We are master student,who are doing a research about dogs and the situation and difficulties of having dog in Switzerland, what kind of servieses are provide to them and the cost of services.
We would be glad if you take 3-5 min of your time and fill out the following survey.
Those are ten basic question that may not make much sence for you the relation between questions and reaserch but answer could be very valuable for us.
Please follow the link in order to answer to this questions.(we would be glad if you could add some more information about your:which canton or city do you live in Switzerland,your income, do you mareid,number of children and etc)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GQ3LNX7

While I am well placed to discuss this topic, I am uncomfortable doing so without knowing who you are, your academic affiliation, your research methods and goals, and how you intend to use this data.

Forgive my caution but this statement makes me wonder what you are up to.

(FYI, wearing my former researcher's hat, you might want to define Q2. And if you are collecting demographic data you really should add quantifiable questions for that, as well as privacy assurances. But that goes to the above comment. )

So - if you would like cooperation, perhaps a bit more info would be in order.

Best of luck in your project.

As I told you I am master student.
I am studying at university of Lugan.
I do not think answering to this 10 basic question is related to privacy of person.
even without asking this question I have a sense about what is happening and there is lot of statistic information on the internet and which different association gave us,but we rather to have the voice of dog owner as well.
The research is about services which right now provide for dog owners in Switzerland like: what limitation you going to have if you carry your dog with you while shopping and what could be provide.
the research looking to different point of view of having dog,for instance: what is a main reason for having pet?is it going to help people communicate more often or etc.

I'm a little confused.....I don't understand how your survey relates to difficulty of having a dog in Switzerland. And I don't get an instant connection of how you plan to analyze the survey according to when I do my shopping.

It's all just very strange....

Well as being the voice of my dog, he told me the survey smells fishy.

I don't mean to offend the OP, but your survey has problems. You ask for size without defining it - large to me is not necessarily large to you, your last question is too vague, and some questions ask more than one thing, e.g., shopping vs. grocery shopping.

It would help if you identified your department in Lugano. Has a faculty member approved your survey? And finally, if you expect to engage an English speaking sample, you might have a native English speaker check your survey.

While this may sound harsh, if you expect people to give up their time to respond, you need to provide a reasonable instrument for them to respond to. Still, best of luck with your research.

First of all, I have to apologize bcz I did not prepare the questions and questions have been translate to English. And I know some of them has kind of problem but I do not have access to the survey edit part.

Second,analyzing the data is my job and I know what is relation between the time of shopping and difficulties of having dog.you do not need to have direct relation between two things in order to make conclusion.

Third,as far as I know about 154 people have been open this page and only 3 of them fill out the survey. you guys share your information every where on net and spend lots of time to figure out why did I ask these questions and etc but did not answer to them.

Isn't it better that if you like (only if you like) to help me,answer to questions!!??
Thank you so much for taking your time and answering to those questions.

The survey is not clear/absolutely vague/no apparent connection to the survey subject

What exactly do you expect to analyse?

Atehsaz,

Please take this as kindly meant - because I do wish you well. But the responses you have got so far indicate that there is a problem with your survey design.

When collecting data, you must present your questionnaire in such a way as to show the legitimacy of your project. This becomes even more important when collecting data from a self-selecting sample, as potential respondents who doubt - or simply does not understand - the motives of a project generally tend to chose not to participate. Anytime your questionnaire gives potential respondents a reason to not respond you are at risk of further biasing your sample.

Your first error is in not providing bonafides. A more detailed preamble here on EF would have served you well, but an introduction is essential at the start of your questionnaire itself. Something like:

"My name is X, I am a masters student in program Y at university Z. I am conducting research in topic A. The input of dog owners in Switzerland with would be very valuable to our project. The project is non-commercial, all responses will be kept confidential. This questionnaire was developed under the direction of Professor B and has been approved by the university.'

Or, if the research is being done for a commercial program:

My name is X. On behalf of Company Y, an independent research organization, I am conducting a study in to topic A among dog owners in Switzerland. All responses will be kept confidential.'

Then at the end (either version), add a statement 'Questions may be addressed to...'

Look at it this way:

First, you ask for breed and size of the dog. Then you ask if the dog stays at home or accompanies the owner when he/she leaves the house. Then you ask when the owner leaves the house. Being of a cynical bent - since after all you have not established the legitimacy of your project - can you see how this might make a respondent think that you have questionable motives, that you could even be casing homes for break-ins? A fundamental rule of survey design - look at your questionnaire with a respondent's eyes.

A few other points:

How would you expect an owner of more than one dog to respond - several of your questions could elicit different answers depending on which dog in the household. Should a respondent answer for all dogs sequentially? Or for only one dog, and if so, which? You need instructions for this case.

As mentioned, Q2 needs definition.

Your open-end question 10 is far too broad; relevant to what? Are there specific topics (housing, BSL, attitudes of the general public, general expense, vet care, product availability, transportation, etc.) that you are interested in? If so, narrow down your focus. Overly broad open-ends often end up unquantifiable. Much depends on how you plan to use those responses - work backwards from your analysis plan to develop these kinds of questions.

But more importantly, your Q10 has nothing to do with the previous questions, to a respondent it can sound like the kind of 'hook' hot-button question that a push-poll often uses to disguise the intent of a questionnaire. As presented it is too obviously different from the rest of the questionnaire. Again goes to legitimacy.

You ask for demographics as an afterthought, providing no structure. Again, this can be interpreted with suspicion by your average respondent. Demographics are a touchy subject, handle with care. If you need the info for your analysis, say so outright. 'These last questions are necessary so that we can better understand blah blah blah. Your answers will be use for statistical purposes only and will kept confidential.' Then you need to ask structured questions, preferably giving defined ranges for answers rather than open-ended responses, as respondents are generally more comfortable - and truthful - when given a multiple choice.

If you really do not need demographic data, don't include the questions, avoid the suspicion such questions generate.

But by tossing it out as an afterthought, you again undermine the legitimacy of your survey.

---

Good luck with your project.

All sounds a bit corny to me. I would never fill in a questionaire like that. Even if I was willing, and tried, it actually makes no sense, to me.

As a Mod on here, I spend quite a bit of my time trying to persuade members to tell us LESS about themselves which they might later regret having said.
General information and chat is one thing, questions which, when taken singly, seem innocent, but added to together could be used for some other purpose, are another thing altogether. I feel that the members are right to be sceptical.

I filled it in, but I didn't see the part where respondents were invited to give the extra biographical/demographic information.

I haven't got a dog, by the way...

Also, while I know many dog owners, I don't know ANY who would ever take their dogs SHOPPING!

Into bars/restaurants is another matter (both of which are strictly forbidden in most other countries).

Tom

Better than having to carry all the stuff home by yourself, no?

Well, you could also always BARTER them (as Swiss law prohibits SELLING them for food, but allows eating them)

Tom

I decide to close this thread and make the new one later on , with respect to your recommendation. as I told you before I do not have the access to this question,therefore I could not edit them.
anybody knows how to delete this thread?

It's OK - just post the link here (on this thread) once you get the new survey set up.
If you start a new thread,
a) the mods will just merge it anyway (terrible mods we've got here, ban you just as soon as look at you, you know)
b) if not, everyone else will be left scratching their heads - "didn't we have a thread about this last week?"

Ja, I also would have enjoyed filling in the questionaire ..... thinking of my five dogs I used to have in SA ...... (gosh .. I imagine taking them all shopping! One was blind, one was snappy, one was huge, one thought it was huge, and one was a total idiot, thoutht it was a chicken....) .. and I also did not find the piece about how much salary I earn, or where I live .......