time or they can be administered by an interviewer.

Advantages:

• Can go to each household or member of the community and thus each person has a chance to engage in the consultation process.
• Residents who are unable to attend events can engage.
• Those who are unable to leave their house for whatever reason are able to engage.
• There is no intimidation from other community members, responses are confidential.
• People are able to respond in their own time and offer considered opinions.
• Face to face surveys are good for those who experience difficulties with reading and writing.

Disadvantages:

• Can be very time consuming.
• Many people may resent receiving yet another questionnaire because they are already suffering from ‘survey overload’.
• Very lengthy questionnaires often put people off!
• Those who are not comfortable with reading and writing will find it hard to engage with the process although it will be easier if the questionnaire is administered on a face to face basis.
• Interviewers need to be trained so that they can be independent.
• There are safety considerations if questionnaires are administered on a face to face basis.
• It is difficult to schedule interviews with those who do shift work or work full time.
• Questionnaires must be well designed if they are to produce valid and significant results.
• The analysis of questionnaires can be both time consuming and expensive.

.Semi Structured interviews
Allow you to explore views, perceptions and opinions in more depth. The interviewer should ensure that the topics covered are those that are relevant to the objectives of the consultation. The interviewer aims to establish a rapport with the interviewee and then they work through a series of broad questions on a range of topic areas. It is important that the interviewee feels comfortable to say as much or as little as they wish.

Responses are recorded either by hand or electronically and the transcripts form an important part of the consultation data.

Advantages:

• Responses are recorded and this method is good for engaging those with poor literacy skills.
• Can be conducted in individual homes or in small groups which has the potential to engage outlying residents, disabled people, those unable to attend specific events and those with mobility problems.
• People are able to speak their mind.
• The semi structured interview allows flexible response and facilitates discussion.

Disadvantages:

• Interviews and their transcription are very time consuming.
• People may only be willing to talk openly with an independent interviewer.

 Developing the questions
You need to give careful thought to how you frame the questions so that the questionnaire provides you with the answers that you need and encourages a high response.

A good questionnaire should engage people from the start. The maximum time it should take to fill in a postal questionnaire should be 15 minutes, any longer and people will be put off, not fill in all of the questions, or worse still not return it at all.

There are three golden rules for developing questions:

1. Do people understand the question?
2. Are people able to answer the question?
3. Are people willing to answer the question?

• Keep the language simple and jargon free.
• Keep the questions short.
• Avoid multiple questions in one sentence.
• Avoid leading questions.
• Keep the questions specific.

When wording questions, make sure that the question is unambiguous (that it means the same thing to all people) and that people can understand the vocabulary you are using. People will not bother to answer difficult, insensitive or ambiguous questions.

Space in a questionnaire is limited so always consider:

• Is the question really necessary? What are you going to do with the answers?
• Are people able / willing to answer the question? Is the question relevant? Will people have a view on it? Is it too personal?
• Is the question ‘leading’ a particular response? Questions should be neutral and not lead people to answer in a particular way. For example, ask “What are your views on the proposed shopping precinct?” rather than “Do you agree that we need a new shopping precinct?” The second question implies that you already think it is a good idea and that you want them to agree with you.

Question Ordering

Introductory section
Motivating people to complete your questionnaire is crucial! The higher the response rate, the more powerful the data will be.
At the start of the questionnaire there should be a brief section outlining the purpose of the survey, who is doing it, how long it will take to complete, when the deadline for return is etc. Include a contact name and number so people can ask questions. Make it clear that responses will be confidential.
You need to show people why their opinions are important, what use the information from the survey will be put to. In short – show them ‘what’s in it for them’!

• The layout of the questionnaire should be attractive and easy to read.
• The first few questions should be easy to answer, factual and interesting, this encourages people to complete the questionnaire.
• Do not put personal questions at the beginning as this is off putting and can make people suspicious of the purpose of the questionnaire.
• Make sure that blocks of questions lead from easier to more difficult questions.
• Have a variety of question formats to make it more interesting.
• The questionnaire should end with a thankyou message, including how and where the results will be publicised. Make sure that the deadline is clear and that people know how to return the questionnaires.

Question types
There are two basic types of questions:

Open questions – People say or write their own answer rather than choose one from a list. You need to give people sufficient space to write their answers. These answers are more difficult and time consuming to analyse than ‘closed’ questions, but will provide far more insightful information.

Closed questions – People choose one or more answers from a range of options provided. Closed questions are easier to analyse but you will need to make sure that you have accounted for all the answers within your range of options. You can cover all eventualities by providing a space for ‘other’ answers.

There are two main types of closed questions: Those where people can select just one answer and those where they can choose ‘all that apply’. Be aware of this difference as it will alter the analysis that you do.

Rating scales – Are commonly used to find out the extent to which people agree with or rate something. This gives people an equal number of positive and negative options to tick ie: How would you rate the state of the local roads?

Many people choose to omit the ‘don’t know’ box, forcing people to make a choice.  You could also choose a numerical rating, ie on a scale of 1 to 5 how would you rate…

Physical appearance of the questionnaire – As we all know, a lengthy questionnaire can be very off putting and so layout and appearance is particularly important in persuading people to fill it out.

• Make sure that it is clearly laid out so that people can easily read and follow it.
• Try to have as few pages as possible.
• To avoid putting people off, make sure that the front and initial pages are as uncluttered as possible.
• Consider the needs of anyone with a disability, font size, contacts to help with filling in the questionnaire etc.
• The layout should make it easy to move between questions and the instructions on how to answer the questions should be clear.
• The questionnaire should be neat and printed on good quality paper otherwise it may give the impression that it is of little importance.

Piloting the questionnaire
Before sending out the survey for real it is advisable to ‘road test’ it on a small group of people to make sure that the questions are understandable and that there are no other problems. Any issues identified can then be addressed before the questionnaire is distributed to the wider population.

Tips for questionnaire distribution

• If you want a good return rate, organise a well co ordinated distribution of your questionnaire. Use existing delivery networks, ie for the Parish Newsletter, wherever possible.
• Door to door collection will guarantee a good return but you need someone to organise the process and many willing volunteers as it can be incredibly time consuming. Motivating collectors is crucial, offering prizes for the collector with the highest number of returns can be helpful.
• Provide collectors with identification cards or badges and a crib sheet so they can answer questions about the Parish Plan. Encourage them to speak to every householder.
• Organise a team event for training the collectors.
• Be very clear about when collection will happen. Provide an envelope for return and maybe a plastic bag so that the questionnaire can be left outside.
• Collection boxes at strategic points around the village / Parish can work well.
• IT can also provide an opportunity for people to return their questionnaires.
• Publicity is crucial, ensure that the community is aware of the Parish Plan and keep them informed of what is happening at each stage of the process.
• Sometimes, particularly in larger communities, a postal return may be the only realistic option, although the response rate will be lower. It is possible to buy a Freepost address for returns, that way you only pay for what is actually returned.
• Think about how you will gather data from those who may not be able to fill in a questionnaire ie people with low literacy, older people, disabled people. Have someone who can help fill in forms.
• Keep a clear record of questionnaires that have been delivered / collected.
• When all of the questionnaires have been collected, celebrate, have a party to thank all of those involved.

Analysing the data
Whilst many communities choose to pay consultants to analyse their survey data others opt to do it themselves, particularly if they have volunteers with the relevant expertise. There are several software packages available for data analysis, cost and complexity varies. Unless groups have volunteers with the relevant expertise we would generally advise that analysis is outsourced because it requires an element of expertise, is time consuming and the necessary software can be expensive.

Writing up the findings
The report needs to be concise, relevant, useful and above all, it must make interesting reading. Don’t use statistics without reason, use them to illustrate and support the issues identified and conclusions drawn. Make sure that any conclusions drawn can be traced back to the actual data, you can provide the data for each question as an annexe to the report.

Feed back the results
Make sure that you feedback the results of the survey to your community and also to relevant organisations and agencies. Let people know what you found out and what you are going to do with the information. This will ensure that people know what has been done with their questionnaire and continue to raise the profile of your Parish Plan.

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