Heads up – this post is also about content rather than data viz
1. Rating scales
Report the responses by category (e.g., Excellent, Very Good, Fair and Poor) – especially if this is a standalone question and each of the categories has an interesting number of responses in it.
Report the responses of only the “top two” (positive responses) or “bottom two” (negative responses) for each question – especially if this is one of a series of questions as this can help to highlight what the differences are between the questions.
Report the means (averages) for each question if this is a series of questions – as this can also highlight differences and similarities between them.
2. Multiple responses
Choose to report the responses either 1) as a percent of all responses or 2) as a percent of all individuals (cases). For example, if a participant responds they like both apples and oranges. Then the apple response can count as one of two (responses) or as one of one (individuals).
3. Other specifies
Report “other specify” comments in existing categories if they match. For example, if a participant responds in other specify comments that they like “granny smiths” but did not check the existing category of “apples”, then include their response in the apples responses when reporting. Report only other specify responses that cannot be included in existing categories as “other”.
4. Open ends
Report the themes in open-ended responses. First, identify the theme categories, then look back at the responses to see which themes are present in each response.
If you have many open-ended responses to a question, you may want to assign a code to the themes in each response. Then tally the numbers by code to see what percent of your responses mention that theme.
If you have lots of themes, use NETs. Identify an overall code (NET) for a theme e.g., fruit and then sub-codes for sub-themes mentioned in the responses e.g., apples, oranges, pears, banana. This way you’ll be able to report on how many survey respondents talked about fruit, as well as how many specifically mentioned each type of fruit.
5. Final note on reporting survey responses
1. Rating scales
Report the responses by category (e.g., Excellent, Very Good, Fair and Poor) – especially if this is a standalone question and each of the categories has an interesting number of responses in it.
Report the responses of only the “top two” (positive responses) or “bottom two” (negative responses) for each question – especially if this is one of a series of questions as this can help to highlight what the differences are between the questions.
Report the means (averages) for each question if this is a series of questions – as this can also highlight differences and similarities between them.
2. Multiple responses
Choose to report the responses either 1) as a percent of all responses or 2) as a percent of all individuals (cases). For example, if a participant responds they like both apples and oranges. Then the apple response can count as one of two (responses) or as one of one (individuals).
3. Other specifies
Report “other specify” comments in existing categories if they match. For example, if a participant responds in other specify comments that they like “granny smiths” but did not check the existing category of “apples”, then include their response in the apples responses when reporting. Report only other specify responses that cannot be included in existing categories as “other”.
4. Open ends
Report the themes in open-ended responses. First, identify the theme categories, then look back at the responses to see which themes are present in each response.
If you have many open-ended responses to a question, you may want to assign a code to the themes in each response. Then tally the numbers by code to see what percent of your responses mention that theme.
If you have lots of themes, use NETs. Identify an overall code (NET) for a theme e.g., fruit and then sub-codes for sub-themes mentioned in the responses e.g., apples, oranges, pears, banana. This way you’ll be able to report on how many survey respondents talked about fruit, as well as how many specifically mentioned each type of fruit.
5. Final note on reporting survey responses
- adding %s across surveys be sure not to include the same individuals in the total count.
RSS Feed