Surveys, Pt. 2
What to say to your community: Deliver the messages that gain the most support

When you conduct the types of surveys or focus groups described in Surveys, Part 1, your goal is to understand the level of support for a given topic and identify messages that move the levels of community support. Effective surveys should yield clear, strong messages to shape public opinion around a given issue or general goal.

As you review survey responses to open-ended questions and focus groups, you will find phrases repeated by participants. These are messages that will push your audience toward one viewpoint of another. You can see this in real time if you watch a focus group with a skilled facilitator. Opinions changed as the facilitator suggests new facts or viewpoints.

A paper, online or phone survey will reveal changes in the attitudes of respondents when they have new information about an issue. In a well-designed scientific survey, questions about specific items will show gains or decreases in approval ratings as those items are mentioned.

Responses to open-ended questions may yield the same phrases repeated by many respondents. If you asked respondents why they assigned a given rating to an item, you might detect emotions that help you understand the attitudes they express.

Your survey results are the backbone of your strategic plan

A well-designed survey or focus group will tell you:

•	Phrases that can be used in your messages to echo and re-affirm perceptions of a given goal, project or organization. These key messages should be repeated exactly as phrased. For example, if your survey shows support among older voters for vocational education, but not Career Technical Education, you should include the word vocational in your bond materials.
•	How people feel about an issue at the beginning of the survey or focus group.
•	How people feel about the issue at the end of the survey or focus group session. Did perceptions change as participants received more information?
•	If they changed their opinions and, if so, what caused them to change their views.

The analysis will be essential in planning messages and message delivery methods for your larger target audience that was represented by the survey or focus group.

These examples of how some organizations used research to determine messages may give you ideas to plan your communications:

The results of a written survey showed fewer than 50 percent of respondents favored renovation of the local school. The survey, conducted after multiple bond election failures, showed that there was a knowledge gap about educational needs and the limitations of the old building. As the survey progressed and respondents learned how the limitations of the building were affecting student learning, they gradually moved to support the renovation of the school. By the end of the survey, more than 75 percent of them said they would support the renovation. Demographic analysis showed that women over the age of 60 were more favorable toward this renovation than the parents of school-age children. The survey revealed which parts of the potential project gained the most support, which could be used to develop a bond proposal. The school district saw that there was a great need for information for all community members before the district could think of placing a bond measure on a ballot.

A focus group for relocating a community library started with negative responses from more than half of participants. As the focus group progressed and participants learned more about the limitations of the current site and the advantages of the proposed site, they moved to favor the new site. The discussion process allowed participants to understand the issues, and the facilitator’s “what ifs” probed their concerns and brought a resulted in a shift in attitudes. This also resulted in key messages the library system needed to emphasize in communications and identified some of the words that caused people to shift. One woman would not move from her position. Her reasons, rationale, and discounting of facts also told the library system the kinds of resistance to expect.

An online survey of high school parents and staff about school goals satisfaction with student learning and programs ended with an open-ended question that asked if there was anything else the respondent wanted to say. More than half of the respondents were critical of a specific extracurricular program. Although the administration knew there had been discontent, the survey dialogue provided insight into misperceptions and genuine problems. The school used the survey responses to inform critical decisions and develop communications around those decisions. The survey demographics allowed the communications director to identify staff reactions versus parent reactions and develop targeted messages for each group.

Good research often identifies key messages for specific audiences or the entire community — not just what to say but how, specifically, to say it and whether to change your message for different audiences. Your survey must include demographics to allow an analysis of how the responses changed among different groups of respondents.

Organizations can gain greater community support and trust through survey use and analysis for a relatively minimal investment of time or money. Conducting and analyzing research is a good investment for your immediate project needs and for understanding your community values for future communications. 

Contributed by Gay Campbell, communications consultant