Creating A Custom Survey: Question Bank

Crafting a survey is a simple two-step process. After selecting a survey platform, add questions.

Nature’s Impact on Human Health Action Guide Phase:

The principle resource provided in this guide is a bank of survey questions from which a practitioner can craft a customized survey to help understand the human health impacts of a specific green intervention. 

Choose Questions from the Question Bank

The question bank in this guide consists of a series of mostly close-ended questions to be presented to respondents before or after a green intervention to collect primarily quantifiable information. There are also open-ended questions to provide the surveyor with qualitative data which provides the critical detail needed to contextualize the quantitative data received.

There are 60 questions which focus on greenspace visitation and use, neighborhood satisfaction, environmental risk factors, health and well-being. Thirteen demographic-focused questions are also included.

Which questions you include in your survey and how many you decide to ask is a function of the information you’d like to learn and the amount of time you think participants are willing to spend (with or without compensation).

Types of questions and what they provide

The survey questions, available in English and Spanish, were created in a manner to make them easy to use in a variety of paid and free survey formats. They are either multiple choice or text response.

The survey questions are presented as a “bank of questions.” Use all of the questions provided or select those that will help you gain the information you are most interested to acquire.

The bank of questions is grouped under the following headings:

  • Greenspace Visitation and Use
  • Neighborhood Satisfaction
  • Heat
  • Socioecological Disruption
  • Health & Well-Being
  • Demographics

Determine the Number of Questions to Ask

Asking a participant to respond to a survey of 50 questions could take about an hour of their time whereas asking only 10 questions could require as little as five minutes.

How much time a participant has to answer questions may be influenced by the place and manner in which you engage the participant. A survey taker sitting at a picnic table by a park or nature preserve may have more time to complete a survey than a participant walking their dog after work. Further, consider compensating your survey participants for their time, which was discussed in a previous section of this guide.

Nature’s Impact on Human Health Action Guide