Many iGEM teams conduct surveys as a part of their Human Practices iGEM project. There are two common motivations for measuring the public opinion; to learn more about attitudes concerning controversial aspects of synthetic biology or for measuring the characteristics of the population which are relevant to their iGEM project. Let's talk more about what you can do and how.
A responsible scientist should take care for public opinion and be aware of what society thinks about their topic. For example, if you are experimenting with plants that are genetically modified, you may want to know what the community think about the issue and how much people generally know about genetically modified plants.
For example in the Valencia UPV iGEM team 2014, they developed surveys and consulted many experts about the bioethical and safety issues related to their project. They developed plants that produced insect pheromones to produce s**ual disruption, so that the insects wouldn't be able to reproduce. This plants were placed in the field, but not meant to human consumption, so they evaluated that the public concern was more favorable than with other GMO crops.
You might want to collect data about the iGEM community or the general public to help in the design of your project. If you are developing a product, you will want to know how people will use it in their everyday life and if it is effective. If you are developing a tool for industrial water treatment plants, you should check with treatment plants in your area to have feedback on the tool.
For example, the 2014 Linkoping iGEM team conducted a research about peanut allergy The purpose was to gain a better understanding of how individuals with a peanut allergy are affected by their allergy in everyday life and whether there is currently a need for a product for the detection of allergens in food and beverages.
Surveys can be done by interviews, by phone, or by online forms. Online forms are flexible and allow for easy data collection. Several online applications can help you make a form or conduct a survey without previous training. For example www.typeform.com and Google forms are free and intuitive options among the many that you can find on the web.
Exploring for correlations between the data you collect and factors such as age or gender can reveal useful information regarding potential biases. However you must be sure not to collect detailed personal data that may infringe on a persons privacy. Participants must also know how you will use the responses and how data will be stored. In general, do not ask for names,email addresses or detailed personal information and always be transparent.
All of this allows you to show that your team is taking public opinion seriously and that you are trying to empathize with the needs and the thoughts of your community.