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Discovering the Food System
Step 4:
Conducting a Community Survey

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Division of Nutritional
  Sciences

Department of
  Horticulture

Acknowledgements


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Summary

Now we know what our topic is, who the survey sample is, and which questions are being asked. We are ready to distribute the survey. Our decisions for this activity will depend on the resources we have available. A simple way to distribute a survey is to hand-deliver them to the survey sample group of people. Before distributing them, we may want to set up a box to which our respondents can return their surveys. If we have a small amount of money available to our group, we can prepare self-addressed and stamped envelopes so the surveys can be returned easily at no inconvenience to the respondent. If the survey sample consists of parents within a school system, we can hand-deliver as well as collect and return the questionnaires. The important thing is to think through an easy and inexpensive way to ensure that we will get the surveys back. Be sure to provide a timeline (For example: "We would like these back by May 10 to complete our activities.")

Learning Objectives

  • Prepare a survey for distribution
  • Distribute a survey and collect completed responses.
  • Discuss survey results and perform a series of simple calculations to inform this discussion
Key Concepts
  • Distribution method
  • Mail Survey
  • Telephone Survey
  • Response Rate
  • Percentage
Activities

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  1. Distributing the Questionnaire
  2. Sharing the Results
  3. Food for Thought Journal
Websites used in this lesson:

  • None