Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys
Surveys have pros and cons. Just like every research method, you need to weigh your options. Take a good look at the advantages and disadvantages to see if it is the best method for your business. Some studies excel when using surveys, and others suffer. Here are some things to consider before deciding that a survey is a right choice.
Ease
A survey can be easy to do in a lot of ways. They can be straightforward to create. Many sites are dedicated to creating the perfect questionnaire, and it doesn’t take too long. Survey Monkey is the top-rated site right now. As long as you are not giving the questions in person, they are simple to administer. It is only a click away through the mail, email, text message, or telephone. Collecting and organizing the data provided is also easy to assemble with the program offered. It could all be done by just a few people, meaning it will cost less to produce.
Range
Surveys can cover many areas. They can look at opinions and beliefs in a way that other sciences cannot. Behaviors can also be analyzed. With the way they are sent out, they can reach more people. Even if the professionals are in one state, they can get responses from all over the country without having to be there physically. This means they can have a broader demographic in their research. Making the data a better representation of how the majority of people feel.
Reliability
There will not be a response from every person that it is sent to. This can affect the data. To have a good range, you need people from every background to respond. Without responses from every group, the results could be biased. Another issue is lying. There is no way to know that the answers provided are honest. Especially when the topic is of a sensitive or controversial nature. People want to be accepted and will say what they think people want to hear. Even when anonymous, this can be an issue.
Bias
There is a lot of bias that needs to avoided when using surveys. Asking the perfect question is not always what happens. If the questions used are biased, the results of the study will be skewed. Who the survey is distributed to also needs to lack any bias. They need to reach every demographic. Only hearing from sub-groups will end in having unreliable results. Along the same line is nonresponse bias. Asking the right people and getting enough responses is not always simple to do. It can be challenging to get all the people you need to respond. If the data is skewed, then you cannot use the results.
The advantages of using a survey tend to outweigh the disadvantages. The ease of creating and distributing make the inconveniences worth it. It also means that it is cheaper to use surveys to do research. Saving money is beneficial to every business.