From politics to marketing, from sociology to public health, surveys are routinely used for gathering information about an identified population. Surveys may cover a large swath of a population, such as the U.S. Census, or represent a microcosm of a larger population, such as a neighborhood public health survey.

In community health assessment, surveys are commonly used to explore an issue more widely than is possible through individual interviews or focus groups. Surveys may collect quantitative or qualitative data, or both. This week, you examine the use of surveys in community health assessment. Specifically, you consider the advantages and challenges of involving community members in both the design and implementation of surveys.

For this Discussion, review the Resources related to community involvement in survey design and implementation. Review the media titled Surveys. Consider some of the different ways that surveys were implemented and how the community was or was not involved in their design and implementation.

With these thoughts in mind:

3 pages of one advantage and one challenge of conducting community public health surveys and explain why. Describe one benefit and one limitation of involving the community in designing a survey and explain why. Then, describe one advantage and one challenge to involving the community in the implementation of a survey and explain why.