David,

This is an interesting question - and prompts some questions on the
requirement you have in mind, to help in homing in on solutions. For
instance, is the context the use by visitors of a "questionnaire"
terminal, in which case a very "friendly" interface must be a priority;
or use by museum staff "across the desk" with visitors selected by some
criteria; or telephone survey (eg. on awareness of museums in a
locality?); or use for analysis of questionnaire results (conventional
or electronic).

The range of questionnaire formats/length etc is infinite, and the size
of visitor survey sample is perhaps typically not large, so for
staff/analysis use maybe spreadsheet is the straightforward answer.
However, for (semi)permanent placing in the museum, hoping to trap a
self-selected sample of visitor reactions (but accuracy of inferences
becomes an issue) certainly a well designed GUI is needed.

Teplephone surveys are possibly the most developed area and market
research companies might be  a fruitful place to ask.

I'll be interested in the responses, anyway

Bob Melling
>Is any museum-ler using specialist software to undertake visitor surveys
>(ie not standard spreadsheets)
>
>Would be grateful for any experiences out there.
>
>David
>David Dawson                           email: [log in to unmask]
>- - - - - - -
>Outreach Manager - ICT                 Museum Documentation Association
>
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--
Bob Melling
Chromus Consultants
London