SURVEYS

1
SURVEYS

• The purpose of a survey.
• Different uses of a survey.
• Putting a survey together.
• How to conduct a survey.
• Analyzing the results.
• Presenting the results.

2
The purpose of a survey.

• To gather information that can be used when
  making decisions.

3
Surveys are a part of our life.

• We do surveys everyday.
• Asking co-workers where they want
• to have lunch is conducting a survey.
• Asking family members if they want to see a movie
  or go bowling is conducting a survey.

4
Use a survey to prepare for contract negotiations.

• Survey the bargaining unit.
• Get your members involved early in the process.
• Find out what is important to your members.
• Gather useful information about the workforce.
• Number of part-time and full-time workers.
• Number of 10 month and 12 month employees.
• Other useful demographic information.

5
Find out how your district compares with other
districts.

• When preparing for contract negotiations use the
  CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION SURVEY RESULTS
  provided by the CSEA Research Department.

6
Use a survey to find volunteers.

• Questions regarding volunteering can be included
  with a survey to members about bargaining issues.
• A separate survey devoted to volunteering can
  also be used.

7
There are several ways to survey the bargaining
unit.

• By mail.
• By phone.
• One-on-one at the worksite.
• Site Representatives.
• Chapter officers on release time.

8
Combine different methods to increase
participation.

• Phone members who were mailed a survey to urge
  them to return the survey.
• Mail or hand out the survey and follow-up at the
  worksite with one-on-one contact to collect the
  completed survey.

9
Avoid tainting the results.

• If conducting a survey of the bargaining unit by
  phone or one-on-one, be careful not to telegraph
  how you would like a question to be answered.

10
Political campaigns use surveys.

• Campaigns do surveys, often known as polls, to
  find out what is important to the voters.
• The polling data is used by the campaign to
  formulate the campaigns message.
• For a bond measure, a poll can be used to find
  out the dollar amount that a majority of the
  voters would support.

11
Survey the candidates when considering
endorsements.

• Use a survey to find out where a candidate stands
  on issues that are important to classified
  employees.
• Use a survey to find out a candidates background
  and qualifications.
• Use a survey to find out what type of campaign
  the candidate plans to run.

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Putting a survey together.

• Determine what you want to learn from the survey.
• Design your questions to draw out the information
  you are seeking.

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There are different ways to survey a candidate.

• Candidates Night or Candidate Forum organized by
  the chapters Political Action Committee (PAC).
• Written Questionnaire prepared and distributed to
  all of the candidates by the PAC.
• Private interview by the PAC.

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Candidates Night Advantages.

• Can help generate interest and excitement among
  the membership.
• All members have the opportunity to question the
  candidates.
• Members are directly involved in the process.

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Candidates Night Challenges.

• A large audience is necessary if the chapter
  expects the candidates to view CSEA support as
  valuable to their campaign.
• Candidates may try to stack the meeting with
  supporters.
• The number of questions that can be asked are
  limited by time.
• The audience might be influenced by performance
  vs. substance.

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Written questionnaire advantages.

• Opportunity to ask all of the questions that you
  want to ask. (Within reason.)
• Candidates must put in writing how they stand on
  your issues.
• All candidates are asked the same set of
  questions.
• Can be used as initial screening process to
  determine who will be invited to a private
  interview.

17
Written questionnaire challenges.

• While the written questionnaire is very useful,
  it may not tell the whole story.
• How a candidate sounds on paper may not be the
  same as how the candidate appears in person.

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Private interview advantages.

• Opportunity for the committee to interact with
  the candidate in person.
• Can ask the candidate to clarify answers given on
  a the written questionnaire.
• Can ask the candidate to go into more detail than
  might be possible in a written response to a
  question.

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Private interview challenges.

• Committee has to be careful not be persuaded by a
  good show vs. substance.
• Committee has to be careful not to telegraph
  answers to the candidate during the interview.
• Committee has to decide if the answers are
  sincere or are they just being told what they
  want to hear.

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Analyzing survey data.

• Whenever possible, convert survey results into
  numbers or a score, which can be easily compared.
• For example, a survey of the membership might
  reveal that 60 are part-time workers.
• When analyzing written questionnaires from
  candidates, assign points to each question and
  tally a score for each candidate.

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Presenting the survey results.

• Results from a survey of the membership can be
  reported in the chapter newsletter, presented at
  a chapter meeting or distributed in a leaflet at
  worksites.
• Reporting and acting on candidate surveys must
  follow CSEA policy.
• See CSEA Policy 311.9, 2002.2 and 2003.4
  regarding local candidates and bond elections.

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Endorsements

• If the PAC has conducted private interviews,
  and/or obtained candidates answers by mail, then
  an endorsement vote should be put on the agenda
  of a chapter meeting.
• The meeting should be well advertised in advance
  so that chapter members know this vote is going
  to take place.

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Key points to remember.

• Use a survey to gather information that can be
  used when making decisions.
• Determine what you want to learn from the survey.
• Design your questions to draw out the information
  you are seeking.