INTRODUCTION
Online community surveys are key tools municipalities can use to gather feedback from the public for various projects and initiatives. When used effectively, they can help to inform decision-making, understand the needs and preferences of the community and improve trust and communication.
While collecting feedback via surveys isn’t new, there are some techniques municipalities can use to improve the quality and experience for participants.
Following are some tips your municipality can use to improve its online community surveys.
CREATE MULTILINGUAL SURVEYS
Municipalities should be inclusive with their surveys by translating them into languages other than English. Aim to translate your online survey to the top 2-3 languages spoken in your community to help maximize participation. For instance, if your municipality has large populations of Spanish speakers and Hmong speakers, you should prioritize translating your survey into those languages before other lesser-spoken languages.
If needed, you can use U.S. Census data to find this information.
Some online survey software platforms, such as SurveyMonkey and SurveyHero, can create multilingual surveys, in which respondents can select their preferred language from a menu in a single survey. In other cases, you may need to create multiple surveys, each in its own designated language.
Depending on the capabilities of your platform, you may need to use local translation services or reliable online translation tools to convert your questions to other languages before loading them into the online survey platform.
Once you create your survey(s), make sure to include the survey link(s) and translated instructions for your survey in all relevant communications, such as website news flashes, e-newsletters and social media posts. If you are mailing postcards or creating signs to promote the survey, you also should add QR codes for each language (if you created separate surveys).
USE A VARIETY OF QUESTION FORMATS
Survey fatigue is a phenomenon respondents experience when they are asked to take too many surveys in a short timeframe or when the survey itself is poorly designed. This can result in low response rates, rushed answers or survey abandonment, which can negatively impact your results.
One way to prevent survey fatigue is to include different interactive question formats in your online surveys. Rather than including all text-based questions and answers, you could add visuals to your survey. For example, you can include photos or graphics to give your questions context, use images in place of text for multiple-choice questions or add click-maps to your survey.
The latter allows you to present respondents with an image and ask them to click on a specific area to answer the question. This format works particularly well when requesting feedback about public works initiatives, such as construction projects or safety studies. Instead of asking for written feedback about dangerous intersections, for example, you can ask people to click on a map so you can view popular areas when you analyze your data.
Of note, click maps often only allow the user to submit one click, so you may need to create multiple click map questions if you are looking for feedback about multiple areas or items.
You also should include a combination of multiple-choice questions, matrix questions, rating questions and ranking questions in your survey to gain insights that are valuable to your project or initiative. These close-ended formats provide variety while also getting specific feedback from your audience.
Open-ended questions are also valuable since they allow participants to share additional thoughts; however, too many open-ended questions (especially if they are required) can be overwhelming to respondents.
PROTECT YOUR DATA
It can take a great deal of time and effort to create a survey that is likely to resonate with your community, and the last thing you want is for results to be tainted with responses from bots or duplicate submissions. Many online survey platforms allow you to restrict access to your survey, which can help preserve the accuracy of your data.
For instance, you may have the option to block or allow a list of IP addresses, which can help you include or exclude certain geographical areas. You may also be able to password-protect your survey or limit respondents to one submission per device. The former may be effective if you are looking for feedback from specific stakeholders, while the latter may be more effective for a community-wide survey.
If you are promoting your survey on social media, particularly with a paid boost or ad, it is a good idea to add “layers” of protection to your survey. In other words, avoid posting the link to the survey directly in the post. Instead, you should create a page on your website that houses the survey link and share the website URL in your boosted post. This can help prevent your survey from being infiltrated with bot submissions.