Survey research is a useful method of data collection, whether it is market research or online studies. When it is done properly, it can improve performance and make an impact, otherwise – your research would be a mess. 

We propose you look through the key points of the typical survey research, as they may bring you a basic understanding of what survey research is. Using this information, you may start your first research and improve your awareness, if you have already done one.

Survey Research — The Definition

Normal survey research is a scientific method of data gathering from the respondents, who may include customers, target audience, clients, partners, competitors, and professionals from diverse backgrounds. 

In the course of a research process, you may obtain data that may be a good supplement for the traditional market and economic data (like sales, cost of resources, and demand). Survey data may show the ways of performance improvement, and brand promotion, or provide you with insights regarding product range.

The Several Methods To Conduct Survey Research

Online/ Email

Please consider the following types of survey research, as they prove to be efficient; they are also among the most popular survey types. You may choose an online survey or email survey to quickly reach your target audience. As the questionnaire and responses here can be made in digital form, they are suitable for analysis in your software. The survey data is simply gathered and then exported to your device.

Phone

Phone surveys are the best way to reach a broad audience with a humble budget. Although, you should choose the proper timing as your audience may not have much time to answer complex questions. Create simple questions and arrange them in your questionnaire, you will need them every time you are dialing a phone number.

Face-to-Face

Face-to-face surveys were frequently used in the 20th century, but now they are replaced with online surveys in most cases as they are cheaper and easier to handle. You may need face-to-face focus groups or B2B surveys, also you may ask consumers’ opinions near malls and grocery stores.

Longitudinal Survey Research

Longitudinal survey research takes place when you need to observe changes in taste, attitude, demand, or opinion. Within this research method, researchers examine the same group of respondents several times during a long period.

Cross-Sectional Survey Research

Cross-sectional survey research is conveyed among various respondents (and even target audiences) at a specific point in time. These surveys obtain data from sample populations or any predefined set of individuals.

What’s the Process of Implementing Survey Research Methods Like

Once you have decided which type of survey you are going to conduct, go through four simple steps to get the best results. Firstly, choose questions’ types, their quantity, and order and put them on the list to create a questionnaire for your research. Same as a survey report, a survey questionnaire is a basic document in every survey.

After the questionnaire preparation, choose your target audience. Do it carefully, as it influences the whole survey results. The survey sample is the central point of this stage, it has to reflect the population and represent all the features of your audience.

Now, you have a questionnaire and know those whose participation is vital. It’s time to remember which medium you’ve chosen (according to survey type) and to spread survey questionnaires via one of the suitable mediums: emails, social networks, phone, or personally. You may adjust the time by which respondents may take part in the survey.

Once the answers are collected, you should analyze the obtained data. In order to do it right, you should group the data and structure it according to the survey questions. Make short explanations about maximum and minimum values and pay attention to every significant statistical variation. Finally, a survey report is produced as the main result of a survey.

How Many Survey Research Scales Are There?

Nominal Scale

Before you start a survey, you should know that scale questions can bring a new dimension to the survey quality. Look through the examples of the most popular scales in the survey research. A nominal scale is used to classify and identify objects. Numbers in this scale are used simply to mark or label the things (possible answer options).

Ordinal Scale

On the ordinal scale, possible answers are ranked but without specification of the difference. “Ordinal” here simply means “order”. For example, you may order products related to your brand and assign separate answer options for each product.

Interval Scale

Interval scale questions plus to the order within answer options make the difference between answers equal and well adjusted. For example, you may ask about the number of the respondent’s family members.

Ratio Scale

The ratio scale is a truly quantitative question type. The answer options usually contain intervals of values. Also, a true zero value is frequently included as an answer option. Please consider that answers to scale questions can be analyzed quantitatively, hence they can provide truly meaningful survey data measured in digits.