Survey/ Questionnaire

Survey/Questionnaire

What is it?

Surveys are tools used to gather data on a topic from people that have been involved or have interest in that topic. The surveys asks multiple questions to gather the data that is needed. The survey can be in created in different styles as electronic verbal, or printed and can be administered via email, mail, phone, in person, and many more. A questionnaire is a type of survey that asks written questions

How is it used?

The survey is presented to a person or group. The data from the survey is gathered and analyzed and a conclusion is made from the data. The survey can require a person to administer or can be completely independent. Questionnaires are either open, closed, or open-closed.

Why is it used?

Surveys allow quick information gathering and are cheap to administer. The data pool is fairly large since the surveys can be administered to multiple people or groups because of the costs. The data is also relevant to the topic since it targets a group of people that have an interest in the topic.

Advantages and disadvantages of use?

Advantages

Surveys are cheap to make and administer. The data collected is fairly large and relevant to the topic.

Disadvantage

Not everyone fills out the surveys. There is no live observation on the people or group taking the survey. The questions might confuse the participants and result in wrong data collection or incomplete surveys.

Real World Examples of use?

In certain stores the cashier will ask the customer to fill out the survey on the back of the receipt. Places like Gamestop, Best Buy or Kroger use this type of survey implementation.

References:

McKee, S.(2015). Are you using a questionnaire or survey to collect data? Retrieved from https://www.surveygizmo.com/resources/blog/taking-the-question-out-of-questionnaires/

Thayer-Hart, N., Dykema, J., Elver, K., Scaeffer, N., Stevenson, J. (2010). Survey Fundamentals: A Guide to Designing and Implementing Surveys. Retrieved from https://oqi.wisc.edu/resourcelibrary/uploads/resources/Survey_Guide.pdf