Survey Research

The right action starts with insight. Get the right
insights with survey research.

What is Survey Research?

Survey research is a methodology of collecting data from a group of people for a predefined goal. Survey research has three features in common. One is that the primary tool is a list of qualitative and quantitative questions. Secondly, this questionnaire is not shared with everybody in the group, but with a representative sample from that group. Finally, all the survey responses are analyzed and the statistics are presented as a report.

Sample

Choose a sample of respondents to represent your audience.

Group-499-4
Create

Create your survey questions, set scores and add visuals.

easy create
Share

Ask in person, distribute as a printout or share through online channels.

easy sharing
Analyze

Dig up valuable insights from a mix of qualitative and quantitative data.

Analyze data

Why You Need Survey Research

Although it is not perfect, there are many factors that give survey research an edge over other methodologies. Here’s why it is the leading tool that researchers use to gather data.

Cost-effective data

Cost-effective data

Compared to conventional interviews and offline panels, survey research - especially online surveys - are cheaper to produce, share and analyze.

Authentic insights

Authentic insights

Survey research’s unique sampling approach enables you to create a respondent list that mirrors all the diverse attributes of your audience - generating more well rounded insights.

Business optimization

Business optimization

Through survey research, you can get first hand feedback on how to improve various areas of your business - such as product, processes, customer experience and employee experience.

Sales & marketing optimization

Sales & marketing optimization

Find answers to the billion dollar questions: “What do our customers want? And how do we give it to them?”. Capture critical insights for your sales and marketing teams with survey research.

reach and scalability

Reach and scalability

From printouts and email surveys to social media and SMS surveys - there are plenty of ways to reach and expand your audience. Scale up your data collection efforts with survey research.

diverse feedback mode

Diverse feedback modes

From text feedback to opinions to ratings and numbers, survey research is the perfect way to get multiple perspectives and types of data in one place.

Types of Survey Research

Phone Surveys

Online Surveys

offline survey

Offline Surveys

focus survey

Focus groups

panel sampling survey

Panel sampling

Postal surveys

personal survey

In-person surveys

type of survey research

Survey Research Examples

Types of Survey Questions

Did you know that our average attention span is less than 8 seconds? So for a better response rate, keep your survey short (ideally 12 questions or less) and use the right mix of question types to capture all the data you need. Here’s a quick guide to question types for survey research.

Open-ended questions come with a comment box where the user can type their answers.

The comment box can be of a single-line or multiple-line format depending on the depth of information required.
Closed-ended questions have predefined answer options that the respondent can choose from.They come in various formats, such as: multiple choice, picture choice, Yes/No, numerical input questions, rankings, and contact detail questions.

Rating

Users can choose a rating on a scale of 1-5, with 1 star being the lowest and 5 the best.

Constant Sum

Constant Sum - This format shows a list of items to the respondent and asks them to assign a number to each item to represent its value.

Matrix

This enables your respondent to answer many questions at once using the same measuring scale.

Signature

This question allows the respondent to add their signature for verification, with options to type or upload it as a digital file.

Payment

This format enables the user to make credit card payments through your online survey form.

Consent/Agreement

This format displays your Terms and conditions followed by a checkbox for user content.

How the Survey Research Method Works

1.

Set your goal for the survey.

For eg. “Our goal is to identify our best selling items this quarter.”

2.

Identify your target group.

Segment them according to their attributes - firmographic for businesses, and demographic for individual customers.

3.

Choose your sample from the target group.

You can select your sample size with the help of free online tools.

4.

Craft your survey with a form creator.

This enables you to customize your design and questionnaire.

5.

Send a test survey.

You can analyze the results with a free MOE tool that measures how accurately the responses of your sample match your target group.

6.

Integrate your survey

Integrate your survey with collaboration tools like Hubspot and AWeber for cross-functional data sharing.

7.

Share with your audience

Share with your target audience offline, as a weblink, social share, website embed, email, SMS and more.

8.

Generate your report

Generate your report and analyze the results. Publish your report or share it with stakeholders for further action.

Survey Research FAQs

Choose your survey method according to the project’s purpose, its budget, the time available, and the size and nature of the respondents. There is no such thing as the perfect method. You will need to optimize your method to cover for its shortfalls, such as giving rewards on completion or using hybrid methodologies.
Keep it short - preferably one line that sums up your end goal. For best practices, check out our blog post: How to Conduct a Survey in 2021.
There are no hard and fast rules on survey length so you can experiment to find out what’s best for you. A good guideline is to consider the type of survey, your target audience, and when they will be taking the survey.
When you have collected all the data you need. This can be tricky to determine. One rule of thumb is to fix a target number of responses. Use it to track the survey’s progress: the number of completed submissions, partial submissions, and non-responses. Within a week, this tracking should help you decide if your survey efforts are enough to achieve your target.
Absolutely, with a few adjustments. For eg., If you’re taking a job engagement survey, it doesn’t make sense to ask the exact same questions to an employee and a manager as they face different hurdles to engagement. You can use survey logic and filter questions to target specific groups within your audience.
Yes. There are two scenarios where this is useful: when you want to check the consistency of your user’s response, and when you want to know more about a response to a specific question. You can enable the second option with Answer Piping.
As many as you need to collect the data you need. Keep in mind though, that your respondents might not have the patience to do lengthy surveys. So one rule of thumb is to check that your survey does not take more than 5-10 minutes to finish.
SurveySparrow an omnichannel experience platform that uses data to help you refine interactions at all touchpoints, including lead capture, prospect qualification, customer engagement, employee screening and more. The core of our program is conversational surveys that can help you boost your response rates by 40%.
You can get access to a pre-screened audience. Based on your survey questions, audience demographics and the required number of responses, you will get a custom sample to suit your criteria.
No data collection method guarantees 100% accuracy. However, the accuracy of your results depends to a large extent on the quality of your survey design. Check out our blog ideas to take your survey to the next level!

See how well we fare over our competitors

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