Bizarre or Exotic Children Names?

Although the majority of US and British parents still prefer traditional names for their offspring, more and more parents are now choosing to give their newborn unique and unusual names.

For obvious reasons celebrity parents who give their children unusual names are in the spotlight but will they start a trend or just be viewed as bizarre?

We have made a short list of some celebrities who have given unusual names to their children and we ask you to say that having such names their children should grown up feeling that they are blessed, or cursed?

Participate in this weeks free survey Bizarre or Exotic Children Names?

What are your predictions for 2006?

Looking ahead to what 2006 might bring.


Yes it's time to predict what 2006 will bring, peace in the Middle East would be nice but do we really think that is possible in twelve years let alone twelve months?

From a short list of events we ask you to pick those events that you would most like to happen and also ask you to rate the chances of some predictions we have thought up coming true.

Participate in this weeks free survey 2006 Predictions

Customized Style

Want to know how easy it is to customize the style of your survey so that it compliments your corporate style, or just stands out from the crowd.

We have just released a short tutorial that demonstrates how easy it is to change display attributes such as the background colour and the default font.

Because we break the survey down into groups of common elements you can change the style of your survey quickly, for example changing the style of one question will automatically change the style for all the questions, and new items added will automatically adopt the new style.

The customized styles are all stored in your personal library so they can be applied to other surveys making the whole process quick, easy and efficient.

For more details please see Customize the Style of your Survey

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and all the very best in 2006.

Merry Christmas to all

I would just like to take the opportunity to wish all who celebrate Christmas - the Survey Galaxy subscribers, regular visitors or anyone who just happens to be passing by - a very happy Christmas.

We hope you all have a good time and all your Xmas wishes come true.

Blogs

Well if your reading this the chances are that you know what a blog is.

Although blogs have been around in some form on the Internet since 1993 it wasn't until the blog explosion of 2004 that the world went blogging mad and now blogs, blogging and bloggers are everywhere.

However, although more and more people blog there are many others who have no interest or have still yet to discover blogging.

Are you a blogger that has your own blog? Do you blog for business or pleasure? Has a blog ever affected your relationship with someone in a good or bad way?

This weeks survey is Blogs - he's got one, she's got one, have you got one?

Torture by Proxy?

There is now strong evidence that hundreds of CIA flights have landed at European airports with the suggestion that terrorist suspects have been on board on the way to secret interrogation camps in eastern Europe, Egypt, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw have both issued carefully worded statement that still leaves wide open the question that the US are complicit, along with their allies, in torturing detainees by proxy.

Have both the US and British governments now become the very people that they have in the past so publicly denounced? Is there any justification for torturing suspects? If there is sufficient evidence to suggest that either government were complicit in torturing detainees should they be tried as criminals? Extraordinary rendition - where do you stand?

Participate in this weeks free survey Torture by Proxy

Branching Comes to Town

As it is the season of goodwill we are pleased to offer all our members a new branching facility.

Branching is the term used that can ask a participant a number of follow-up questions, or conversely skip over a number of questions, depending on their response.

For example, for those respondents that answer 'Yes' to the question "Do you drive?" a number of follow-up questions could be asked about their driving habits, while for those that answer 'No' they can be taken automatically to the next section.

In many cases the need for branching can be eliminated and at the same time the survey streamlined and made more user friendly. However, in some cases it is desirable and necessary and so we are happy to provide it as a feature.

Branching is only applicable for single radio responses, but all types of questions can utilize the 'Jump To' facility that is included with Branching to allow blocks of questions to be established.

To use branching create and design your survey in the usual way. From the Composer screen set the Preview Mode (found at the top of the right-hand side of the dynamic survey display) to Branches.

A list of valid branches will appear next to each single radio response and a 'Jump to' section under each question.

If you use the branching facility please thoroughly test your survey before inviting people to complete the survey and ensure all branching works as you intend it to as branching logic will add a level of complication to a survey.


Should you need any assistance in using branching please do not hesitate to contact us using the Help Request found on the Information Page.

The Christmas Survey 2005

Well we are well into December now so it is perfectly acceptable that this weeks public survey is to do with Christmas.

With the lights going up, cards being sent and your bank balance being drained ... this week we ask you if you think it is all worth it?

Take part in The Christmas Survey

Have you provided for your retirement?

With people now living longer and a decade of poor performing saving plans many countries are experiencing a crisis with regards to providing any state pension.

Some countries have already taken action while others are considering asking people to work longer, or making it mandatory that people contribute towards their own pensions.

Workers are being told that they can no longer expect pensions that are linked to their final salaries and some people are finding that the savings that they had made are no longer adequate to maintain the lifestyle that they expected.

What is your own attitude towards retirement, do you feel that you are making adequate provision or are you just living for today?

Take part in this public survey Have you provided for your retirement?

Phishing - whose responsibility?

Phishermen’ trick people into revealing their personal details (such as their passwords or credit card numbers) by imitating reputable websites. This is known as ‘phishing’.

Phishermen create website that closely resemble the home pages of online banks and commercial websites such as E-bay. They then send millions of emails out using mailing lists that give the people receiving the email the impression that they are receiving an official message from each website asking them to confirm their security details by clicking on a link.

If the request is actioned the person will be taken to the fake website, where they will be persuaded to attempt to log on and as they do so their security details are recorded. The fake website tells them that an invalid password was entered and to try again at which point they are often sent to the bona-fide website where the person successfully logs on.

The person is often unaware that a third-party has now recorded their security details and the bona-fide website is not aware of any problem.

There are many variations but in all cases it is an attempt to get people to part with security information that can then be used dishonestly by a third-party.

Where security is breached in this way who do you think should be held responsible for any loss?

Take part in this weeks survey Phishing - whose responsibility?

The Best And Worst Chat Up Lines

In our survey to find the best and worst chat up lines currently in the lead is perhaps the oldest chat up line "Can I buy you a drink?" with "I've lost my phone number can I have yours?"in second and "If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?" trailing in third place.

The top two are as equally popular for both male and females but males put "If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together" in third place while the girls have a three way tie for "Get your coat love, you've pulled", "Your clothes would look great on my bedroom floor" and "I've lost my phone number, can I have yours?"

When it comes to the worst chat up lines "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" and "How do you like your eggs? Fertilised?" head the list for both sexes.

Some of the best other suggestions were "Is your surname Jacobs? Because you look an absolute cracker" and "I may not be Wilma Flintstone but I know I could make your bedrock"

Why not register your own vote here The Best And Worst Chat Up Lines.

Who Has Been The Greatest Film Villain Of All Time?

They can be mean and down right dirty, crooked to the hilt and corrupt beyond all hope, they include outlaws and gangsters some wouldn't hesitate to sell out their own brother, some even their mother.

They can be sly and devious, take delight as well as a helping hand in other peoples misfortunes, often immoral nearly always deceitful but despite their many faults they can intrigue and delight their audience.

For nearly every film hero there is a villain, sometimes more fascinating than the film's main character.

Take our survey and choose which villains from our short list of memorable movie villains that you would rate as your top three most villainous - the ones that you would least like to meet alone down a dark alley?

Who Has Been The Greatest Film Villain Of All Time?.

Forms - Bringing A New Dimension To Surveys

A new feature Email Responses will allow publishers to receive via email a copy of respondents responses on completion of a survey. This is useful for low volume surveys saving the publisher time in periodically monitoring the response rate but really comes into its own for organisations wanting to set up forms.

In this context a form is any set of questions that once answered is likely to require an action.

Forms for example can be used for initial sales enquiries so that the potential client's requirements can be clarified early allowing a business to better manage their sale enquiry responses. First impressions count and by being more informed of the potential customer's requirements a business can respond from the outset in a more professional and positive manner.

For business that provide expensive information packs to their potential customers a simple enquiry form will be able to identify unsuitable enquiries.

Forms can be used internally throughout an organisations for everything from booking meeting rooms, requesting stationary to travel and holiday requests. Any request that is normally followed by "you will have to fill out this form" can now be conducted online saving people time and reducing paperwork. As all responses are still captured in a database you will, at any time, be able to analyse requests, for example, for year end audits.

By creating an online form an organisation can ensure that the right questions have been asked and the necessary boxes ticked, the second the form has been completed the responses are emailed to the publisher for further action.

To benefit from this feature simply create and design your form as you would a normal survey and include the 'Email Responses' option when publishing. The 'Email Responses' can be deactivate and activated for a published survey through the survey's Edit Details menu option.

This feature is a per survey optional extra under the Pay-As-You-Go payment plan and is included free of charge for all subscribers who have an active subscription.

Is a bird flu pandemic inevitable?

Delegates from 100 nations recently met at the World Health Organization headquarters in San Francisco and were urged to prepare against the avian flu or risk a human pandemic that scientists fear could kill millions and cause up to $800 billion in economic damage worldwide.

Migratory wildfowl are carrying the so-called H5N1 strain of avian influenza allowing it to spread from Asia to Eastern Europe and appears to be heading towards Africa.

Half of those that have so far contracted Avian Flu have died and although so far there have been no recorded cases scientist believe that it is only a matter of time before an avian influenza, most likely the H5N1 strain, acquires the ability to be transmitted human-to-human.

Existing vaccines for seasonal influenza are regarded as ineffective against any new strain.

With international travel now being common place when this happens scientist warn that the next pandemic will cause incalculable human misery.

How informed do you feel and how concerned are you that the predictions of untold deaths and economical consequences could become a reality?

Register your views by participating in our survey Is a bird flu pandemic inevitable?.

Can You Keep A Promise?

How good are you at keeping promises?

Do you give them with gay abandon or are you someone who only gives a promises on rare occasions?

Do you think any worse of people who break their promises or do you take the promises that people make to you with a pinch of salt?

We invite you take part in our survey on promises by clicking on this link Can You Keep A Promise.

New Report Facility

Changes have been made to the format of the Respondent Activity Monitor so that the displayed information is clearer.

When requesting the download of the detailed results you are now able to choose to receive the 'Results Document'. This is a file that will be provided in HTML format containing all of the individual survey responses in a format that can be locally viewed using a browser and/or printed.

This facility is ideally suited for surveys that contain a number of questions that allow free text comment responses as well as providing a method for customers to archive locally their information in a readable format either electronically or in hardcopy form.

The new facility will incur a small charge for Pay-As-You-Go customers and included free of charge for customers who have an active personal or enterprise subscription.

Physician Assisted Suicide

Doctors in many countries are able to accompany their patients every step of the way, up until the last where laws stops them helping their patients take the final step, even if that is the patients fervent wish.

A number of medical organisation have recently withdraw their opposition to any legalisation that would allow assisted dying but they say it is a matter for society and their neutrality in the debate must not be seen as support for assisted dying.

In the Netherlands, one in 40 deaths is from voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide, both legal practices.

In Oregon, where voluntary euthanasia is prohibited, assisted suicide is responsible for one in 700 deaths.

Where do you stand on this difficult issue?

If you would like to participate in our free survey click on this link Physician Assisted Suicide.

Employee Satisfaction Surveys - Step by Step Guide

The benefit of running an annual employee survey has for a long time been widely accepted but many organisations have been put off by the amount of effort that is required.

For organisations who have bit the bullet and conducted their own internal employee satisfaction surveys they have often relied on word-processors to allow them to design and compile a survey, then gone through the effort of printing and distributing the survey and spent time chasing and collecting the completed surveys and then even more time transferring the survey response information into a meaningful management report.

Fortunately with the introduction of the Internet and applications like Survey Galaxy what was once a time consuming, resource hungry, long winded and cumbersome process is now slick, quick and easy.

If your are interested in conducting an employee satisfaction survey this document will provide you with a step by step guide to help you implement a survey that will bring considerable benefits to your organisation.

Use the following as a checklist and guide to deploy your own employee satisfaction survey and should you require any assistance contact us via the Help Request giving details and we be happy to provide a lead or support role in helping you implement your survey.

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Step 1 - Identifying The Need

The reasons an organisation would need a survey are as wide and they are long. Listed here are a few common reason why employee satisfaction surveys are conducted.

Event Driven

If your organisation is about to embark, or is going through, a change management programme surveys can assist in managing the change, measuring the effectiveness of the change, help to deliver a 'message' and gather valuable feedback throughout the change cycle.

For organisations that are experiencing rapid growth employee surveys can monitor internal communications and management structures to ensure that employees are aware of their reporting and management responsibilities.

Where an organisation is suffering from poor moral brought on by either internal or external influences an employee survey can be used to identify the specific concerns of employees so those concerns can be properly addressed.

Where there is an increase in turnover of staff employee surveys can help an organisation identify the underlying cause of employee unrest and through their findings help find solutions.

Periodically

As part of a periodic assessment, surveys will help an organisation review their personnel and monitor on an individual level job satisfaction, training and career development.

Employee surveys also offer senior management the opportunity to look at the soft underbelly of their organisation to confirm that their 'top down' view of the organisation matches the reality and 'bottom up' perspective.

With the help of employee surveys an organisation can establish good employer/employee communication that will in turn bring both direct and indirect benefits.

Step 2 - Management Buy-In

Management buy-in is always desirable for any initiative and many will argue that it is essential to ensure a successful employee survey, however, in some instances the findings of an employee survey can lead to kick-starting a management that has grown complacent and detached from their employees.

Some organisation may be fortunate in that the senior management recognise and drive the need for employee surveys, while in others the management may need to first be convinced of the direct and indirect benefits an employee survey will bring.

The level of management commitment to an employee survey will have some bearing on the nature of the survey and to some extent will help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked.

A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organisation is high.

In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required.

Step 3 - Designing The Survey

Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the 'need to know' questions and removing the 'nice to know' a survey will rapidly take shape.

Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organisation, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey.

When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analysed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyse and should therefore be
avoided or used sparingly.

With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be.

Step 4 – Proof Reading And Testing

Grammar, Spelling And Clarity

Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again.

Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say

When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee?

Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully

For closed questions where the employee will be required to choose from a number of available responses have you allowed the employee to answer accurately? Make use of responses like 'Don't know', 'No comment' or 'Not Applicable' where you have made the question mandatory but the employee may not be able to answer.

Consider allowing the employee to include an 'Other' answer but also appreciate that 'Other' answers will add to the complexity when analysing the survey results.

Don't Require A Response To Questions That May Not Have One

Check that for any questions that you have made mandatory you do require an answer, for example open questions such as asking for additional comments should not be mandatory unless you definitely require the respondent to write a comment.

Check You Will Be Able To Analyse The Data

Check through the survey again but this time looking at how the results of the survey will be analysed. Consider how you are likely to want to analyse the survey data, have you asked the right questions to be able to perform detailed analysis? For example if you wanted to view the detailed response data from the perspective of the different genders, or maybe departments, check you have asked the employee to indicate their own gender and/or department.

Don't Ask Anymore Questions Than You Need To

Consider all the questions in the survey and look for questions that are not 'need to know'.

Test The Link And Try Completing The Survey

Publish the survey and then send the survey's link to a number of people who will be willing to test the survey. By completing the survey yourself you will get a feel for how the respondent will view the survey. From your own and others feedback stop and make adjustments to the survey as required.

Repeat this process until you are happy with the survey.

Check The Data

Take time to view the online summary results of the test data and confirm that the data is being collected in a manner that can be properly analysed and that will give meaningful results.

Step 5 – Promoting And Deploying The Survey

Where all or the majority of employees have access to the internet or company intranet deploying the online survey is as easy that ABC, either via email or by establishing a link to the survey from your own website or Intranet.

Where there are some or many employees that do not have direct access to the internet there are a number of alternatives that can be used from issuing the survey in printed form, providing a shared terminal or giving them an incentive to complete the survey at home.

There are many ways to promote your online survey and although email appears to be the most common method there are many others that can be used to compliment email.

Anonymous Responses?

There is a choice to allow all surveys to be completed anonymously. Allowing a survey to be anonymous may encourage employees to speak their minds enabling the survey to provide 'a warts and all' report, in turn giving management an opportunity to address underlying problems before they become serious.

However, allowing anonymous comments also allows employees to be more cavalier and flippant with their responses. Some organisations would therefore only want to consider comments where employees are prepared to stand by their convictions and that will also provide an opportunity to follow up the specific concerns of individual employees.

The decision to allow anonymous responses or not will, among other factors, be down to the individual organisation, the specific nature of the survey, the surrounding circumstances, the management style and the existing employer/employee relationship.

Step 6 – Monitoring The Survey

While the survey is in progress you will be able to view the summary results online and also monitor in real-time the number of surveys that have been both started and completed.

If after a few days the number of completed surveys falls short of the expected target it is advisable
to send periodic reminders to employees asking them to complete the survey.

Step 7 - Analysing The Result

There are no hard and fast rules for analysing the data. Much depends on the individual survey, the
questions asked and the number of responses.

Most surveys will benefit from many of the results being displayed in graphical as well as tabular form.

When first analysing survey data often a number of 'headline' results will immediately stand out that will provide you with a general overview and, providing the right questions have been asked, give you an instant assessment of the mood throughout the organisation as a whole.

Where the results give areas of concern a more detailed analysis may be advisable. For example if employees were asked if they felt the organisation provided equal opportunities to both genders and 25% gave a negative response it would be useful to know the gender split of the organisation and also to look at what the gender split was of the 25% that answered negatively. Was the negative view shared by employees of both genders, evenly spread throughout the organisation, or of a particular gender from a particular department?

There is a method of reporting that presents the result data in tabular and/or graphical form allowing those who are interested in the results to view the raw data.

Often used as a compliment to the first, another method is to interpret the results and provide an analysis of the data and offer a view as to what the meaning is behind the results, what circumstances may have contributed to the results being as they are and, where the results indicate a negative, what initiatives could be taken. Such analysis if done by a single individual is likely to be very personal, if done by a committee it is still likely to be objective and therefore open to interpretation.

Step 8 – Further Action

Probably the most important step is the last. An employee survey will either confirm that the perfect organisation exists or it will highlight areas that are less than perfect by identifying individual and common concerns.

It may be that further more detailed surveys are required that target specific areas. For example the survey may reveal that employees working in a particular department are collectively unhappy, but the reasons for their dissatisfaction may not be clear. A smaller, specifically targeted follow-up survey may help reveal the root causes.

When employee surveys are periodically run an organisation that has taken steps to address issues will see their efforts reflected in subsequent survey responses. Almost all organisations have some problems and it helps an organisation's moral to see that a channel is available that will allow problems to be highlighted, addressed and resolved.

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Summary

These guidelines are intended to help an organisation conduct successful employee satisfaction surveys, they are however, only a guide.

Each organisation is different in style and structure and the organisations 'personality' will go someway to influencing the tone and nature of the survey and organisations may have different circumstances and primary reasons for conducting a survey.

By utilising existing technology and conducting surveys online you are now able to monitor the heart beat of an organisation, quickly, easily and, by using Survey Galaxy, at minimal cost.

The End of Pierce Brosnan As James Bond - How Did You Rate Him?

Pierce Brosnan reign as 007 is now at an end with the announcement that the less well known Daniel Craig will become the sixth James Bond in the twenty-first Bond film.

Pierce Brosnan took over the role from Timothy Dalton in 1995 and appeared in four bond films. Craig will now take over from Pierce Brosnan for the next film 'Casino Royale' which is due to start filming in January.

How do you rate Pierce Brosnan tenure as Bond and do you think that Daniel Craig will make a good Bond?

Tell us which of Bronsan's Bond films was his best and where you rate him compared to the other four actors who have played Bond?

If you would like to participate in our free survey click on this link Pierce Brosnan Is No Longer Bond - How Did You Rate Him?.