Definition

A survey or questionnaire is used to collect large amounts of qualitative and quantitative information. This includes information about customers, products, work practices, and attitudes. It gathers it from a group of people in a structured way and in a relatively short period of time.

Surveys use a set of structured questions sent to a group of people whose responses are then analysed. This allows to formulate knowledge about the topic of interest.

Why use a survey/questionnaire?

  • Information is easier to collect from a larger audience.
  • Quick and relatively inexpensive.
  • Does not require significant time from respondents.
  • Reaches geographically dispersed stakeholders.
  • Close-ended questions capture quantitative data for use in statistical analysis.
  • Open-ended questions provide additional insights or opinions not easily obtained through other elicitation techniques.

  • For unbiased results, specialized skills in statistical sampling methods may be required.

    Response rates may be too low for statistical significance.

    The responses to open-ended questions are more difficult and time-consuming to categorize, quantify, and summarize. They are unstructured and often include subjective language with incomplete or superfluous content.

    Questions must be asked in a way that does not influence the participant’s response. They should be expressed in neutral language and should not be structured or sequenced to condition the respondent to provide perceived desirable answers.

    Types of survey questions

    Making and using a Survey/Questionnaire

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