Management Information System
software (See Inputs). The free version allowed easy monitoring of the number of
responses to the survey and produced a basic reporting of results. Unfortunately it was
not capable of exporting the raw data for further analysis (for example, by cross-
tabulation), so it was necessary to enter the survey responses by hand into an Access
database. This took a few hours of time, but yielded much more usable data.
The survey was conducted in two phases. A first version of the survey was released in the
spring of 2004 and garnered a little over twenty responses, after active outreach. These
preliminary results were presented to a meeting of the Board of Cooperative Life in April
2004. The results helped shape the subsequent steps of the project, namely, writing a
shorter survey with only the most relevant questions retained, and starting work on the
most popular option given, the cooperative directory.
During the second phase of surveying, the Cooperative Development Institute donated
staff time toward active outreach to potential respondents. CDI staff worked from their
own database of contacts, and every few days Noémi Giszpenc checked the Opinio site
and sent updates to the CDI staffperson of which organizations had provided responses
(to avoid contacting them again).
The goal was to reach a total of 100 responses to the survey, but as the number of
respondents steadily dwindled over time, the final tally of 75 responses was deemed
adequate.
The final survey results were presented to the Annual Meeting of the membership of
Cooperative Life in December 2004.
Overall, the free Opinio software provided an easy way to keep track of how many
respondents had completed the survey and who they were (if they provided the names of
their organizations). Its reporting system for overall results was adequate at a basic level,
but not for more advanced analysis, which required a database program (Access). If
funding had not been so severely constrained, it might have been worthwhile to pay for
the business version of Opinio software, which has the capability to export raw data in a
database-ready format. Alternatively, a Web-based survey service that charges a monthly
fee could have been used.
The Board meeting, bimonthly check-ins with a survey follow-up Board committee, and
Annual Meeting provided helpful monitoring occasions and ensured accountability.