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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Phil I applaud your courage for saying what so many are thinking. I've spent many years sitting on both sides of this table.  As an informal educator for over 18 years, I would guess that I was requested to participate in at least one survey per week (and that was before SurveyMonkey existed). They were always lengthy and I rarely felt that my institution would benefit from them.  As the evaluator that I have been for the past 5 years, I still find them to be annoying, time consuming and rarely applicable to me or my clients.  

I was fortunate to intern for Beverly Serrell years ago.  She taught me many things, but three that I consider to be the most important are: 
1.Always show the participant that you value their time and effort by providing some form of compensation.  The compensation must be percieved by the participant as being equivalent to or of greater value than the amount of effort and time that they are giving you.  So for example if we are asking them to take 5 minutes to complete a survey- then the compensation should be perceived to be worth somewhere around $3 (That was in 2001 dollars)  
2.The study must be relevant and participants must be able to see the potential benefit to themselves. 
3. Keep it short!!!  No wonder people are leary (or weary) of participating.  I could ask hundreds of questions-and yes, I and my clients always want to.  But unless the participants know in advance that they are making a significant time commitment, that you are providing compensation that is quivalent to the time and effort they are putting in then it must be short!  If you fail to make it short and the participant feels suckered into doing something that took more from them (effort and time) than they anticipated, then the likelihood of them ever agreeing to participate again goes down exponentially.

'Hope attendance is up, camps are going well, exhibit components are operating without problems and everyone's summer is going great!
Monica
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Monica Post, Director
MPR Museum Consulting
Your Key to Exhibit Success!
www.MPRconsultants.com
       and
Camp in a Can
The First All Inclusive Day Camp Curriculum
It's All in the Can! 
www.CampinaCan.com

105 NE 64th Street
Des Moines, IA 50327
Phone: (515) 265-4837
Fax: (515) 265-2404
Cell: (515) 249-2222



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