IELTS Speaking Task: Cue Card Question With Sample Answer on Survey

PART 2 

Describe a time when you were asked to give your opinion in a questionnaire or survey.

You should say:

• what the questionnaire/survey was about
• why you were asked to give your opinions
• what opinions you gave
• and explain how you felt about giving your opinions in this questionnaire/survey.

I can definitely remember that I took part in the poll that was done at our university. I was a fifth-semester student at the time, and I was heavily involved in the university debate team. I believe it was a Friday night, and as I entered the debate team room on the sixth floor of our institution, I was informed that our session would take place in the auditorium. We walked out of the room and into the theater. I was shocked to see some of the top administrative officials in the hallway, and I later discovered that they were talking about the debate team we had.

They congratulated us and pledged to assist the squad and the association in any way they could so that we could continue to train and perform even better in the future. The debate team members, coaches, and related participants were asked to participate in a survey as part of the discussion. I discovered that the questionnaire was 2 pages long and contained about 20 questions after receiving the survey materials and a pen. The majority of the questions were multiple choice, but five or six of them required us to provide our opinions or thoughts in writing. The survey's focus was on the efforts and enhancements that may be made to our university debate team to make it even better.

I mainly discussed what needs to be done to improve the debate team, expressed appreciation for the university administration's assistance thus far, and especially emphasized the challenges we have encountered and the actions that need to be made to resolve these problems. When they performed the survey, I felt incredibly pleased and almost honored to be a member of the team since I was thrilled that the higher administration was paying attention to our debate team. The overall experience was positive, which is why I can still remember this survey even though I've taken a lot of marketing and internet surveys before.

PART 3 

What kinds of organizations want to find out about people’s opinions?

To learn more about people's perspectives, various governmental agencies, political parties, manufacturing firms, and service providers undertake surveys. Government bodies conduct the surveys to determine how they are doing, while businesses and service providers want to know if their goods and services are satisfying the needs of their customers. Political parties undertake polls to determine the level of public support for their political platforms. Even different media outlets, including TV and newspapers, occasionally carry out polls on behalf of various businesses and service providers.

Do you think that questionnaires or surveys are good ways of finding out people’s opinions?

I really don't believe that polls or questionnaires are effective ways to learn about people's perspectives because it's not always possible to contact the appropriate group of people who are knowledgeable enough to provide accurate answers. Furthermore, even if we were to speculate for a moment that respondents would be sufficiently informed to provide accurate answers, we could never be certain that they were being completely truthful—possibly out of a sense of obligation to please the survey creators.

What reasons might people have for not wanting to give their opinions?

People might not want to share their ideas in a survey or questionnaire for a variety of reasons. However, I believe that choosing the incorrect time and location would be the key factor. In reality, when rushing to get to work or in the middle of something extremely essential, people wouldn't exactly feel very happy to answer some random questions, posed by some entirely unknown surveyors, about some random products or services. In addition, most people just aren't comfortable sharing their personal information with others unless it's for their own interests rather than those of arbitrary businesses or groups.

Do you think it would be a good idea for schools to ask students their opinions about lessons?

As long as they simply inquire about whether or not the students are enjoying their classes or gaining anything from the curriculums, I think it would be a great idea for schools to question students about their comments on the lessons. However, in my opinion, the school administration should never ask the students for their comments on the types of courses that should be given in the classrooms because they merely lack the necessary knowledge or credentials to make such a crucial decision.

What would the advantages for schools be if they ask students their opinions?

I think asking students for their opinions on general concerns, such as whether they are enjoying or benefiting from their lectures, may be advantageous for schools because the responses would enable the administration to take the correct action to solve the problems. Opinions on the kinds of extracurricular activities that might be advantageous to pupils would also aid the school administration in long-term leadership skill development for their students.

Would there be any disadvantages in asking students’ opinions?

In order to improve the learning environment at schools, it is acceptable occasionally in order to solicit student opinions on a variety of topics. However, this practice is not without risk because the students might believe they have the ability to influence the decisions made by school administrators and their lesson plans. And if that were the case, pupils wouldn't actually respect the authority of their teachers at school, which would then be detrimental to the already pleasant learning environment.