Surveys for government and public agencies
Support civic engagement with surveys
Summary:
- Public sector surveys are used to gather citizen input on policy decisions, public services, and community needs.
- They require strict adherence to accessibility standards and data security regulations to ensure inclusivity and trust.
- Data collected helps government agencies allocate resources more effectively and measure the impact of public programs.
Today’s governments must be flexible and responsive in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex socio-economic-political world.
Issues of economic competitiveness, improved quality of life and work, and environmental stewardship drive ongoing investments in education, research, and infrastructure. In many countries from the nation’s capital to the local township, each governmental body must work with its citizens to prioritize and invest in the programs that will contribute to the greater good.
Questionnaires can provide government agencies with a means for connecting with citizens to receive the input and feedback they need to make investment decisions. Political surveys can inform elected leadership about shifts in public opinion on major issues, and can motivate correct actions. Well-promoted, thoughtfully designed surveys, delivered with plenty of time to gather input, can help governments better understand and represent the immediate and long-term interests of their citizens.
Sample surveys for government (some content available only in English)
Explore a sampling of surveys from our list of survey templates for use by your government agency. Or build your own surveys using our Question Bank of methodologist-certified questions.
- General Internet Usage. Are your citizens on the Internet? How often? What devices do they use to connect and where? What purposes do they typically use the Internet for—personal or business? Is this a good way to communicate with them?
- Environmental Issues. As extreme weather regularly makes the front-page news, concern about environmental issues has become top of mind for many. Survey your community to get their thoughts about environmental issues and to open a channel for ideas for collectively solving for them.
- Registered to Vote? Find out if your citizenry is registered to vote, and use this data to organize convenient neighborhood-based voter registration days.
- Demographics. Use a series of surveys to determine the demographics of the citizens your government represents, including long and short demographics surveys, Education Demographics, Military Service and Government Support surveys. Use respondents’ feedback to identify the demographics of your citizenry and to better understand which programs and investments will best serve them over both the short and long term.
- General Event Feedback. Did your agency recently host a civic fundraiser? Was it successful – and would the community enjoy more events like it? Get attendee feedback on fundraisers, or modify this survey for other civic events, including voter registration days or town hall meetings.
- Website Feedback. Your agency, like many other organizations in the public sector, may be leveraging the cloud to deliver services and information online. As part of your evaluation of service delivery, include popup surveys to get feedback on your website at the point of access. Does the site work well? Are people finding the information they came for? Use this data to make your site and services as efficient as possible.
3 quick tips to improve survey response rates
- Be brief. If your survey is short, there’s a greater chance that more respondents will complete it.
- Use simple language. While your country or locality may have a specific first language, it may not be the native tongue of all your citizens. Use simple, clear language, to make your survey as accessible as possible to as many as possible.
- Use the best question type. We support many different types of question types, so be sure to use the question type that will generate the feedback you need.
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