Community survey

Article derived from "A Community Guide to Environmental Health ":1

Community surveys are an organized way to gather information. They can be used to find out what problems people have, to consider similarities and differences in what people think or believe, or to measure the support for different plans or actions in the community. In a survey, the same questions are asked in the same way to all of the people participating. Surveys can be done in homes, workplaces, schools, places of worship, other gathering places, or even over the telephone or by post.

Surveys allow people to share their thoughts privately, without having to come to meetings or other public events. They can be a way for people who might be afraid, or who are not allowed to participate in the community decision making process, to have their concerns and ideas considered.

  1. Jeff Conant and Pam Fadem, 2001, A Community Guide to Environmental Health, [Hesperian Foundation]. http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_EHB.php