Why Employee Satisfaction and Exit Surveys are Important

In a competitive world with the need for businesses to be more streamlined and productive a company can often find itself with a workforce working under pressure resulting in low moral and high staff turnover. Organizations that have a highly motivated workforce can benefit enormously and having a workforce that is both motivated and productive should not be regarded as being mutually exclusive to one another.

Left unresolved employers run the risk of alienating their employees and events can then cause employee frustrations to explode resulting in employers finding themselves on the back foot, faced with problems that cannot be ignored.

Ideally employers would allocate the time to fully understand the needs of their employees and learn from their experiences of working on the front line, but employers are too often themselves tied up with the day to day task of fighting their own fires.

With the intelligence gathering process being automated and the survey results being made available in a format that can be readily analyzed online surveys provide employers with a cost effective and efficient method to help towards the goals of staff satisfaction and high productivity.


Dissatisfied & unproductive

There are a plethora of reasons why employees may become dissatisfied with their job that can result in them channelling their frustrations into demands for higher salaries and reduced hours. Employers who tackle these issues head on, making it all about salary and hours, will often find themselves dealing with the symptoms and not the root cause.


It's not about money

The following is a list of common barriers that will prevent an organization from achieving an increase in productivity, none of which are likely to be resolved by increasing salaries or reducing hours:-

• Insufficient training
• Out of touch management
• Dated working methods
• Lack of proper tools and equipment

There have been many studies that have consistently revealed that financial reward is not the most important motivator for employees, providing an employee is being paid the market rate the employer would be wrong to think that the solution to all employee problems is through paying higher salaries.

Take the case of a single mother who is juggling a full time job with the need to look after three children. Out of frustration she may demand more money so that she feels that she is able to cope where a better solution, for both her and the company, may be more flexible working hours.


Communication is what it is all about

It is important for any company to encourage communication. A company where the management does not communicate well with their employees, or will wait for any problems to be raised, can often be deceived into thinking that they have a content workforce when they don’t. It only takes one small problem and one disgruntled employee to feel aggrieved for an entire workforce to develop a destructive 'them and us' attitude.


Improving communication

For very small organizations it may be manageable to have regular meetings between the employer and individual employees but for larger companies this would probably prove impractical.

Regular meetings between management and worker representatives are good in theory but they often become talking shops and can begin to lose their edge as the participants become familiar with one another and the forum runs the risk of being hijacked by the more extrovert personalities.

Having suggestion boxes are useful but can be viewed as token efforts by management as they wait for personnel to highlight a problem.

Newsletters can provide a positive contribution, but their primary function is to inform and not discuss employee issues.


Maintaining the initiative

Conducting employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis can be used to ask each employee specific questions and demonstrates a pro-active management initiative where the whole workforce can be consulted on various issues. Surveys are able to provide a level playing field between the quieter and more vocal employees.

Being prepared to consulate with employees should not be seen as a sign of weakness, a confident manager will take counsel from all quarters before making a decision. By issuing a survey the employer is able to keep the initiative and tackle problems from a position of strength as opposed to waiting for problems to manifest and then possibly develop out of proportion.

Leave a small problem unresolved and it can lead to a situation where a minor problem might just break the camel’s back and the mood of the employees change from positive to negative over night.


It's quick and easy

For most organizations online surveys represent a proactive and low cost solution. They can be created very quickly and for the majority of organizations, where most of the personnel have desktop computers, they are also quick to deploy direct to the individual.

Where not all of the personal have access to a computer there are various options available that will allow you to accommodate their responses such as providing a shared computer, conducting telephone surveys or as a last resort, a hardcopy survey where the hard-copy responses can be added to those who competed the survey online.


Job satisfaction

There are a number of elements that combined will provide an employee with job satisfaction, from company ethics, working environment, methodology and ethos to having good and effective management. Job satisfaction brings benefits through improved motivation and productivity from a workforce that feels that they are treated as individuals and not a commodity item.


Educate and inform

An often overlooked benefit of online surveys is that they can be used to educate and pass on important information to the workforce, ensuring that the 'message' does not become corrupted as it is handed down by the phenomenon of Chinese whispers.

An online survey can explain a difficult situation to the employees and get valuable feedback as to the best solution. It is rare in this situation that the workforce would appear negative; it is more likely they will feel informed and empowered and that might be enough to turn a potentially negative problem into a positive challenge that unites the workforce.


Exit surveys

Exit surveys are an ideal method for management to make sure that when people leave the organisation they are not leaving because of problems that could have been addressed and possibly resolved if they had been appreciated earlier. Identifying a problem may not be enough to prevent a person from leaving but it could lead to an unappreciated issue being resolved that may be all that is required to stop other key personnel from also deciding to leave.


Analysing the results

Having consulted with the workforce using an online survey the results are available for instant analysis. Common and specific problems can be easily identified and brought to the attention of senior management who will then have the opportunity to address the issues that have been raised.


Summary

Used regularly online surveys represent a simple and productive method of taking the pulse of an organisation and an easy way to establish a two way communication channel between employer and employee with the results providing management with vital, accurate and significant information.

For a Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey:- Employee Satisfaction Survey Template

For a sample Employee Exit survey:- Employee Exit Survey Template

Making Customer Satisfaction Surveys Work

Why bother?

Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although you should try and attract new customers good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and encourage repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business will secure many more customers through word of mouth and you should always keep in mind that if you are not taking proper care of your customers there is always a competitor that will.

Online customer satisfaction surveys will help by not only identifying problem areas but show that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.


Where to start?

Objective - Before you start compiling your survey consider what the objectives of the survey are, in that way you will remain focused and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.

Analysis - In addition to the objectives consider how you will analyze the answers having completed the survey.

Bare in mind that 'closed' questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).

Much will depend on the predicted volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analyzing the results.

Opportunity – Keep in mind that as well as obtaining valuable market research data customer surveys are also a good way to advertise aspects of your service that your customers may not be aware of.

After you have drafted your survey read through the survey from a market research view point and check that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to properly analyze the data allowing you to make informed decisions.

Next, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?

The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-

• Market research - provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
• Marketing - promote aspects of your business
• Information/Education - advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of

For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?

In asking this question the store will hopefully not only receive useful feedback on the baby changing facility but they will also promote the store as being a child-friendly and caring store even to those the customers who do not actually require the facility.

Warts and all – to benefit most from a customer survey you need to be prepared to dig deep and accept the worst.

A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to identify any problem areas so that they can be fixed; conducting regular customer satisfaction will help prevent complacency and will also give early warning on where you may be losing business to your competitors initiatives.


What to ask?

Depending on their own particular size and makeup each business is likely to have unique factors in relation to providing good customer services however there are common areas relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.

Communication - What do you do to help your customers communicate with you?

When customers telephone are their calls answered quickly; are their enquiries about products or services handled properly? Good businesses will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, quickly, politely and fairly.

If a problem cannot be resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?

Use a customer satisfaction survey to confirm that all your staff are perceived by your customers as being helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.

Location – Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, does it have good access and is it conveniently located?

Making it pleasant, making it easy - For an internet business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.

Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely an online internet store, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?

The right quality products – You should not only measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should also monitor that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations.

Value for money – Cheap or expensive is hardly ever a good measure, value for money is.

Do your current customers consider your services as value for money, if not, why not?

Speed and attention – No matter what the business, the majority of customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.

Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay?

Customers like to be treated as individuals, how do you treat your customers? Attention is one thing but this has to be hand- in-hand with a quick and satisfactory resolution of the query.

Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group?

The more you try to understand your customers the better you will be able to target your business.

As part of the survey allow your customers the opportunity to highlight any problems that they may have and provide you with contact details so that their problems might be later addressed and their concerns followed up.


What is next?

Analyze the results once the survey has been completed.

Trends – Identify specific and common areas where the service is found wanting.

Ask yourself if any criticism is valid, be honest to yourself, is there anything that can be done to properly resolve, or at the very least, minimise the problem?

Training – Are all employees properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?

Where employee training programmes have been implemented have they made a positive contribution to the business and improved the customer service?

Follow-up – If a customer has raised a specific issue through completing a survey ensure that they are contacted and that their complaint is properly addressed.

Do not lose the opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.

Continuously Monitor - Make changes and then measure by issuing further surveys.

If you are interested in tracking customer satisfaction and would like to see a sample survey for a store that demonstrates some of the above advice please view the following example that can be used as a customer satisfaction survey template.

B2B Customer Satisfaction

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. By adding value to the relationship the product moves away from just becoming a commodity item that any Tom, Dick and Harry can supply.

Where wholesalers only want to focus entirely on price they are often doing themselves a disservice by not properly valuing the benefits of working with a professional and reliable supplier, one that delivers on time, provides products that meet strict quality control and that are delivered and invoiced accompanied by documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply train there are many rewards to be had. Streamlining the business processes between any two organizations will ensure that costs for all parties are kept to a minimum and that the requirements of both parties are acknowledged and taken into consideration.

For manufacturers it is in their interest to establish long term contracts that will allow them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers are interested in the benefits that long term relationships can bring. For the wholesaler they may be able to minimize the stock that they hold by improving the ordering and delivering process allowing them to adopt an efficient just-in-time supply chain.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

Barack Obama - Is there no end to cronyism in Washington?

Barack Obama is on record as saying that he wanted to offer more of the top diplomatic jobs to career diplomats.

Despite a promise to end cronyism in Washington, Barack Obama is expected to appoint one of his home town friends and financial backers Louis Susman, a lawyer and financier with little experience of foreign affairs, to the plum posting of US ambassador to London.

The London posting is not alone in being used to reward political supporters. Other positions in Europe are expected to be filled on the basis of patronage with Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, who campaigned for Obama, becoming the US ambassador to Dublin.

If confirmed it continues the practice adopted by previous administrations where ambassadors have been political appointees more interested in country walks than Iraq or nuclear non-proliferation and most of the work is left to the embassy's number twos who are usually career diplomats.

Is this simply a continuation of cronyism, is it a one off, or an intentional snub to the United Kingdom?

Participate in this open survey Barack Obama - Is there no end to cronyism in Washington?

How Important is the Freedom of Information Act?

British MPs have for a long time being trying very hard to ensure that they are not bound under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act.

Since the FOI act was introduced pariliament has filibustered on requests to release certain information, arguing that there should be restrictions in the volume of requests made by the media, the right for MPs to refuse requests on the grounds of cost and that an exemption was needed to protect correspondence between MPs and their constituents from being published.

Early in 2007 there was a concerted effort to pass an amedment to the FOI act that would have effectively removed both the Commons and House of Lords from the list of public authorities obliged to release information under the 2000 act, which when only came into force in 2005 with the purpose of making government more open and accessible and accountable.

Parliament fought tooth and nail to prevent details of their expenses from being released under FOI requests but despite their delay tactics detailed information on their expense claims has now started to enter the public domain and exposed MPs from all parties to have been guilty of milking the expense system.

There have been repeated calls under the FOI act for the release of the minutes of the cabinet meetings that led to the British support for the US led invasion of Iraq.

These requests have been rejected on grounds that what is said in cabinet must remain private.

Many feel that Britain was involved in an illegal war and that those who authorised Britain's involvement were fully aware at the time that the argument for war was seriously flawed.

Does the recent scandal relating to MPs expenses demonstrate the power of having an effective FOI in place?

Should politicians be responsible and held to account for decisions they make?

Should minutes of cabinet meetings be released in a timescale so that those responsible for operating above the law can be prosecuted?

Participate in this open survey How Important is the Freedom of Information Act?

Water Boarding Torture or Enhanced Interrogation?

The water board technique dates back to the 1500s during the Italian Inquisition. A bound and gagged prisoner has water poured over him to make him think he is about to drown.

When he was President George Bush said that such techniques were not torture and merely an acceptable form of enhanced interrogation.

President Obama wasted no time and outlawed its use as soon as he took office - where do you stand?

Participate in this open survey Water Boarding Torture or Enhanced Interrogation?

Promoting Your Survey - Update

We have updated the promoting your survey information to include the opportunuity that social media websites bring.

Social Media Sites

Social media sites are websites such as Digg, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube that operate in the ever expanding social media market space that at the time of writing had over fifty such offerings.

Some social media sites such as those previously mentioned are general in their target market, others like LinkedIn, MEETin.org and Ecademy are aimed squarely at the business and commercial world.

All social media sites provide a shop window for attracting participants to a survey and can be used effectively to target a particular group that matches the particular survey's target market.

As the number of social media sites increase, they can become very niche and for example if a survey was published that was on green issues and the survey's publisher wanted to target environmentalist they could use the social media site Care2 to promote the survey since Care2 is 'the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference' aimed squarely at businesses that are keen to be proactive in going green.

New Facility - Pop-up survey invitation

A new facility has been introduced that will allow our members to configure and customize a pop-up survey invitation that can then be launched by their own or third-party website.

The facility can be enabled and disabled via a survey's Edit Details menu option. For the pop-up to work the HTML activation code, that is provided through the Edit Details facility will need to be added to the website that the pop-up invitation is to be displayed.

The criteria that is used to display the pop-up invitation can be set to display after so many visitors, page displays or seconds after a page has displayed. More information can be found by referring to the Pop-Up Invitation documentation.

In a globalized business word having the ability to publish surveys in multiple languages is important, but is not without problems.

In a new article Tips and concerns for conducting multi-language surveys - some of the key concerns are highlighted, that if addressed, will ensure you benefit fully from publishing your surveys in multiple languages.

Festive Spirit - Major New Release

To celebrate the festive season we plan to implement a major new release of the Survey Galaxy website on Sunday 14 December.

While the upgrade is in progress the website will be down for a short period of time but we will do our best to ensure that any downtime is kept to a minimum.

With Survey Galaxy you were always able to create surveys in a number of major languages but with the new release we will now fully support the UTF-8 character set and we also introduce the ability to deploy a single survey in multiple languages.

For members who have a requirement to make their their surveys available in multiple languages, for example French/English, English/Welsh or even provide localised versions of the same survey for example English UK/English US, our new translation feature is the perfect solution.

You will not be restricted in the number of translations you can apply although practical limitations may make supporting more than three impractical.

Where a survey is offered with multiple translations, the survey's base language is specified and all the results are automatically rolled up into the base language, save for free text comment and data which will remain in their native language.

For languages that we have a translation for, a deployed survey's system messages and button titles are displayed in the selected language. Where we do not have the necessary translations the system messages will revert to English.

We have also taken the opportunity to make a number of other changes and added more functionality and streamlined our pricing structure.

Once the release is live we will spotlight some of the new features here but in the meantime more details can be found through reading the release notes.

Results Analyzer Report and Charts

We often get requests asking how the Results Analyzer's reports and charts can be printed and/or included in a Word or PowerPoint presentation.

To help our members in this respect a document that describes a number of methods that can be used to print and email the Results Analyzer charts and reports has been added to the Information page's Guides section.

Survey Galaxy - Online Cost Estimator

We have made a number of changes to our online cost estimator to help simplify the process of obtaining a quote.

Survey Galaxy's Security and Resilience Features

An overview of Survey Galaxy's security and resilience features has been added to the Survey Galaxy Information page's Policy section.

Mail Merge - New Guide

A Mail Merge document that describes how Microsoft Outlook's Mail Merge facility can be used to distribute survey invitations has been added to the Survey Galaxy Information page's Guides section. Although the document specifically deals with Microsoft's Outlook application the principles of mail merge are much the same for other Office type mail merge applications.

Using a mail merge facility is an ideal way of managing a survey and when used with Survey Galaxy's ability to pass a reference to the survey they can be used to help manage the responses so that you can identify respondents who have completed, partially completed and those that have not yet started their response to a survey.

Online Results Analyzer Enhancements

We are pleased to report that the Header and Footer elements of the online Results Analyzer have now been improved to provide WYSIWYG style editing. If required you are still able to switch to HTML source code mode for more advanced style formatting.

The online Results Analyzer will also now display a warning message to remind users of privacy and confidentiality issues whenever public access is set to anything other than deny.

Enhancement - Survey publication dates set in the future

A feature of Survey Galaxy is that you can publish a survey with a start date set in the future.

An enhancement has now been released that will allow the author, of a survey that is published on pay-as-you-go basis with a publication start date set in the future, to complete the survey prior to the specified publication start date so that they can fully test the survey.

Please note that test data can be purged prior to the official survey start date.

Enhancement for subscribers

When subscribers publish surveys the publication end date is automatically set to the current subscription end date.

Subscribers can stop a publication at anytime before that date by selecting the survey and using the 'Stop Publication' menu option.

If a subscriber wants to specify a specific publication end date this can now be done by publishing a survey and then using the 'Edit details' menu option and specifying a 'Publication End Date'.

New Feature - Grid Pulldown support

We are pleased to announce support for single selection pull down list when using grids is now available.

The 'pull down' format is available by selecting the 'text entry field grid' format and then using the column heading's 'Column Attributes' button and selecting the 'pulldown' data type option.

An example of the new format would be:-



This allows the respondent to display a list of options:-



And make a selection:



This is in addition to the other formats already supported by the 'text entry field grid' format:-

Happy New Year

Everyone at Survey Galaxy would like to wish all our visitors a very prosperous 2008.

If animals could talk?

Many people in the world are meat eaters and have accepted that it is the way of the world that animals are reared and then slaughtered for food.

In developed countries the number grows of people who out of personal choice, and not for any religious or economical reasons, choose to be vegetarians.

We ask those of you that still eat meat if you would still eat meat if animals were able to effectively communicate with humans?

Participate in this weeks open survey If animals could talk?

Did Al Gore deserve to be awarded the Nobel peace prize?

Former Vice President and near US President Al Gore who post election devoted himself to environmental issues has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of scientists.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised both “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.”

Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" that highlighted the consequences of climate change won the 2007 Academy Award for best documentary was criticised by many US conservatives as alarmist and exaggerated.

On receiving the award Mr Gore said “I will accept this award on behalf of all the people that have been working so long and so hard to try to get the message out about this planetary emergency,”

Does this award vindicate Al Gore's message and do you think he is a worthy winner?

Participate in this weeks open survey Did Al Gore deserve to be awarded the Nobel peace prize?

Should Hollywood ban smoking in films?

Anti smoking groups have been campaigning hard for a ban of images of tobacco in all but films with R or NC-17 ratings.

Unsatisfied by an earlier promise that the movie industry’s trade group made to consider tobacco use as a factor in film ratings, the six largest studio owners have been patching together individual responses to those who want cigarettes out of films rated G, PG or PG-13.

The anti-smoking lobby argue that on screen smoking implies that more people smoke than the actual percentage of the population that do smoke and that with product placement incentives smoking and tobacco products that appear on the movies is on the rise.

The issues relating to smoking may only be the beginning as Hollywood is now facing the opening salvos of other groups campaigning to rid movies of portrayals of gun use, transfat consumption or other behavior that can be proved harmful to the public.

Universal Pictures is to implement the wishes of its parent company General Electric, that, with few exceptions, “no smoking incidents should appear in any youth-rated film” produced by the studio or its sister units, Focus, Rogue and Working Title Films.

Bill Condon who writes and directs films has argued that movies are supposed to reflect reality and to ban on screen smoking is to remove a detail that is one of the more defining aspects of a lifestyle.

Do you think that the depictions of smoking actually encourages the young to smoke? Will the absence of smoking detract from a movies realism?

Would the classic movie Casablanca still have been a classic without the smoking?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Hollywood ban smoking in films?

CCTV Crime deterrent or just another example of Big Brother?

The local authorities and Transport for London operate over 10,000 Close Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) that are estimated to have cost the tax payer an estimated £200 million.

Despite the unrelentless drive towards installing more and more cameras figures recently released suggest that CCTV does little to prevent or solve crime.

The report highlighted that when comparing areas with saturated CCTV with areas where few cameras were installed the police clear up rate was almost identical and in some cases worse, with four out of five boroughs having the most cameras reporting below average crime solving rate.

Some critics of CCTV argue that the report confirms previous studies that have thrown doubt on the effectiveness of CCTV cameras.

For many years some organisations have said that money spent on cameras would be better used on street lighting, which has been shown to cut crime by up to 20 per cent.

Are CCTV the thin edge of a police state wedge? Would CCTV cameras put you more at ease or do they only offer false comfort?

Are the criminal element no longer deterred by the presence of CCTV, often knowing it is impossible for the authorities to continually monitor the cameras and that with the minimal disguise they appear to be of limited use in identifying the majority of perpetrators.

Should the reliance on CCTV be curbed and they only be installed where there is undeniable evidence that they are effective?

Participate in this weeks open survey CCTV Crime deterrent or just another example of Big Brother?

DNA Testing for all?

The British police can currently store DNA samples from anyone arrested in England or Wales for a recordable offence which typically can lead to jail.
Any DNA sample taken currently remains indefinitely on the police database even if later someone is not charged and is subsequently released.

Do you think that a country's police force should be allowed to keep such information?

Should each country move towards having the whole population and every visitor's DNA added to a national DNA database?

Participate in this weeks open survey DNA Testing for all?

Survey Galaxy Enhancements Roundup

A number of enhancements to the Survey Galaxy website were released recently, this entry highlights some of them.

Create Survey From Template

We have always provided you with the ability to use templates to create your surveys but we have now added a field to the 'Create a New Survey' display to allow you to pre-populate a new survey with all the items from a selected template.




This option is in addition to Survey Galaxy's ability to allow you to select specific elements from any number of survey templates so that you can insert single or multiple items into your survey exactly where you want them.

Our Enterprise subscribers enjoy the benefits of having templates that are shared across the account making it ideal for ensuring that there is a consistency when it comes to look and feel as well as increasing productivity such as having the organisation's specific department and disciplines already setup to use.

If you are not familiar with what the real benefits of using Survey Galaxy's templates are you may find the Import from Template Library tutorial of interest.

Styles

We have added a number of styles to the system styles to help you customise the look and feel of your survey. You are still able to fully customise the survey to your own requirements such as change the colours, fonts style and size; check out the Customizing Styles tutorial for more detailed information.


CC Email Responses

Many of our members are realising the benefits of using surveys as forms throughout the organisation. They are creating surveys based on existing hard copy forms and use the Edit Details option for the survey to set the 'Email Responses' to 'Yes'. The respondents answers are then emailed to the publisher as soon as the respondent completes the survey, thus making it ideal for forms such as room booking and holiday requests and all the many ad-hoc forms that spring up throughout an organisation.

We have now added an optional 'CC' facility that will provide a courtesy copy to a number of people improving the chances that a formal requests will always be received and acted upon in a quick and timely manner.

The other major benefit of using surveys as forms is that a record of requests is always maintained and can be analyzed at any time using the standard survey reporting tools. If you can look around and see a lot of paper forms why not consider setting up one or two through Survey Galaxy and see for yourself?

Export Results

We would always recommend in the first instance that you use our own online Results Analyzer to analyze and query the survey data but have nevertheless always provided the facility to allow survey results to be exported for use in applications such as Excel and SPSS.

If your knowledge of Excel is limited, and even if you are an expert to save you time, we have for a long time included with all export orders an Excel spreadsheet containing macros to help display the information as a Pivot table and also generate charts, we have now consolidated all the Excel macros that we provide into a single spreadsheet.

Please note a few things about the macros we provide:

• The Excel macros are provided 'as is' and do not form any part of the Survey Galaxy purchased services.
• The macros are documented, visible and unprotected so if you are technically minded you can always view the code and have confidence that they contain no malicious code.
• The Excel macros are only certified to run on Windows XP and Excel 2003

We are not precious about the macro code so your are able to modify and extend the functionality if required.

We have recently included a macro that will transpose the exported data that is provided in rows, into columns; a word or warning though, Excel 2003 is limited to 256 columns so not all surveys can be transposed.

New Quit Survey Button

We have introduced a new facility that will allow you to include a 'Quit' option on your survey and you may wonder why this would be of benefit to you.

The value of having the Quit button will depend entirely on the type and purpose of your survey but it does give you the opportunity to find out why people are not completing the survey.

The Quit button is introduce by specifying a URL to be called if the Quit button is used. This can point to a simple 'Thank you for your time' page, can take the respondent to your home page or it can be used to link to another survey to ask the repondent why they quit the survey thereby providing you with valuable information.

If no Quit URL is specified, then the Quit button is not displayed.

Thank you

Well that is about it for now, we would however like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who provided us with feedback and enhancement requests.

If you have a feature you would like us to consider, or find an existing facility confusing or difficult to use please let us know as it is really useful for us to know what the features are that people require and where we need to channel our development efforts.

Is 9/11 still killing the rescue workers and survivors?

When Arab Islamist terrorists hijacked airplanes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City causing the buildings to collapse almost 3,000 people died.

Since 11 September 2001 a large number of rescue and recovery workers and local residents are suffering sickness and in some cases death caused due to what many believe was a result of all the toxic substances released into the environment.

Many of those people, who at the time were described as heroes by President Bush and the then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, are now being left to suffer aliments that include cancer, pulmonary fibrosis and respiratory disease.

Some critics have suggested that it was for economics and the desire to reopen Wall Street that may have resulted in Christie Todd Whitman, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, lying to the emergency services personnel and recovery workers when she told them that the air was safe to go back to work.

Since 9/11 many, once fit firemen, paramedics and detectives have had to retire from their jobs due to ill health and have not received any help, compensation or acknowledgment for their apparent sacrifice.

Do you believe that the number people who died on 9/11 will be far eclipsed by the number of people who will die directly because of their exposure at Ground Zero?

Should the government have done more to anticipate the consequences of working at Ground Zero and provided medical support and compensation to all those who helped in the immediate recovery and rescue operation?

Participate in this weeks open survey Is 9/11 still killing the rescue workers and survivors?

The British leave Basra, handover or retreat?

The beginning of September 2007 saw the British troops that were formally based in the centre of Basra relocate to the airbase outside the city.

The official view from the Ministry of Defence was that the action was one of a number of "successful handovers" and that the troops were to remain on hand in the wings to support Iraq's most senior army officer in Basra, General Mohan al-Fireji, in his attempts to persuade Shia militias to lay down their arms.

British forces had first entered Basra on April 6 2003 and in an attempt to put the locals at ease and in stark contrast to their American colleagues patrolled the streets wearing soft berets and not hard helmets.

Their Northern Ireland experience may have better prepared the British troops over the American GI, but the 'hearts and minds' policy that was initiated from the off appears to have been far from an overwhelming success.

Many critics would argue that if Basra is considered calm today it is only because the religious parties in Basra now control the city. Only while the local militia can protect their own individual interests will the status quo be maintained, but once those interests are threatened the city is ready to burn.

Having been given a poison chalice by the politicians, the British army may have assessed that they are in a no-win situation and that a dignified withdrawal is better than perpetuating a myth that peace in Iraq will eventually prevail.

We ask if the handover is an inevitable step in a war that many would argue was ill-conceived right from the very start? Will the Americans have to sooner or later face reality and follow suit? Have the British cut and run leaving even more death, destruction and hardship for the average Iraqi?

Participate in this weeks open survey The British leave Basra, handover or retreat?

How patient are you?

Is the pace of modern life getting the better of you and do you find that you are often less tolerant of others or are you the sort of person who glides through life with remarkable ease?

Participate in this weeks open survey How patient are you?

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Which Heroes super powers would you most like?

Heroes is an action-packed TV drama that follows the lives of ordinary people who discover they have extraordinary abilities.

There is a politician that can fly, a high school cheerleader who is indestructible and a Las Vegas stripper who has an alter ego who has superhuman strength. They are joined by an artist who discovers that he can paint the future and a police officer who can hear other peoples thoughts and a Japanese computer programmer who can freeze time, stop time and teleport from one place to another.

After leading mostly plain and unexciting lives they all individually have to gradually come to terms with their powers and somehow all unite as it is their destiny to save the world.

Which of the Heroes superpowers would you most like to have?

Participate in this weeks open survey Which Heroes super powers would you most like?

Are neckties on the way out?

With or without a formal suit the necktie has for years established itself as a firm fashion accessory, with some establishments even going so far as to make it a condition of entry.

We ask if the necktie has now become outdated and how influential the wearing of neckties is to you when you meet business people for the first time?

Participate in this weeks open survey Are neckties on the way out?

Which classic movies should never be remade?

The movie industry likes a remake and can take a foreign classic like the Seven Samurai and turn it into a classic western like The Magnificent Seven. Sometimes they are just content on updating films like The Thomas Crown Affair and Ocean's Eleven.

Are there any classic movies that are too sacred to touch or is everything up for grabs?

We list some classic movies that have to date not been remade and ask you if they should be left alone or are ideal remake material?

Participate in this weeks open survey Which classic movies should never be remade?

Should the US Presidency Meet with Enemy States?

In a recent debate that included the two front runners for the Democratic nomination, New York senator Hillary Clinton and the Illinois senator Barack Obam, the candidates were asked if they would meet in the first year of their presidency with the leaders of such enemy nations as Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, and Syria.

Hillary Clinton said that she would not promise to meet with the leaders of enemy nations stating that a new president had to be careful not to be exploited by hostile leaders for propaganda purposes and not to do anything "that would make the situation worse." Before any meeting, she'd have to know "what the way forward would be."

Barack Obam on the other hand said that he thought it a disgrace that "we haven't talked to leaders of the five anti-American countries" and pointed out that despite President Reagan calling the Soviet Union an "evil empire" he still talked to Soviet leaders. "

Do you think that dialogue between hostile nations is the way forward and is an opportunity that is too easily overlooked?

In politics, is last years enemy, this years friend as in the case of Libya's Colonel Gadafy; or last years friend this years pariah as in the case of Saddam Hussein?

Can an end to conflicts like Northern Ireland only be achieved once the politicians have opened up a discussion?

Is the willingness to meet face to face with your enemy a sign of weakness?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should the US Presidency Meet with Enemy States?

Should people drink water from the tap or the bottle?

For many years there have been many studies that have concluded that for countries that have well developed water treatment, bottled water is often no healthier or safer to drink than tap water.

Organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature have for many years argued that bottled water is not only environmentally unfriendly but also a waste of money.

However, despite high quality and availability of tap water, the research findings and the high cost of bottled water the developed world continues to consume bottled water at an alarming rate.

The city of New York recently launched an advertising campaign to try and persuade people to give up bottled drinks and consume tap water instead to help protect the environment. New York's city officials have said that they hope that their campaign will save people money and reduce waste.

Environmental groups claim that four out of five plastic water bottles end up on landfill sites and the production process and distribution process, sometimes involving shipping water halfway around the world, causes global warming.

The Bottled Water Association have been reported to say that they think it unfair to single out an industry that is promoting recycling and introducing biodegradable packaging.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, Food and Water Watch, Americans drank 37 billion bottles' worth in 2005. Nearly 40 percent of bottled water is in fact bottled treated tap water and the federal government requires far more vigorous testing of municipal water than bottled water.

Is New York city correct to try and promote tap water? Do you currently prefer to drink tap or bottled water and which do you think is better for you?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should people drink water from the tap or the bottle?

For more information on New York City's campaign please visit The Tap Project.

Was Bush right to prevent Lewis Libby from going to jail?

US President Bush created a political storm by intervening to stop the disgraced White House aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, from going to jail.

In March 2004 Libby testified to a grand jury and denied deliberately leaking that Valerie Plame's worked for the CIA.

In October 2005 Libby was indicted by the FBI on five counts: obstruction of justice and two counts each of false statement and two counts of perjury.

In September 2006 the former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage confesses to leaking Plame's name and in March 2007 Libby was found guilty on four out of five charges and given a 30-month prison sentence.

Bush said "I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence is excessive.".

President Bush did not grant Mr Libby a pardon and Libby will still face a $250,00 fine and remain on probation, Bush did however commute Libby's jail sentence.

The announcement from President Bush was prompted by a federal court decision earlier yesterday not to allow Mr Libby to remain at home pending the outcome of an appeal that would have meant that he would have been heading to jail within the next few weeks where he was expected to have served out his time in a minimum security jail.

Critics had suggested that Libby's strategy had until then appeared to be to string out the appeal until January 2009 in expectation of a pardon when Mr Bush left office.

The Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid described Mr Bush's action as "disgraceful" and Charles Schumer, a Democratic senator was to reported to have said "As independence day nears, we're reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle.".

Fred Thompson, a Republican welcomed the decision from Bush, noting Mr Libby's long service to the US.

Has President Bush acted as a democratic leader or a dictator in this matter? Should those that hold positions of high office be held more, and not less accountable, than those that they represent?

Participate in this weeks open survey Was Bush right to prevent Lewis Libby from going to jail?

What are the world's favourite buildings?

There are stunning buildings throughout the world, some built in ancient times, some modern day wonders.

Which buildings are your favourite and which of those we have short listed have you visited, or would like to visit?

Participate in this weeks open survey What are the world's favourite buildings?

Was Salman Rushdie's knighthood deserved?

In 1988 the publication of The Satanic Verses sparked worldwide protests when it was condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

It was described by one book critic as a cosmic battle between good and evil that combined fantasy, philosophy and farce.

The book was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities and in 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's execution.

Although in 1998, the Iranian government said it would no longer support the fatwa some groups said that the fatwa was irrevocable.

After many years in hiding Salman returned to public life in 1999.

Fast forward to 2007 and Salman Rushdie was one of over 900 people to appear on the Queen's Birthday Honours list, which is aimed at recognising outstanding achievement.

Iran were quick to criticised the knighthood, saying praising the "apostate" showed Islamophobia among British officials.

Also a Pakistani minister was reported to have said that 'Salman Rushdie contributes to insulting Islam and may lead to terrorism' and the Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz-ul-Haq told his parliment that such 'actions are the root cause of terrorism.

Were the British right to honour Salman Rushdie, did he deserve such an honour and were Pakistan and Iran correct in their criticism?

Participate in this weeks open survey Was Salman Rushdie's knighthood deserved?

Should the EU's Galileo satellite-navigation be scrapped?

Europe's eight-company, five-nation satellite-navigation consortium, Galileo was concocted as a public-private partnership by the European Union in 2002. The aim was to construct a rival to the American built Global Positioning System (GPS) that was originally developed for the US armed forces but is now available for free use worldwide.

GPS is now in everyday use from aviation to private vehicles with sales of GPS equipment exceeding twenty billion dollars a year with about 5 of that being non-civilian use.

As an alternative to America's GPS Galileo was supposed to be accurate to within one metre rather than three. Funding for the project was to be recouped by offering a free GPS-like service, but charge for higher accuracy and other special features.

European fears that America could at a whim turn off their GPS system have diminished since Russia and China have launched their own systems, offering increasingly capable alternatives to GPS and modifications made by the US to their GPS system now allows then to offer similar accuracy to that planned by Galileo.

Original scheduled to be operational by 2010 only one of the planned 30 satellites has so far been launched, the official estimated completion date is now 2012 with most analysts saying it will not be ready until 2014. The project was originally costed at $3.4 and is already some $2 billion over budget.

Transport ministers from the EU's 27 member countries are now due to meet to consider Galileo's fate.They have three options: to set new deadlines for the consortium and pour in more money; to make it a fully public-sector initiative and foot the bill; or to shut it down.Which would you vote for?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should the EU's Galileo satellite-navigation be scrapped?

London's 2012 Olympic Logo Revealed - Good or Bad?

The design agency Wolff Olins won the competitive tender "to refine the brand positioning for the London 2012 Games and develop a Games emblem and associated corporate identity".

After 14 months of brainstorming, consulting, "brand positioning" and costing some £400,000 , they have produced a design and have announced:-

The new emblem is dynamic, modern and flexible. It will work with new technology and across traditional and new media networks.

It will become London 2012's visual icon, instantly recognisable amongst all age groups, all around the world. It will establish the character and identity of the London 2012 Games and what the Games will symbolise nationally and internationally."

Some people have greeted the new design as bold, daring and breaking the mould of previous, and what some have said were more conservative, Olympic logo designs.

Not everyone has been kind, Stephen Bayley wrote in the Telegraph "Mesmerised as if confronting a nasty incident in traffic, we gaze at the Olympic logo. It is a puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal."

As shown above there are versions of the logo using different colours and some animated examples have also been on show.

Is the logo a dynamic colouration and daring asymmetry reflecting the rich texture of the world's cosmopolis; or does it represent an outrageously expensive logo that, like the Games themselves, is a dated concept of more interest to politicians than to people?

Participate in this weeks open survey London's 2012 Olympic Logo Revealed - Good or Bad?

What are Paul Newman's best movies?

On May 25 2007 Paul Newman announced that he was retiring from acting entirely.

Born in 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio he started acting in grade school and high school plays. He spent a year at the Yale Drama School and attended the famed New York Actors Studio. His first film, The Silver Chalice (1954) was nearly his last as he considered his performance in this costume epic to be so bad that he took out a full-page ad in a trade paper apologising to anyone who might have seen it.

However he followed it up with Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) where he portrayed the boxer Rocky Graziano and received rave reviews from the critics for his brilliant performance and went on to become one of the top box office draws of the 1960s, starring in such films as The Hustler (1961), The Prize (1963), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

He also produced and directed many quality films and was nominated nine times for a best actor Oscar, winning once for his performance as an ageing pool shark in The Color of Money (1986).

He also founded the "Newman's Own" brand, a successful line of food products that has earned in excess of $100 million, every penny of which he has donated to charity.

Now in his eighties he stated that he doesn't feel he can continue acting on the level that he would want to. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."

How do you rate Paul Newman as an actor and what from our shortlist of movies do you think were his top three?

Participate in this weeks open survey What are Paul Newman's best movies?

What will British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Legacy be?

After 10 years as prime minister and 13 as Labour leader Tony Blair has announced that he will tender his resignation to the Queen on June 27.

In a 17-minute speech in front of a handpicked group of supporters he said the judgement on his 10-year administration was "for you, the people, to make".

He apologised for "the times I have fallen short" but stated that "Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong - that's your call. But I did what I thought was right for our country.

Many critics have suggested that Mr Blair's exit was forced upon him and that his party were keen to see him go.

How do you rate Mr Blair's performance, what do you think will be his legacy and what do you think he will do in future?

Participate in this weeks open survey What will British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Legacy be?

Does Paris Hilton Deserve Jail?

A Los Angeles judge's sentenced hotel heiress Paris Hilton to 45 days behind bars in a California jail cell after she was found guilty for violating a probation order and driving with a suspended license.

She has insisted that she doesn't deserve the sentence that she has claimed is both cruel and unwanted.

She has called on her fans to help her stay out of jail by endorsing an online petition her fans can sign and she has reportedly also asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon her.

The petition to Schwarzenegger claims that "the American public who support Paris are shocked, dismayed and appalled by how Paris has been the person to be used as an example that drunk driving is wrong. She provides hope for young people all over the US and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives. If the late former President Gerald Ford could find it in his heart to pardon the late former President Richard Nixon after his mistake(s), we undeniably support Paris Hilton being pardoned for her honest mistake as well."

Should Paris Hilton serve time?

Participate in this weeks open survey Does Paris Hilton Deserve Jail?

Hillary Clinton 2008 Democratic presidential nomination?

With less than a year to go until the US primaries the race is on for the 2008 democratic nomination. With candidates jockeying for position and the possibility of some late entries who do you think will win the nomination? Will Hillary Clinton be able to emulate her husbands success and succeed in first winning the Democratic nomination and then the US Presidency? Is the US Presidency more about policies or charisma?

Participate in this weeks open survey Hillary Clinton 2008 Democratic presidential nomination?

Should Prince Harry be sent to Iraq?

Prince Henry of Wales, more commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and his first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Prince Harry is third in the line of succession to the British Throne, behind his father, and his older brother Prince William.

Following the royal families tradition Prince Harry joined the British Army and after training is now an officer in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry.

The British Ministry of Defence recently confirmed that Prince Harry would be deployed with his regiment in Iraq where he will serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division.

It is believed that the Blues and Royals are expected to form part of the force patrolling the Iran-Iraq border with the prince leading a small force tasked with reconnaissance duties using Scimitar tanks.

The last member of the British Royal Family to serve in a war zone was the Prince's uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who flew helicopters during the Falklands War in 1982 who at the time would have been second in line to the British Throne.

In interviews Prince Harry had made it clear that he would leave the army if he was left in safety while his regiment was sent to a war zone.

However, some sources have sought to prevent Prince Harry from serving, often claiming that his presence there would put at risk those that severed with him.

Should Prince Harry serve in Iraq, and if he does, should he be given more protection than would normally be expected for any other serving officer of similar rank?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Prince Harry be sent to Iraq?

Should Service Personnel be Allowed to Sell Their Stories?

In March 2007 15 British navy personnel were detained in Iran for 13 days after being seized by the Iran Revolutionary Guard in the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq for allegedly trespassing into Iranian territorial waters. The British government said they were in Iraqi waters.

While in Iranian custody some of the personnel where seen on Iranian television apologising for their action and in interviews stated that they were being treated well by their Iranian hosts. Some of those in custody wrote published statements that criticised the British involvement in Iraq.

On the navy personnel's release six members of the group attended a press conference arranged by the Navy and said they were kept in solitary confinement for much of the time and that they were at times fearful that they would be executed.

With media interest growing the navy was authorised by the Government to allow the naval personnel to sell their individual stories to the press. There was severe criticism from within and outside the armed forces for allowing the service personnel to benefit financially. Some argued that it would undermine the reputation of the British Armed Forces at home and Britain's standing abroad and that it would also set a dangerous precedent for whenever military actions are the subject of intensive media coverage in the future. Many argued that it was unfair to other service personnel who were serving in in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defence Secretary, Des Browne, first denied involvement but eventually admitted that it was he who first authorised the service personnel to sell their stories and then later reversed his decision when he announced that Service personnel will not 'be allowed to talk to the media about their experiences in return for payment' until the review is complete.

Relationships between the government and the British armed services have been strained as the government have been slow to admit their involvement.

Should a country's military personnel be allowed to discuss their experiences with the press and if so should they be entitled to some financial reward?

Do you believe that the British personnel had wandered into Iranian territorial waters?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Service Personnel be Allowed to Sell Their Stories?

President Bush the Joker or a Joke?

President Bush attended the US Radio and Television Correspondents' Association 2007 dinner where not for the first time and in keeping with the events traditions he made a speech that poked fun at himself and a few others and his remarks drew laughter and applause from the Washington Hilton Hotel audience.

He made light of the poor ratings he is experiencing due to his handling of Iraq and he tongue in cheek suggested that the Vice President was on vacation in Afghanistan where people liked him. He also touched on the controversy over the Justice Department's firing of eight federal prosecutors, by saying: "I have to admit we really blew the way we let those attorneys go. You know you've botched it when people sympathise with lawyers."

The full speech can be seen at Bush Address at Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner.

Even the most ardent of Bush supporters have now accepted that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and there was no link between Saddam Hussein and global terrorists. The Bush action that was launched based on that misinformation has cost over 3,500 American, UK and other military lives and over 20,00 wounded (January 2003 to April 2007), with an untold number of civilian deaths which even the most conservative estimate puts at over 24,000 and is more likely to be much higher.

Considering the serious consequences of his action should the US president be making light of any part of his administration?

Is his ability to make jokes at his own expense an attempt to reverse his unpopularity?

Should George Bush resign or see out the rest of his presidential term?

Participate in this weeks open survey President Bush the Joker or a Joke?

What's your View of the Modern Man?

For many societies around the world the man is still seen as the main bread winner while the female role is to raise the family and concentrate on the home.

For the developed nations that traditional role has slowly been challenged and house-husbands are not uncommon and finding females who have the more financial rewarding career in a partnership is now not that unusual.

Do you believe that in any relationship tradition should prevail and it should be the male who provides for the family and the female who makes the home?

Do you believe that the roles should be reversed or that responsibilities should be shared without any pre-conditioned view as to who should do what in a relationship?

Participate in this weeks open survey Do you Support the Modern Man?

Should Britain Apologise for the Slave Trade?

2007 sees the United Kingdom mark 200 years since the British parliament abolished the transatlantic trade in slaves.

To publicise the anniversary a number of movies, television dramas and documentaries have been made that have in themselves brought controversy as many factions argue who in history should be credited with being the driving force behind the action that led to the abolishment of the abhorrent trade.

A further debate has emerged with some people requesting that Britain apologise.

Should governments, on behalf of their citizens, apologise for things their forefathers have done wrong or does the passing of generations make such apologies meaningless?

If an apology was to be made, who should make it and to whom and should any apology be accompanied with financial compensation?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Britain Apologise for the Slave Trade?

Controversial Glass Balcony Built Over Grand Canyon

In Phoenix at the Grand Canyon the Indian Hualapai tribe have constructed a large glass-bottomed walkway.

The $30 million Skywalk is perched at the canyon's edge and uses an elaborate system of pulleys connected to four tractor-trailers to allow the platform to extend some 70 feet over the rim and about 4,000 feet over the canyon floor.

The tribe hope that the attraction will encourage tourism to the remote western edge of the canyon where the tribe that number about 2,200 people live.

Construction of the platform started in April 2005 and was the idea of a Las Vegas developer David Jin.

David Jin approached the Hualapai in 1996 with a plan to build it using his own money and the tribe agreed but on the condition that the tribe would own the walkway and Jin would get a cut of any profits.

However some of the Hualapai elders have now started to question the wisdom of the project as to them the canyon is sacred ground and the construction cut into land scattered with Hualapai burial sites.

Environmentalists also have criticised the project for diminishing the canyon's majesty with some critics describing the structure as a tacky tourist attraction.

It is predicted that the Skywalk will become a major and popular attraction, bringing much needed income to the tribe.

Do you think the Hualapai tribe were right to agree to the construction?

Do you think the design of the Skywalk is environmentally in keeping with the Grand Canyon?

Participate in this weeks open survey Controversial Glass Balcony Built Over Grand Canyon?

Are Diamonds Rare?

In the 1870s at the Kimberley mine in South Africa a 128-carat, canary-yellow diamond called simply The Tiffany, was discovered. The diamond-encrusted mines at Kimberly became known as kimberlites and their discovery began a huge mining operation that continues to this day.

What the kimberlites offered was once-rare gems to millions upon millions of ordinary consumers and soon thousands of prospectors were thrown into fierce competition causing diamond prices to plummet from 500 dollars to ten cents a carat.

With diamonds increasingly in abundance, Cecil Rhodes founded the De Beers Mining Company as a group of diamond producers.

His first aim was to control production to prevent too many diamonds hitting the market and therefore keep prices high.

By controlling the supply and demand since that time De Beers has perhaps become the most successful cartel of the 20th century.

In the 1920s De Beers ran a successful marketing campaign that transformed the public's imagination about the diamond and has to this day, managed to associate diamonds to a symbol of human love and devotion.

In 1994, the Department of Justice charged De Beers in a price fixing scheme. Although the company denies the allegations the company failed to turn up in court and so the matter remains unresolved.

To the question that is sometimes asked "Are diamonds rare or are their prices hideously inflated?" De Beers officials are usually unresponsive on these points and instead they claim that the company has "democratised" diamonds by offering them to millions of ordinary consumers.

Critics argue that diamonds are at best semi-precious stones and were it not for De Beers, and considering the amount of diamonds in current circulation and the amount that are stock piled by De Beers, consumer quality gems commonly used for engagement rings would be cheap and in abundance.

Do you think that diamonds are rare and would you consider them as an investment?

Participate in this weeks open survey Are Diamonds Rare?