Surveys – what’s the point?

Since the Internet has made it easy to conduct online polls and surveys, we have become increasingly used to being bombarded.

‘Survey fatigue’ is now a recognised phenomenon, characterised in two main ways: overwhelmed by the sheer volume of requests for feedback or opinion, the target audience declines to participate; or having started, but faced by a poorly designed and over-long survey, respondents fail to complete or lose interest, rush responses and give inaccurate data. There is also an understandable scepticism, that many surveys are just ‘box ticking’ exercises.

Ahead of Chiltern Community Forum’s quarterly priority setting meetings, surveys of Chiltern residents are held, including one for under-18’s.

With more than 90,000 residents in Chiltern, it would be lovely to report that our responses number in the thousands, but they don’t – yet.

Between the Forum, CDC’s Community Safety team and Thames Valley Police, we try to reach out to as many residents and organisations as we can. And we seek to avoid the main traps which contribute to survey fatigue. Our surveys are designed to be:

Relevant to respondents – ‘what’s in it for me?’

We can reassure residents that results and comments are processed promptly, and acted on. Under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, a chief officer of police must make arrangements to obtain the views of persons within each neighbourhood about crime and disorder, to provide information about policing in that neighbourhood, and arrange for regular meetings between residents and police officers with responsibility for supervising or carrying out policing in that neighbourhood. Thus Forum surveys and meetings have a statutory basis, and resultant choices are taken seriously as a basis for the coming quarter’s top neighbourhood policing priorities. The forum meetings also give the public and Police an opportunity to discuss priorities in an informed way.

Short and uncomplicated

There are two questions – what are your top 3 concerns, and where do you live? And there’s one area for comment. Responses are anonymous.

Below are the priorities that have been set at the meetings of Chiltern Community Forum since its inception. Not all have been in the top 3 of that quarter’s survey. You can see all 22 priorities either by opening the survey, or on our Priorities page. Please tell us what YOU think – every vote and comment counts!

The dedicated youth survey – for respondents aged under 18 – can be accessed through the embedded survey below, or via the following link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/youthsurveyNov2019/

The general residents’ survey can be completed through the embedded survey below, or accessed via the following link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ChilternadultsurveyNovember2019/

General Survey

Under-18s Survey