The Difference Between Surveys & Questionnaires—Examples

A survey involves gathering data to use for analysis and forecasting. As opposed to its questionnaire cousin, the data isn't analyzed in isolation. Surveys do ... SolutionsOurProductsTypeformPeople-friendlyformsVideoAskInteractivevideoconversationsChatNo-codechatbotApplicationsQuizmakerSurveymakerFormbuilderPollmakerTestmakerUseCasesGetfeedbackDoresearchGenerateleadsYourRoleMarketingHRProductCustomerSuccessEducationBusinessTemplatesMainCategoriesTemplatesFormtemplatesSurveytemplatesQuiztemplatesPolltemplatesPopularCategoriesOrderformsFeedbackformsSatisfactionsurveysApplicationformsFeedbacksurveysEvaluationformsFeaturedTemplatesRequestformsSignupformsBusinessformsMarketingsurveysHRsurveysReportformsPopularTemplatesCustomerfeedbackformRegistrationformBrandingquestionnaire360feedbackLeadgenerationContactformSignupsheetIntegrationsAllintegrationsSlackGoogleSheetsMailchimpZapierAirtableGoogleAnalyticsAutopilotHubSpotSalesforceResourcesOurblogReallifestoriestoinspire.Guidestodostuffwell.OurcommunityCollaborate.Shareideas.Nerdoutabouttypeforms.HelpcenterFindanswersandmastertheartofbuilding.GuidesSurveyquestions101LikertscalesurveysDemographicquestionsProductsurveyquestionsQuestiontypesMarketresearchguidePricingEnterpriseCareersTypeformSolutionsTemplatesIntegrationsResourcesPricingEnterpriseCareersLoginSignupfreeWhat’sthedifferencebetweenasurveyandaquestionnaire?Getsavvyonsurveysandqualifiedinquestionnaires.Learnthedifference,boostyourbusiness.SignupfreeSurveyvsQuestionnaire:DifferencesandDefinitions Aquestionnaireisusedtocollectdatafromalistofquestions.It’s not usedtolookfortrends,behaviororabiggerpicture.Asurveyisdatacollectionthroughasetofquestionsforthepurposesofstatisticalanalysis Cementandconcrete.Poisonousandvenomous.Shrimpandprawn.Surveyandquestionnaire.There’satonofwordsinEnglishthatpeoplemistakeforsynonymsAlthoughthesewordshavedifferentmeanings,theytendtobeusedinterchangeably.Butdelveintothedetail,andyouseethattheyareactuallyverydifferent. Exactlywhythesewordsareusedassynonymsforoneanotherisn’texactlyclear,butinmostcases,it’snotreallyabigdeal.But—why?Well,sometimesbecausethecontextclearsthingsup.Othertimes,thedifferenceissosubtlethemishapgoesunnoticedandunpunished,andsoitdoesn’timpactthemessage.Butallisdifferentwhenitcomesto surveysandquestionnaires.Andtheneedforclarityiscrucialifyou’rethepersonreachingoutforinformation.Formarketers,managers,andresearchers—theyaretwodifferentbeasts. What'sthedifferencebetweenasurveyandaquestionnaire? Onceyouhaveahandleonpreciselywhateachdoes,anddoesn’tdo,you’llnevermixthemupagain.Toputitsimply—a questionnaire isalistofwrittenquestionsaimedatgettinginformationaboutindividuals.Aquestionnaireisusuallylimitedinscope,anditisn’tusedforgatheringdataoranalyzingstatistics. A survey involvesgatheringdatatouseforanalysisandforecasting.Asopposedtoitsquestionnairecousin,thedataisn’tanalyzedinisolation.Surveysdolookfortrends,behavior,andthebiggerpicture.Here’sanotherwaytoputit:A questionnaire isone-purposedatacollectionthroughasetofquestionsA survey isdatacollectionthroughasetofquestionsforthepurposesofstatisticalanalysis Thedefinitionofaquestionnaire Here’sanexampleofaquestionnaire.Flashbacktothelasttimeyoujoinedagym,maybeyouwentforahealthcheckwhenyousignedup.Youwouldhavebeenaskedtoansweralistofspecificquestionsaboutmedicalhistory.Thatwasaquestionnaire.Theinformationyouprovidedisusedtoassessrisk,helpwithdiagnosesandpaintapictureofyourmedicalhistory.It’snotusedtolookfortrends,behaviororabiggerpicture. Thedefinitionofasurvey Thinkofasurveyasamajorproject,aimedatusingdatatoreachinformedconclusions.Yes,that’sright—asurveycouldberegardedasaquestionnaireonsteroids.Withasurvey,youcandigdeeperandfindoutpeoples’opinionsandideas.Youcanask demographicsurveyquestions, youcanfindouthow engagedyouremployees are,oryoucando marketresearch.Andmuchmore. Whydopeoplemixupthetwo? Well,it’ssimple—they’reverysimilar.Infact,abigpartofanysurveyinvolvesaquestionnaire.Marketingprofessionalsandresearchspecialistshavealwaysdifferentiatedthetwo,butthingshavechangedsincetheadventoftheInternet.Asmoreindividualsandorganizationsstartedtomanagetheirownresearchprojects,thetwotermsbecameinterchangeable.“Survey”hasbecomeasynonymfor“questionnaire”—andviceversa. Now,justtodialyourlevelofconfusionupto11,there’salsosuchathingasasurveyquestionnaire.Itstartsasasimplequestionnairebutlatertransformsintoasurvey—mindblown.Imagineyou’retryingtogaugehowyouremployeesfeelaboutworkingwithyou.Byusing LikertScaleQuestionnaires,youcanaskpeopletoexpresstheirfeelingsonascaleof,say,onetofive.Thenbyaggregatingthescores,youcangetanoverallpictureofsatisfactionlevelswithinyourorganization. ExitInterviewSurveyDemographicSurveyQuestionsQualitativevsQuantitativeResearchStudentSatisfactionSurveysBrandAwarenessSurveysJobApplicationFormsOnlineQuestionnaireMakerBrandingQuestionnairesTypesofMarketResearchHowToAnalyzeSurveyDataMarketResearchSurveysPost-EventSatisfactionSurveysSurveyDesign101WebsiteFeedbackSurveyTemplatePostEventSurveyQuestionsMarketingSurveysEmployeeSatisfactionSurveysCandidateExperienceSurveysCustomerSatisfactionSurveysExitInterviewSurveyDemographicSurveyQuestionsWhythedifferencesmatter So,whenallissaidanddone,doesanyofthismatter?Whoevencaresabouttheterminology?Let’sgobacktogymmemberships.Whenyouanswerallthosequestionsaboutheartproblems,fainting,anddiabetes,youranswersaren’tusedtoassessthehealthoflocalpeopleinthearea.Unlessyoustatedyouhaveamedicalcondition,thatquestionnaireisplacedinyourfile—untilsuchtimeasit’sneeded.Butwhatifthatmedicalquestionnairewasbeingusedaspartofalarge-scalemedicalresearchprogramme? Simplyfilingthatpieceofpaperawaywouldn’tachieveanything—theanswersonithavetobecollatedandmergedwiththeanswersgivenbyotherpeople.Andthisiswhenthequestionnairebecomespartofasurvey.There’saneedtoturnthatrawdataintoactionableintelligence,whichrequiresaggregation,analysisandtheidentificationofstatisticaltrends. You’llgetbywithalittlehelpfromyourfriends Stillfeelinginthedarkaboutsurveysandquestionnaires?Youdon’tneedtoworry.Whetheryouneedtogatherinformationtoincreaseemployeeengagementorlearnmoreaboutyourcustomers,helpisathand.Useasimple questionnairemaker andgiveyourquestionnairethebestpossiblestart.Rememberthatyouneedtoasktherightquestions—andintherightway,togetthebestanswers.Questionnaireorsurvey,out-of-the-blueconversationaldatacollectionisthebestwaytoincreaseengagementrates—andgiveyourbusinesstheinformationitneedstogrow. EmployeeRetentionStrategiesApplicationFormTemplatesEmployeeEvaluationFormsEmployeeRetentionStrategiesApplicationFormTemplatesHowyouaskiseverything.Startcreating