A SharePoint survey list is a great way to capture feedback and information within your organization. A survey can capture employee feedback or even pose questions to the user base regarding how they like a new SharePoint site or how it could be improved.
Surveys can be configured so that a user can only see responses to the surveys he has taken. And the user who created and owns the survey can use the out-of-the-box reporting that comes with all surveys.
Also, you can export the results to another program, such as Excel 2010, to analyze the responses. However, keep in mind that when Survey results are exported, all fields will be exported, with the exception of the Rating Type field.
To create a survey, perform the following steps:
On the site for which you want to create the new survey, click All Site Content.
On the All Site Content Page, click Create.
Under List, click Survey, as shown in Figure 5-29. In the Name text box, type a name for the survey.
This name will appear at the top of the survey page and will become part of the page’s URL.
To enter a Description, click More Options, and then type a description of the survey.
To add a link to this list survey on the Quick Launch bar, in the Navigation section, click Yes.
In the Survey Options section, specify whether you want an individual’s name to appear with her responses and whether users can respond more than once to the survey.
Click Create.
On the New Question page, in the Question And Type section, enter your question text, and then select the type of answer that you would like for your first question.
In the Additional Question Settings section, specify additional settings for your question, such as whether an answer to the question is required.
Depending on the question type, you might also display possible answers for the question. Then do one of the following:
To create additional questions, click Next Question, and then enter the information for the next question.
Continue the process until you add all the questions that you want.
If you are finished adding questions, click Finish.
Tip
INSIDE OUT Branching surveys in SharePoint Foundation 2010
With SharePoint 2010, you are also able to use branching logic with your surveys. You can use branching to determine what the next question should be based on the response from the current question. As such, when branching logic is employed, you could have a survey that consists of 100 questions. However, based on the answers to the questions, survey participants might only need to answer 10 questions. Remember, for this to be effective, you must ensure that you have the questions listed in the order that you would like for them to appear. Otherwise, you could end up with a survey that jumps around with no real logic.
Once your survey questions are finished, you can then select how you would like to use branching.
To use branching on your survey, perform the following:
Access the survey to which you want to add branching.
Click Settings, and then select Survey Settings.
Select the survey question to which you would like to apply branching.
For each of the possible responses, select the question that you would like to be the next question that appears for the participant, and then click OK.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each question to which you want branching applied.