Measuring Work Personalities

Survey research can be used to assess the attitudes and opinions of virtually any group or sub-group. Most of my work has been in the areas of consumer and B2B market research, but from time to time my focus has shifted toward surveying employees. This makes perfect sense as our employees are the...read more

Checking in on Culturally Sensitive Topics

In the course of survey research several topics have developed a reputation for being ‘sensitive’. In short this means the topical areas are perceived to be just short of off limits by the culture we live in. Examples include cultural diversity, recreational drug use, sexual activity, alcohol use,...read more

Are Using the Right Test?

Testing 1,2,3, test, test.  Consumer and B2B market researchers, well actually researchers of all stripes and disciplines, are tasked with collecting data. Said data can be from transactions, a customer satisfaction survey, brand awareness tracker, or some other data collection method (e.g. analysis...read more

20 Most Popular Posts of 2012

While we highlight the most popular posts from a given month in our newsletter, one of my favorite activities is to look back and see what posts were the most popular overall each year. Keeping with tradition, here's a look back across the 20 most popular posts of 2012!   Customer Loyalty Month: 25...read more

A good deed

Incentives have become the necessary evil in marketing and other forms of survey research. In the days of old it was common to send out a single dollar with a mailed survey to encourage participants to complete their survey. As data collection methods have evolved toward online survey platforms the...read more

Best of the Blog: Happy 4th Birthday!

The Survey Blog turned 4 this month! Reflecting back over the last year, we wanted to share some of our favorite posts from the last year. Enjoy! ABC's for Trainers Sarah has tips for every letter of the alphabet from ADDIE to Metrics aren't evil to Perceptions are not always Reality to Zinc. Pick a...read more

Incentives 101

There was a time when people were simply grateful you asked them for their opinion. Those times are not now! Unless you have a fervent fan or customer base odds are you will have to offer some form of incentive to encourage response. This tome is not about the merits of whether to incent or not, but...read more

Level III Evaluation Part II: Learning Objectives and Measurement

Before we move to defining the criteria for measurement for different training programs and methods of assessment at Level III, let us look at the relation between the learning objectives and assessment. This is because to do any evaluation, especially Level III, an understanding of the learning...read more

Embracing Your Fears

While teenagers and celebrities are embracing social media more than ever before, many companies are still afraid to make the leap into the Twitterverse, Facebooksphere, or any other social sharing gathering place. Of the 250 organizations that have taken the Harvard Business Review's Social...read more

What's in a Score

What goes into a score? In a previous post, it was relayed that one of the primary differences between a survey and an assessment is that questions are scored. There are other differences of course, but assessments, be they employee assessments or knowledge checks before a training course, typically...read more
The Rise of the Smart Phone: Are you Leverging Mobile? 10 Tips for Mobile-Friendly Survey Creation