Survey vs Questionnaire: Compare the Differences | Blog

The main difference between the two is that a questionnaire is a written set of questions, whereas a survey includes the questions (that is, the ... Home  ›   Blog  ›   SurveyvsQuestionnaire–What’stheRightChoiceforYou? SurveyvsQuestionnaire–What’stheRightChoiceforYou? October30,2020 0 Shares 29277 Views Manypeople,includingsomeprofessionalresearchers,usethewordssurveyandquestionnairesynonymously.But,thereisadifferencebetweenthetwoterms. Insomecases,usingthesetwowordsinterchangeablyisn’tsuchabigdealbecausethecontextusuallyclearsthingsup. However,inothercases,asubtlemishaplikethatcanimpactthemessage.That’swhyit’simportantforresearchers,managers,andmarketerstohaveclaritywhentalkingaboutsurveysandquestionnaires. Inthisarticle,wedigdeeperintothemeaningofeachwordsoyoucanunderstandhowandwhentouseeach. WhatIstheDifferenceBetweenaSurveyandaQuestionnaire? Themaindifferencebetweenthetwoisthataquestionnaireisawrittensetofquestions,whereasasurveyincludesthequestions(thatis,thequestionnaire),andthecollection,aggregation,andanalysisoftheresponsestothequestions. Questionnaire:Aquestionnaireisusedforcollectinginformationaboutindividualsfromalistofquestions.Itislimitedinitsscopeandisnotusedtoanalyzestatistics,findtrends,lookatbehavior,ortostudythebiggerpicture. Survey:Asurvey,ontheotherhand,usesasetofquestionstocollectdataforthepurposeofstatisticalanalysis.Itisusedforgatheringdatatouseforforecasting.Unlikethequestionnaire,surveydataisnotanalyzedinisolation,andsurveyshelptofindtrends,behavior,andtolookatthebigpicture. Source Inotherwords,aquestionnairereferstocontent,whilethetermsurveyisbroader,andencompassescontent,themethodofdeliveryforthequestionnaire,andanalysisoftheresponses. Sonowyouunderstandthedistinctionbetweenthewordssurveyandquestionnaire,andthatthetwotermscannotbeusedinterchangeably.Let’stakealookatwhenyoushoulduseasurveyasopposedtoaquestionnaire. SIGNINTOYOURQUALAROOACCOUNTTODAYTOGIVEITATESTDRIVE. WhentoUseaSurveyvs.aQuestionnaire Therearecertaintimeswhenabusinesswouldbenefitmostfromusingonlinesurveysoftware,andothertimeswhentheywouldbenefitmostfromquestionnaires.Herearesomeexamplesofwhentouseeach,andwhy. WhentoUseaSurvey: Asurveyisabetteroptionthanaquestionnaireifyouwantfeedbackfromrespondents.Asurveyallowsyoutoaggregatedatafrommultiplesurveyparticipantssoyoucanmakegeneralconclusionspertainingtoyourresults. ExampleofaSurvey:Inasense,asurveyisaquestionnaire,butthewayitisdesignedandimplemented,aswellasthewaythesurveyresultsareanalyzedimpacttheresultsofthesurveyasmuchasthequestionsasked. Anexampleofthesurveyisacustomersatisfactionsurvey(online,email,orpaper)thatabusinessusestogetactionablefeedbackfromtheirclientssotheycanprovidebetterservice. WhentoUseaQuestionnaire: Standalonequestionnairesdon’thaveagreatmanyusecases.Youcanusethemforbuildingyouremaillist,collectingpersonalaccountsforresearchprojects,orforacceptingdonationsorpayments. ExampleofaQuestionnaire:Whenyoulastvisitedthedoctor,youwerelikelyaskedtofillinaformwithspecificquestionsaboutyourmedicalhistory.Thatisanexampleofaquestionnaire. Thedoctorusedtheinformationyouprovidedtoassessrisk,makeadiagnosis,andgetapictureofyourmedicalhistory.But,hedidnotuseittolookforbehavior,trends,orabiggerpicture. Ipersonallycreatequestionnairesinmybusinesspriortocreatinganonlinecourse. Idothistobetterunderstandwhatmyaudiencelikesandwhattheirexperienceshavebeeninthepastwithothersources. Doingthishasledtosomeamazinginsightsthathaveproventobeveryvaluable. 5CommonMistakesWhenWritingSurveysandQuestionnaires Althoughthemajorityofresearchersandmarketerscancreateaneffectivesurvey,sometimessmallissuescanfindtheirwayintothequestionnaireandcompromisethequalityofthesurvey,resultinginmisleadingresults. Belowarefivecommonmistakesthatyoushouldavoidwhenwritingsurveysandquestionnaires. 1.WritingLeadingQuestions Leadingtherespondentisamongthemostcommonsurveymistakes.Theissueariseswhenadjectivesareusedthatcanswaythereadertoeithersideoftheargument. Thisisacommonproblembecauseorganizationsusuallyspendtimecreatinguserpersonasandthentheytrytowritethequestionswiththosepeopleinmind. Leadingquestionsincludenon-neutralwordingandtheytendtoinflateratingsinvariousaspectslikeproductresearchandcustomersatisfactionwhenusedinmarketresearchsurveys. Exampleofaleadingquestion:“Howlikelyareyoutopurchaseournewlydesigned,topoftherangesmartspeaker?” Theproblemwiththisquestionistheuseoftheadjectives“newlydesigned”and“topoftherange”whichcancausebias. Abetteroptionwouldbetousethosewordsintheproductorconceptdescriptions,butnotinthesurveyquestionitself. Anotherexampleofaleadingsurveyquestionthatcanruinyourdataisaquestionsuchas:“HowhastheCoronavirusnegativelyimpactedbusinesses?“ Abetterquestionwouldbe:“HowwouldyoudescribetheimpactoftheCoronavirusonbusinesses?“ 2.UsingUnclearJargonorAcronyms Anothermistakethatsurveycreatorsmakeisusingindustryjargonoracronymsthatrespondentsmaynotunderstand.  Unclearlanguagecanhurtthequalityofrepliesandrenderyourresultsinaccurate.Youmustspeakyourrespondents’languagetoensurethatyoudon’tconfuseanyonetakingpartinyoursurvey.Also,makesureyourgrammarisperfectandthewayyouconveythemessageisclear.  Theeasieritistoansweryourquestions,themorelikelyitisthatrespondentswillcompleteyoursurvey.Sodoyourbesttoavoidanytrickyconcepts,technicaljargon,andcomplicatedlanguage.  Ifyouhavetoincludeanyuncommonterms,alwaysprovidedefinitionsandexamplestomakethingseasierforyourreaders. Exampleofanunclearquestion:“Whatwasthestateoftheaudioofthecall?” Exampleofaclearquestion:“Howwouldyoudescribethecall?“ Asyoucanseefromtheexamplesabove,thesamequestioncanbeaskedinamuchsimplerandclearerway,makingitmorelikelythateveryonewillbeabletoanswerthequestioneasily. 3.MakingYourSurveyTooLong People’sattentionspansareveryshortthesedaysandparticipantsusuallydon’twanttospendmorethanafewminutesansweringquestions. Ifyoursurveyhasmorethanafewquestions,there’sachancethatyouwillloseyourreaders’initialcommitmenttocompletethesurvey.Yourrespondentswilleitherleavethesurveyunfinishedortheywillgiverandomanswerssimplytogetitoverwith. That’swhyit’simportanttochoosethequalityofyourquestionsratherthanusingahugequantityofquestionstogathertheinformationyouneed.Forexample,customersatisfactionisusuallymeasuredwithNetPromoterScore(NPS)whichissimplyaonequestionsurvey. Doyourbesttokeepyoursurveyasshortandpreciseaspossible.Researchshowsthatover72%ofsurveyrespondentswanttospendonly6-10minutesonasurvey. Themorequestionsinthesurvey,thehighertheresponsetimes,andthelesslikelytherespondentsaretocompletethesurvey. Source Agoodruleofthumbistousefewerthan10questions,butifnecessaryyoucanpushitupto15.Trytonotgoupwardofthisnumberastherewillbeahigherlikelihoodthatyourrespondentswillabandonyoursurveybeforetheygettotheend. I’vepersonallyusedshort2-3questionsurveysonmyYouTubechanneltosteermycontentstrategyformyaudiencemultipletimes. NotonlyhasthisledtomoreincomefromYouTube,butit’salsoledtoquiteabitmoreengagementfrommyfollowers.Bytheway,ifyouarehavingtroublewithconnectingtoYoutubeorotherstreamingplatformsduetoyourlocation,therearemultipleservicesthatcanhelpyouwiththis,suchas Netflix VPN.  4.OverlappingorUnclearResponseOptions Thisisyetanothermistakethatyoushouldavoidwhencreatingsurveys.Forthemostpart,responsechoicesshouldbedefinitiveandmutuallyexclusive.Ifthereisanyambiguity,itwillconfuseorfrustrateyoursurveyrespondents. Forinstance,ifyouhaveasurveythatasksyourcustomershowmanyyearstheyhavebeenacustomer,youmaygivethemthefollowingoptions: 1–22–55–10Theproblemwiththisisthattheoptionsdon’ttakeintoaccountthosewhohavebeencustomersforlessthanayear,aswellasthosewhohavebeenwithyourbusinessforover10years.  Also,becauseoftheoverlapoftime,youwillpotentiallygetdifferentanswersfromthosewhohavebeencustomersforexactly2or5years.Thiswillresultininaccurateandmisleadingresults.  Toavoidthisissue,youcanaddmoregranularitytoyouroptions.Alternatively,youcanusenumberfill-inswheneverappropriate. 5.VagueandOpen-EndedQuestions Lastonourlistofsurveymistakestoavoidistheuseofvagueandopen-endedquestionswhichcanleadtorespondentsmisinterpretingwhatinformationyouarelookingfor.  Ifyourrespondentshavetoguesswhatresponseyourstudiesarelookingfor,thenthatamountstoawastedopportunity.  Avaguequestionlike“Howcanweimproveourservice?”mayresultinmanyrespondentstakingthequestioninanunintendeddirection.Likewise,open-endedquestionscouldresultininaccurateresultsduetoanumberoffactors,suchas: FasterrespondentfatigueHigherdropoutratesLessconsiderationgiventoquestionsOpen-endedquestionscanberevealing,andwhileitmaybenecessarytoincludesomeinyoursurvey,it’simportantnottoincludetoomanyofthemasthismayultimatelycompromisethequalityofyourdata.  Onelastsidenote,ifyouhavedatathatyou’retryingtosafeguard,whetheritbeasurveyorquestionnaire,Irecommendthatyoumakeacopyofitonyourowncomputerasabackup. IdothismyselftomakesurethatIhaveacopyjustincasetheplatformyou’reusinghasissuesandifthatredundancyfailsyou,youcanalwaysusedatarecoverysoftware. Summary Younowhavetheanswertothequestion“Isaquestionnairethesameasasurvey?”Andnowthatyouhaveagoodunderstandingofwhateachonedoesanddoesnotdo,youwillnevergetthemmixedupagain. Correctusageofthesetoolscanleadtoincreasedrevenueforyourblogorbusinessoverall,andit’simportanttorememberthelessonslearnedwithinthisarticletodoso.   Togiveyouaquickrecap,aquestionnaireisalistofwrittenquestionsthatallowsyoutocollectdataforonepurpose,whileasurveyincludesthequestions,aswellasthemethodandanalysistogleanstatisticaldataandmakeforecasts.Youcanusesurveysandquestionnairesonvarioussocialmediaplatformstogettoknowyouraudienceinabetterway. Forbestresultsonsocialmedia,youcanalsousetoolslikeTwittermarketingtools,LinkedInmarketingtools,etc. Armedwiththisinformation,youcannowmakethebestchoiceforyourbusinessandbegingatheringinformationtohelpyoumakesounddecisionsforyourfuturemarketingendeavors. Haveyouusedquestionnairesorsurveystogatherinformationforyourbusiness?Shareyourexperienceinthecommentsbelow! 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