5 Survey Research
Nature of Surveys
• Surveys require asking people—called
‘respondents’—for info. using either
verbal/written questions.
– Questionnaires/interviews collect data through mail,
telephone, or face-to-face.
• Sample survey is a more formal term for a survey.
• A survey is defined as a method of collecting
primary data based on communication with
representative sample of individuals.
Survey Objectives
• Typically, surveys attempt to describe what is
happening or to learn the reasons for a
particular marketing activity.
• The common survey objectives: identifying
characteristics of target markets, measuring
consumer attitudes and describing consumer
purchasing patterns.
Advantages of Surveys
• Surveys provide a quick, inexpensive, efficient,
and accurate means of assessing info. about a
population.
• Moreover, surveys are quite flexible, and
when properly conducted, extremely valuable
to the manager.
Types of Errors in Survey Research
Total Survey
Error
Random error
Systematic
error (bias)
Measurement
error
Processing
error
Response bias
Nonresponse
bias
Measurement
instrument
bias
Sample
design error
Interviewer
error
Surrogate
info. error
Selection
error
Population
specification
error
Frame error
Types of Errors in Survey Research
Types of Error
I. Random Error
(Random Sampling Error)
Error that results from chance variation
(diff. between the sample value and the
true value of the population mean).
II.
Error that results from problems/flaws in
the execution of the research design;
sometimes called nonsampling error.
Systematic Error
A. Sample design error
Systematic error that results from an error
in the sample design/ sampling
procedures.
B. Measurement error
Systematic error that results from
variation between the info. being sought
and what is actually obtained by the
measurement process.
Types of Errors in Survey Research
II. Systematic Error
A. Sample design error
Frame error
Error resulting from an
inaccurate/incomplete sampling frame
(the list of population elements/members
from which units to be sampled are
selected) i.e. the use of published
telephone directory.
Population specification error
Error that results from incorrectly defining
the population/universe from which a
sample is chosen.
Selection error
Error that results from
incomplete/improper sampling
procedures or not following appropriate
procedures i.e. the interviewers might
decide to avoid some group of potential
respondents as they thought that they
may not do a survey.
Types of Errors in Survey Research
II. Systematic Error
B. Measurement error
Surrogate info. error
Error that results from a discrepancy
between the info. needed to solve a
problem and that sought by the
researcher i.e. the necessary question
was never asked in the research.
Interview error (interviewer bias)
Error that results from the interviewer’s
influencing—consciously or
unconsciously—the answers of the
respondent i.e. the dress, age, gender,
facial expression, body language or tone
of voice of the interviewer.
Measurement instrument bias
Error that results from the design of the
questionnaire or measurement
instrument; also known as questionnaire
bias i.e. leading questions/ the question
design.
Types of Errors in Survey Research
II. Systematic Error
B. Measurement error (cont.)
Processing error
Error that results from the incorrect transfer of
info. from a survey doc. to a computer.
Nonresponse bias
Error that results from a systematic difference
between those who do and those who do not
respond to a measurement instrument i.e. a
person cannot be reached at a particular time,
refuse to participate in the survey.
Response bias
Error that results from the tendency of people
to answer a question incorrectly through either
deliberate falsification (when people
purposefully give untrue answers to questions)
or unconscious misrepresentation (when
respondents is trying to be truthful and
accurate but give inaccurate response due to
question format/ content).
Types of Surveys
Door-to-Door Interviews
• Interviews conducted face to face with
consumers in their homes.
Types of Surveys
Executive Interviews
• Industrial equivalent of door-to-door
interviewing. It involves interviewing
businesspeople at their offices concerning
industrial products or services.
Types of Surveys
Mall-Intercept Interviews
• Interviews conducted by intercepting mall
shoppers (or shoppers in other high-traffic
locations) and interviewing them face to face.
Types of Surveys
Telephone Interviews
• Central-location telephone interviews:
interviews conducted by calling respondents
from a centrally located marketing research
facility.
– Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI):
central-location phone interviews in which
interviewers enter respondents’ answers directly
into a computer.
Types of Surveys
Telephone Interviews
• Cell phone surveys: interviews enable
researchers to implement surveys in either
text-based or voice-based formats or combine
both formats in a multimodal survey.
Types of Surveys
Self-Administered Questionnaires
• Questionnaires filled out by respondents with
no interviewer present.
Types of Surveys
Mail Surveys
• Ad hoc mail surveys: questionnaires sent to
select names and addresses without prior contact
by the researcher; sometimes called one-shot
mail surveys.
• Mail panels: precontacted and prescreened
participants who are periodically sent
questionnaires. It is a type of longitudinal study:
study in which the same respondents are
resampled over time.
Survey Research on the Internet
• The way survey research is conducted has
changed forever because of the internet. As
today, the number of the Internet users grows
worldwide.
• The fundamental shifts, in combination with
higher respondent cooperation and survey
completion rates, make it feasible to migrate
research applications from traditional
methodologies to the online environment—with
impressive results.
Advantages of Online Surveys
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rapid deployment, real-time reporting
Dramatically reduced costs
Ready personalization
High response rates
Ability to contact the hard-to-reach
Simplified and enhanced panel management
Profitability for research firms
Disadvantages of Online Surveys
• Internet users are not representative of the
population as a whole.
• Security on the Internet: privacy issues.
• An unrestricted Internet sample (self-selected
sample group consisting of anyone who wishes to
complete an Internet survey) is set up on the
Internet. They probably are the representative of
no one except Web surfers or the same Internet
user can access the questionnaire over and over.
Determination of Survey Method
Factor
Comment
Sampling precision
If the need for accuracy in the study
results is not great, less rigorous and less
expensive sampling procedures may be
appropriate.
Budget
It is important to determine how much
money is available for the survey portion
of study.
Requirements for respondents reactions
Taste tests and prototype usage tests
usually require face-to-face contact. Card
sorts, certain visual scaling methods, and
the like require either face-to-face contact
or the Internet.
Quality of data required
It is important to determine how accurate
the results of the study need to be.
Determination of Survey Method
Factor
Comment
Length of questionnaire
Long questionnaires are difficult to do by
mail, over the phone, or in a mail.
Incidence rate
(percentage of people/households in
general population that fit the
qualifications to be sampled)
It is important to select the method or
combination of methods that will provide
the desired survey results at a reasonable
cost.
Degree of structure of questionnaire
(follows a set of sequences or order,
predetermined wording of questions,
closed-ended questions)
Very brief, highly structured
questionnaires do not require face-to-face
contact between interviewer and
respondents.
Time available to complete survey
If the client needs to have survey results
quickly, the Internet is the best choice.
Generally, telephone, mall-intercept
interviews can also be completed in a
timely manner.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Selected Data
Collection Methods
(Quality Data Produced)
Method
Strengths
Weaknesses
Mall-intercept interview
Interviewer can show, explain,
and probe.
Many distractions are inherent
in the mall environment;
respondent may be in a hurry,
not proper frame of mind to
answer survey questions;
there is more chance for
interviewer bias;
nonprobability sampling
problems arise.
Central-location telephone
interview
Supervisor can monitor the
interviewing process easily;
excellent samples can be
obtained; interviewer can
explain and probe.
Respondent may be distracted
by things going on at their
location; problems arise in
long interviews and interviews
with many open-ended
questions. Many refuse to
participate.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Selected Data
Collection Methods
(Quality Data Produced)
Method
Strengths
Weaknesses
Self-administered
questionnaire
Interviewer and associated
biases are eliminated;
respondent can complete the
questionnaire when
convenient; respondent can
look up info. and work at own
pace.
There is no interviewer to
show, explain, or probe;
sample may be poor because
of nonresponse; who actually
completes the questionnaire
cannot be controlled.
Mail survey
Same strengths as for selfadministered method.
Same weaknesses as for selfadministered questionnaire;
sample quality is better with
mail panel.
Online survey
Administration is inexpensive;
data can be gather quickly;
questions can be readily
personalized; response rates
are high, especially for the
hard-to-reach; panel
management is easy.
Users may not be
representative of whole
population; privacy concerns
may arise; unrestricted sample
provides skewed results;
possibility of errors;
downloading problems.