It is the conclusion of this research that Excel provides a
useful, flexible and easy to use Internet survey design
programme. It should be considered by academics
(particularly research students), schools and commercial
organisations (particularly smaller companies with
limited resources) as a legitimate alternative to specific
survey software . Its usability in these organisations is
improved however where pre-existing relationships exist
as this helps avoid problems of reaching the sample
caused by internet security programs.
Whilst we did not use it to design an online hosted survey,
it could be developed for this purpose. This use may be
where it is more suited to the commercial world because
design and presentational issues can be more rigorously
controlled. Internal company research is another area to
consider. The slightly “ad hoc” nature of the email
attachment survey, by this we mean it is clear that email
attachments are clever use of a program primarily
designed for other purposes, may work better for the
academic. This association may reinforce the not-forprofit
nature of the research and the goodwill this
generates may support the higher academic response rates.