ClassCreator.com | Blockbuster sites, amazing reunions

Share Tips

New Topic Subscription Options  

Minor Improvement: View Survey Results

Forums: Suggestions and Feedback
Created on: 08/05/15 09:34 AM Views: 1145 Replies: 9
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 9:34 AM

This is a suggestion for a very minor improvement.

When a classmate wants to see Survey Results, and he/she has not yet made a survey entry, is it true that the button "View Survey Results" does not appear ?

I think the "View Survey Results" does not appear until after the classmate has submitted a survey entry.

This is confusing for anyone who just wants to see the survey results. How do you see the results ? There's no indication how.

To get around this, I inserted that button onto the Survey text page.
Scott, you can see this example:
http://www.classcreator.com/Wyncote-PA-Cheltenham-1970/member_survey_form.cfm?SurveyID=24903

Thanks for continuing to improve Class Creator !

Reply
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 12:19 PM - Response #1

It's true that you can't see the Show Results button until after you've taken the survey. But.... if I take the survey, click on Show Results, and copy that URL, I can create an announcement using that URL as a link to view the survey - even after the survey is no longer active.

Reply
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 3:04 PM - Response #2

Hi, John -- Thanks for your comment. You and I think along similar lines.

Here's the HTML code for a button with a link.

For those for whom this is new:
1) Go to Editing your Survey. Then go into Source mode so you can see the HTML code for the page.
2) Paste in the above code where you want your button to appear.
3) In a different browser tab, go to the page that shows your survey results.
4) On the address bar, highlight and copy the address of that page. It will be something like:
http://www.classcreator.com/Wyncote-PA-Cheltenham-1970/member_survey_results.cfm?SurveyID=24992
5) Paste the actual page address where it says THE-LINK_FOR-YOUR-SURVEY-RESULTS-HERE.
Note that there are single quotes (') around the web page address, and double-quotes (") from the word location.ref to the end.

You will then have a button that says "View Survey Results" as a link to your survey results.

Reply
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 3:06 PM - Response #3

That's sort of standard operating procedure for surveys. The idea is to not bias your choices before you take the survey.

IMO this should stay as it is for that reason. Maybe put an explanation that after they take the survey they can see the results.

After the survey ends then anyone should be able to view the results but no longer participate.

Fred Weis wrote:

This is confusing for anyone who just wants to see the survey results.

Reply
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 4:27 PM - Response #4

Fred, the HTML didn't show up in the post, but it did in the notify email. Love the button, and I'll use that one of these days.

Jack, You're probably right, although we found that those who were interested took the survey and definitely had their own opinions, while those who weren't interested weren't going to take the survey no matter what we did - although I'd bet that some of them did check out the results. And I did post the announcement link AFTER the survey was closed.

Edited to add the 'button' code.

Reply
Edited 08/05/15 4:29 PM
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 4:59 PM - Response #5

Sorry, the code isn't displayed -- That's what the results of the code look like.

Here's the code:

And you'll be replacing
http://www.classcreator.com/Wyncote-PA-Cheltenham-1970/member_survey_results.cfm?SurveyID=24999
with your own survey webpage address.
And put the single-quote around your address, as in the example.

Reply
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 7:36 PM - Response #6

Well, just remember that if you add that link for an active survey your results can be very biased (aka invalid).

John, if a person is not interested in taking the survey why should they be able to see the results before the survey ends? They shouldn't be interested in the results either.

In any event, it's not good statistical methodology to enable one to see the results ahead of time.

Reply
Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 9:00 AM - Response #7

I doubt this idea will be implemented because the survey results would be tainted/biased if the results could be viewed before taking the survey.


Reply
Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 5:39 PM - Response #8

Hi, Kyle -- Thanks for your quick response. You wrote:

Quote:

I doubt this idea will be implemented because the survey results would be tainted/biased if the results could be viewed before taking the survey.

First, I respectfully disagree. This is not a political survey -- classmates are just writing in their opinions and views. It really doesn't matter if they see what other people have said first.

#2- People can enter anything, then see the results, and then, if they want, go back and EDIT what they first entered. If anyone was concerned about having biased/tainted entries, you wouldn't allow them to edit the original entry. So not being able to initially see the results doesn't change their ability to go back and edit what they first wrote there.

#3- As you may know, unless a survey question is set up by the admin as being required, a person can enter NOTHING (no entry at all), then hit Submit, and then be able to view the results.

#4- This has more to do with the User experience. If someone wants to see the Survey results, he clicks on the survey and goes to that page... and then there is NO CLUE what to do in order to view the results. My feeling is: If a person comes to a webpage and doesn't know what to do, it's unlikely he will come back to that page in the future. We want to encourage the viewer, to make it easier for her or him.

Bottom Line: It is easy enough for any admin (who knows how to make a "Click here" link) to set up a link to the survey results. Or, as I've shown above, to go into the source code and insert a button.

So anyone who wants to can easily make a button or link to the results. That's what I'll be doing on my Survey instruction pages. And for those classmates who have entered info into a survey, they will then see TWO buttons that say "View Survey Results" -- that's okay, just seems a little silly.

My two cents. With the other issues and missing functions on Class Creator this is a very minor problem. And to be clear, I may complain about this or that, but overall I LOVE Class Creator (we paid for 11 years in advance !) and wouldn't dream of handling our reunions without it. Overall, Thank you for a great program.

Reply
Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 7:13 PM - Response #9

CC surveys can be created in a wide variety, not just writing an opinion. It all depends on the goals. But one thing is for certain, reading a survey's results AHEAD of time is guaranteed to "taint/bias" results. It's just not good methodology. (Even in the freeform style, what people have written WILL influence what a person writes - it's just human nature.)

That one can edit or revise an answer doesn't really reflect the original problem. That's more a concession to typos and perhaps letting one change their mind. It's really a different topic.

And finally that's how it done almost EVERYWHERE, not just on CC. Meaning I don't think that this discourages anything (way long ago first job was in statistics).

It's up to you to add that link, but really don't think it will help you get better answers, which is sort of the idea behind most surveys. Question

Fred Weis wrote:

First, I respectfully disagree. This is not a political survey -- classmates are just writing in their opinions and views. It really doesn't matter if they see what other people have said first.

Reply
New Topic  
Subscription Options: Have all new forum posts sent directly to your email.
Subscription options are available after you log in.