To write a dissertation, we require a huge amount of data. This data is gathered by conducting effective research. The survey is considered as one of the most essential research methods to gather the data for a dissertation. With the help of the survey, we are able to gather a huge amount of data from a pre-defined group of respondents. While getting answers to the survey questions, it is necessary for us to choose such a group of people who can provide information up to your level. If you are not able to gather data for your dissertation, you can get help from experts of dissertation writing services.

Survey methods and types

There are various types and methods of surveys to gather the data for a dissertation. Some essential survey types and methods that are helpful for us to gather the data for a dissertation are given below;

• Online surveys

Online surveys are the most important types of surveys because these are conducted with the help of technology. You just need to prepare survey questions and send these survey questions to the respondents via email or any other online resources. The respondents will provide you answers to these questions in a given interval of time. After gathering the data by online surveys, it is also easy for us to analyze that data. Online surveys are less expensive than other survey methods.

• Paper surveys

The method of collecting the data by using paper and pencil is known as paper surveys. It is considered as the old survey technique but it is still useful for us. Its reason is that there are some places where it is not possible for us to bring laptops and other handheld devices. On these places, paper surveys are the best surveys methods to gather the responses of the respondents. Paper surveys are also very helpful for us to conduct field research.

• Telephonic surveys

The method of conducting data from respondents by contacting them via telephone is known as telephonic surveys. To gather the data by telephonic surveys is a time-consuming process for the students. Moreover, telephonic surveys are non-conclusive too. There is also a possibility that the respondents don’t answer the survey questions on the telephone.

• One-to-one interviews

It is the best way to gather the data from a respondent because this survey method will provide an opportunity to the researcher to directly contact with the respondent and try to get the possible answers to the survey questions. This survey technique is helpful for a researcher to gather meaningful insights about a topic idea.

Tips to do a survey for a dissertation

In order to gather the data for your dissertation with the help of surveys, you will have to follow some steps. These steps are explained below;

• Determine your objectives

It is a fact that to gather the data for your dissertation, there requires a topic idea. This topic idea should be broken into smaller chunks to get an idea about the objectives of your dissertation. You should make sure that these objectives should be clear.

• Select the population and sampling method

Population means such a group of people from where you are going to gather the data. For example, if you are going to gather the data about a company, your population should consist of all the employees of the company. There are different forms of sampling like simple random sampling and systematic random sampling. You should select one of them according to your requirements.

• Create a data analysis plan

Surveys are helpful for us to gather a huge amount of data relevant to the topic of our dissertation. In this data, there is a possibility of such data that is not relevant to the topic of our dissertation. We should try to prepare an effective plan to analyze the data. This data analysis plan should be helpful for us to achieve the objectives of our dissertation.

• Designing the surveys

There are different ways to design the questions of a survey like open-ended questions, closed-ended questions, and extensive questions, etc. You should design such survey questions that are helpful to you to gather the required amount of data for your dissertation.

• Conducting the surveys

You can easily gather the data for your dissertation by conducting the surveys by sending these surveys via emails, by advertising on a website and by posting these surveys on social media.

• Data analysis

At the end of the survey, you should try to analyze the data and try to keep only that data which is relevant to the main theme of your dissertation topic idea.

Conclusion

The process of conducting the data from a pre-defined group of respondents is known as a survey. There are different types and methods of surveys. Some essential survey methods that are used to gather the data for your dissertation are online surveys, paper surveys, telephonic surveys, and one-to-one surveys. Some essential tips to gather the data by doing surveys are to determine the objectives of your dissertation, to select the respondents, to create an effective data analysis plan, to develop the surveys and to analyze the results of the surveys.