Method and system for conducting one or more surveys

Abstract

A method and a system for conducting one or more surveys for a plurality of participants is disclosed. Each survey includes one or more of a plurality of options and one or more issues. The method and system includes presenting one or more of the plurality of options and the one or more issues associated with each survey to the participants. Each participant then ranks one or more of the options and the issues to create one or more influent functions for each survey. Thereafter, one or more influent functions associated with a participant is aggregated across all participants to create a collective influent function for each survey. The collective influent function for each survey is based on one or more of a satisfaction score and a dissonance score. The possible potential outcomes associated with each survey are then ranked based on the collective influent function.

1 . A method of conducting at least one survey, each survey of the at least one survey comprising a plurality of options and at least one issue, wherein each option is associated with a characteristic, the method comprising:
 presenting the plurality of options and the at least one issue associated with each survey to a plurality of participants, wherein an issue of the at least one issue comprises two or more options;   ranking at least one of the plurality of options and the at least one issue by the plurality of participants for each survey to create a plurality of influent functions for each survey, wherein the ranking is optionally based on at least one criterion, the plurality of influent functions comprises at least one influent function associated with each participant of the plurality of participants, wherein an influent function associated with a survey determines a score for each outcome of a plurality of potential outcomes associated with the survey, wherein an influent function associated with a participant is based on a participant profile of the participant of the plurality of participants;   aggregating at least one of the at least one influent function associated with each participant across the plurality of participants to create a collective influent function for each survey, wherein the collective influent function for each survey is based on at least one of a satisfaction score and a dissonance score, wherein the satisfaction score represents a degree of satisfaction associated with each participant of the plurality of participants for each potential outcome of a plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey of the plurality of surveys, wherein the dissonance score represents a measure of difference in satisfaction between the plurality of participants for each potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey; and   ranking the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey based on the collective influent function associated with each survey.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the participant profile associated with each participant comprises at least one of a satisfaction score associated with each survey, a dissonance score associated with each survey, an influent level for each survey, and a weight assigned to each survey, wherein the influent level for each survey is a weighing factor assigned to the at least one influent function associated with a participant, wherein the weight assigned to each survey represents a relative importance of the survey to the participant. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein creating an influent function for a participant for a survey comprises modifying at least one influent function of the plurality of influent functions associated with the survey. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein modifying the at least one influent function comprises at least one of varying a rank of at least one option of the plurality of options associated with the at least one influent function, varying a rank of at least one issue of the at least one issue associated with the at least one influent function, and applying a rule to the at least one influent function. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein creating an influent function for a participant comprises generating an influent function using the at least one influent function associated with the participant and at least one potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes, wherein the at least one potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes is based on the at least one influent function associated with the participant, wherein at least one potential outcome of the plurality of outcomes is associated with a characteristic. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein creating an influent function for a participant for a survey comprises merging at least two influent functions of the plurality of influent functions associated with the survey by the participant by varying a weight associated with each of the at least two influent functions. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein varying a weight associated with each of the at least two influent functions is based on a trust rank associated with each participant of at least one participant associated with the at least two influent functions. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one survey, the plurality of options, the at least one issue, and the at least one criterion is defined by at least one of at least one of the plurality of participants and at least one administrator. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein ranking at least one of the plurality of options and the at least one issue associated with a survey comprises providing at least one of a numerical score, a percentage weight, and a function over a numeric range associated with a characteristic associated with an option or an outcome. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each survey of the at least one survey is conducted at a different instance of time. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising eliminating at least one non-actionable outcome from the plurality of potential outcomes for each survey based on at least one rule defined by at least one of at least one of the plurality of participants and at least one administrator. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising ordering the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey for each participant of the plurality of participants based on the at least one of the at least one influent function associated with each participant for each survey. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dissonance score is based on at least one of:
 a standard deviation of satisfaction for each potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey;   a number of participants having a higher satisfaction score than a participant and a number of participants having a lower satisfaction score than the participant for each survey;   a difference in satisfaction between a preferred outcome of a participant for a survey and a final outcome for the survey; and   a sum of differences in satisfaction for a potential outcome associated with each survey across the plurality of participants.   
     
     
         14 . A system for conducting at least one survey, each survey of the at least one survey comprising a plurality of options and at least one issue, wherein each option is associated with a characteristic, comprising:
 a presenting module for presenting the plurality of options and the at least one issue associated with each survey to a plurality of participants, wherein an issue of the at least one issue comprises two or more options;   a receiving module for receiving ranks for at least one of the plurality of options and the at least one issue by the plurality of participants for each survey to create a plurality of influent functions for each survey, wherein the ranking is optionally based on at least one criterion, the plurality of influent functions comprises at least one influent function associated with each participant of the plurality of participants, wherein an influent function associated with a survey determines a score for each outcome of a plurality of potential outcomes associated with the survey, wherein an influent function associated with a participant is based on a participant profile of the participant of the plurality of participants;   an aggregation module for aggregating at least one of the at least one influent function associated with each participant across the plurality of participants to create a collective influent function for each survey, wherein the collective influent function for each survey is based on at least one of a satisfaction score and a dissonance score, the aggregation module comprising at least one of:
 a satisfaction determination module for calculating a degree of satisfaction associated with each participant of the plurality of participants for each potential outcome of a plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey of the plurality of surveys; and 
 a dissonance determination module for calculating a measure of difference in satisfaction between the plurality of participants for each potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey; and 
   a ranking module for ranking the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey based on the collective influent function associated with each survey to create a collective ranking of potential outcomes for each survey.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the participant profile associated with each participant comprises at least one of a satisfaction score associated with each survey, a dissonance score associated with each survey, an influent level for each survey, and a weight assigned to each survey, wherein the influent level for each survey is a weighing factor assigned to the at least one influent function associated with a participant, wherein the weight assigned to each survey represents a relative importance of the survey to the participant. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14  further comprising a modification module configured to allow modifying at least one influent function of the plurality of influent functions associated with each survey, wherein modifying the at least one influent function associated with each survey by a participant creates at least one influent function for the participant for each survey. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein modifying the at least one influent function comprises at least one of varying a rank of at least one option of the plurality of options associated with the at least one influent function, varying a rank of at least one issue of the at least one issue associated with the at least one influent function, and applying a rule to the at least one influent function. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14  further comprising an influent function generation module for generating an influent function using the at least one influent function associated with the participant and at least one potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes, wherein the at least one potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes is based on the at least one influent function associated with the participant, wherein each outcome of the plurality of outcomes is associated with a characteristic. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14  further comprising a trust establishing module for establishing trust ranks among the plurality of participants. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  further comprising a merging module configured to allow merging at least two influent functions of the plurality of influent functions associated with a survey, wherein merging the at least two influent functions by a participant creates an influent function for the participant for the survey, wherein merging the at least two influent functions comprises varying a weight associated with each of the at least two influent functions, wherein varying a weight associated with each of the at least two influent functions is based on a trust rank associated with each participant of at least one participant associated with the at least two influent functions. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 14  further comprising a shortlisting module for eliminating at least one non-actionable outcome from the plurality of potential outcomes for each survey based on at least one rule defined by at least one of at least one of the plurality of participants and at least one administrator. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 14  further comprising an ordering module for ordering the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey for each participant of the plurality of participants based on the at least one of the at least one influent function associated with each participant for each survey. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the a dissonance score calculation module calculates a dissonance score based on at least one of:
 a standard deviation of satisfaction for each potential outcome of the plurality of potential outcomes associated with each survey;   a number of participants having a higher satisfaction score than a participant and a number of participants having a lower satisfaction score than the participant for each survey;   difference in satisfaction between a preferred outcome of a participant for a survey and a final outcome for the survey; and   sum of differences in satisfaction for a potential outcome associated with each survey across the plurality of participants.