Conducting Surveys
Purpose of the Guide
Surveys are increasingly a part of the auditing tool kit. The purposes of this guide are to: set out requirements and expectations for the conduct and reporting of surveys by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG); identify some critical choices that must be made in deciding whether or not and how to conduct a survey; and, to provide information relevant to these choices. This guide is intended to ensure that surveys conducted in the OAG meet reasonable requirements and expectations of survey professionals as well as the VFM audit standards of the Office of the Auditor General. The use of the terms "must" and "should" in this guidance document do not necessarily have the status of OAG standards and policies. However, they reflect methodological requirements and expectations in the conduct of surveys.
Although some references are made to data analysis and reporting matters that are pertinent to the conduct of surveys, these are major topics on their own and are not dealt with in any detail here.
This guide is set out in 13 self-standing sections
Section 1: Definition and Required Practices
Sets out general requirements and expectations for the conduct and reporting of surveys.
Discusses the advantages of surveys and factors that can affect the decision as to whether or not to conduct a survey.
Section 3: Planning the Survey
Outlines the questions that must be answered during audit planning in deciding whether and how to conduct a survey.
Discusses basic considerations in sampling, i.e. deciding which individuals, documents or observations to include and how to select them.
Section 5: The Reliability and Validity of Survey Information
Defines reliability and validity, two critical technical issues that determine whether survey results will contribute to the provision of necessary and sufficient evidence in support of audit observations.
Discusses the need for corroboration of survey evidence.
Section 7: Advantages/Disadvantages of Different Approaches to Collecting Data from Individuals
Presents information to help guide the choice of approaches to collecting survey information from individuals.
Section 8: Developing and Verifying Data Collection Instruments
Discusses basic considerations in developing survey data collection instruments that are critical to assuring the reliability and validity of survey information.
Section 9: Anonymity and Confidentiality
Discusses the issues of anonymity and confidentiality of survey information.
The following sections describe basic survey practices that are essential to maintaining the reliability and validity of survey information.
Section 10: Maintaining Survey Integrity
Presents basic principles for managing surveys so as to maintain the integrity of the survey.
Section 11: Managing, Processing, and Analyzing Survey Data
Identifies precautions that must be taken in managing, processing and analyzing survey data.
Section 12: Pre-Testing Data Collection Instruments
Presents basic principles for pre-testing data collection instruments
Section 13: Managing Non-response
Provides advice on managing challenges to reliability and validity that occur when sample members do not provide all the required information.