Editorial policies and reader ratings

We have an e-newsletter program, and at the bottom of each
online article, we have begun surveying readers with one simple
question. How informative/useful was this article? They rate
their answer on scale from 1-5 (obviously could lead many
ratings to land on 3 as neutral). We just started this program so
anticipate a flood of data beginning to pour in over the next few
months. I feel increasingly hesitant over the “importance” of this
data when considering my colleagues’ desires to drive future
articles and initiatives from the results.

What information is out there that can inform me further on the
validity of this kind of data gathering and/or how to analyze this
data with a big grain of salt?