Comments on: What’s the Best Assessment Tool? It Depends…

By: Jordan Goodman

Jordan Goodman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:58:09 +0000

Shalom All,

The best assessment tool is the one that actually catalyzes new action i.e.,change!

Blessings,
Jordan

By: What’s the Best Assessment Tool? It Depends… | JewPI

What’s the Best Assessment Tool? It Depends… | JewPI — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:43:20 +0000

[...] question, “What tool should I use?” must be asked in some context. Just as you wouldn’t use Read More » Share and Enjoy:Tags: assessment tool, Depends, question, Use, wouldn Categories: Blogs, Tools for [...]

By: Rabbi Hayim Herring

Rabbi Hayim Herring — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:43:49 +0000

Moshe–thanks for sharing your expertise and experience. While evaluation tools are now readily available, they still require the kind of expertise that you’ve mentioned. The worst thing to do is to realize after a survey that something as central as asking valid questions was neglected. Hayim

By: Moishe B. Singer

Moishe B. Singer — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:57:17 +0000

I have much experience with surveys, both professionally, as well as within the context of our shul. The biggest error in most questioners is the validity of the questions. Wording questions is a science that is often ignored. How you word the question often leads to the response. The second issue to look at is the type of question and the answer you are looking for. Do you want a free text response? Are you using a scale. Is you scale a 4 point or 5 point scale. If it is 5, how many people choose the neutral (middle choice).
Furthermore the bigger issue to look at is the self selection of those who reply to your survey. Sending a questioner to a group of shul members is not necessarily a valid sample. Taking an alphabetical list and sending to every 10th member might be. Do you make the survey anonymous or do you ask for names so you can follow up based on responses.
We have used samples to survey members after events run in the shul as well as to parents of our teen youth programs. We find the people who respond are those who a – have a gripe and b – those who are involved with the running who are very satisfied. That does not really show what the group thinks. For example, our last youth survey had a response rate of 60%, and had a bi-modal distribution of responses, all very positive or all very negative (luckily very few were negative). There was only 1 response in the middle.

By: Rabbi Hayim Herring

Rabbi Hayim Herring — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:19:31 +0000

Hi, Dan

You’ve raised 2 excellent points. I’ll be writing soon about how to present data and an important part of that is putting it in context. Part of the context setting is identifying who responds to questionnaires. And you’re so right about the second point. When a congregation sends a questionnaire to members, it’s already a positive action, because members feel like the congregation is interested in what they have to say. The key is then for the leadership to respond.

Thanks for commenting and please share your insights again!

By: Rabbi Hayim Herring

Rabbi Hayim Herring — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:14:18 +0000

Ellen–these are great resources-thanks!

By: Daniel Alter

Daniel Alter — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:26:30 +0000

Hayim
One issue which you mention is that often those who are more invested in the shul will put in the time to respond. It is important to keep this in mind, since this often skews the results. Those who are less invested often have different perspectives and sometimes are the ones you would like the most to fill out the questionaire.
Another advantage of questionaires is that it is one more way to make people feel connected to the Shul and that they are being listened to.
We just sent one out to our Shul, and got some great feedback.

By: Ellen Flax

Ellen Flax — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:06:33 +0000

I’ve found that online surveys can be a great way to get information, from either a small or large group of people. However, I’ve also come across a number of confusing/poorly organized surveys. Here are some online resources:

For writing a survey:
http://tinyurl.com/ygvqc2o
http://tinyurl.com/ypeyjp

For writing a survey, and info about different online survey companies:
http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page5048.cfm

For shuls, I’d suggest finding out if you have a congregant who has experience in this area–it would be a unique volunteer opportunity.