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

Interviewer error

Surrogate info. error

Sample design error

Selection error

Population specification

errorFrame error

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. Systematic Error Error that results from problems/flaws in the execution of the research design; sometimes called nonsampling 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

Types of Errors in Survey ResearchII. 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 ResearchII. 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 ResearchII. 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 MethodFactor 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 MethodFactor 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 self-administered method.

Same weaknesses as for self-administered 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.