A Guide to ‘Good’ Survey Results
In a previous BluePaper we addressed the question of how many of your students you need to survey to get a “good” survey result-viz., the question of sample size-and we ended our answer to that question with another rhetorical question: Will a “good” sample ensure a “good” survey result? Leaving aside for the moment what exactly is meant by a “good” survey result, it will be obvious to anyone that, while a “bad” sample will ensure a “bad result,” it may not be as obvious that a “good” sample will not ensure a “good” survey result. It is the old “necessary but not sufficient” condition. Taking up the question of what exactly makes for a “good” survey result leads to a line of inquiry that, like the question of sample size, yields some surprises and provides some not-so-obvious answers.