Re: client surveys

["E. Christopher Lloyd" <eclloyd22@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think the key issue is what information you are
trying to obtain. If you are narrowly interested in
whether clients/consumers are satisfied with your
services, that's a separate issue from whether they
benefit from the service(s) received. Satisfied
persons may not know what they need or may simply be
happy with 'easy' work that lets them slide by. Or
they may have genuinely benefited from the service but
have negative feedback anyway. The point being,
satisfaction and outcome are not necessarily related.

You might check the Child Welfare Information Gateway
for studies on human services in the context of child
welfare. I don't know of any studies on surveys that
are specific to human services. For excellent
discussions of survey design and administration, I'd
suggest:

Survey Methodology by Groves, Fowler, Couper,
Lepkowski, Singer & Tourangeau

The Psychology of Survey Response by Tourangeau, Rips,
& Rasinski

Improving Survey Questions by Fowler

Chris

--- Sheri McMahon <dfmcmahon1@msn.com> wrote:

> It is common practice for government as well as
> non-profit agencies in the human services sector to
> obtain consumer feedback by using surveys. I don't
> know about other areas of the US, but in the upper
> midwest "Minnesota nice"--the cultural mantra of "if
> you can't say something nice, don't say anything at
> all" certainly prevails. There is also a sense that
> services are not something one is entitled to, they
> are something one either must be grateful for or has
> been forced to accept. 
> 
> On surveys that ask satisfaction on a scale of 1-5
> for example, what responses are people inclined to
> give and are there cultural factors involved?
> 
> I am wondering what this may say about the validity
> of "consumer satisfaction" and similar surveys
> conducted by public agencies. Are happy consumers
> really happy? If surveys indicate their lives have
> changed for the better, is this consistent with
> objective changes? Do individuals who on a survey
> affirm positive subjective impressions about
> services and/or results express very different
> subjective impressions in some other setting? (E.g.
> talking with trusted friends/family)
> 
> And, are high levels of consumer satisfaction
> associated with overall measures of good outcomes in
> service areas? (Is it possible that a consumer who
> has actually benefited from services becomes a
> better critic of the service system, so attitudes
> seem more negative but there is actually improvement
> in areas like self-determination?)
> 
> (I know there are likely many studies of validity
> out there in different areas, I'm looking for
> general discussion in the human services arena)
> 
> Sheri McMahon
> 
> 


E. Christopher Lloyd, MA
Assistant Professor
School of Social Work
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
2801 South University Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72204
501.569.8486


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