Using Microsoft Excel as an Alternative Survey Instrument

Over the past ten years, the use of the Internet and e-mails as communication tools has become
ubiquitous. In the survey arena, the rising costs of gathering survey data have been partly
compensated by the introduction of a range of new, relatively cost effective survey instrument. The
use of the internet has led to an ever increasing number of online surveys, which not only reduce the
cost per respondent in terms of information gathered but also time spent in the entering and cleaning
of data. In contrast to internet surveys which require considerable upfront investment in terms of
programming, the use of Microsoft Excel as a means of gathering survey data requires minimal
programming skills on behalf of the researcher whilst offering the same benefits afforded by
internet surveys. In this paper we present a case study investigating the use of Microsoft Excel as a
survey instrument and assess its usefulness against a range of criteria. The case study examines a
multi-attribute survey conducted to create a new psychological scale using a local (Australian)
population of students.