The purpose of survey is to collect information from a group of students on a topic that is understandable to them. There are different kind of surveys being conducted at educational institutions which mainly fall in the following categories.
Case Study Survey – Case Study surveys are conducted among a group of students without considering them to represent for the whole of students either inside the institution or in other colleges. This type of survey is often conducted to know how the larger group will respond for the same questions.
Sample Survey – These types of surveys are conducted among a group of students and the results obtained are projected as the opinion of the larger community. Only certain topics can be used for these types of surveys at schools and colleges.
Census Survey – In these types of surveys the questions are asked to every member of the community and the detailed analysis can be done with the whole data for reaching conclusions.
The method of collecting data from the students also vary according to the medium being used. At the time of conducting surveys it should be noted that all the questions are to be asked instead of asking selected questions to certain people. Surveys are conducted for the following reasons.
- Surveys are the quickest and Most efficient way of getting information from a group
- Surveys are suitable for getting idea about what the majority of people thinks about the topic
- Surveys help to get statistical information with respect to a community or group of students
- Surveys help to obtain information which are not available through other methods
The following are the Advantages and Disadvantages of surveys
Advantages
- The number of people who can give their opinion can be very high
- The cost of conducting survey is less
- Students can respond to questions at their convenient time
- Surveys can give written proof of facts
- The results of surveys can be represented in tables and graphs for easy assessment
Disadvantages
- Some surveys gets fewer response due to the nature of the topic being surveyed
- How the students respond to questions can not be clearly understood through Yes/No answers
- The result of the survey is dependent on the set of students considered for collecting opinion
- The result of the survey may not represent the opinion of the whole college or school
