Survey vs Questionnaire - Difference and Definitions

A questionnaire is the term used to describe the set of questions you're asking an individual. A survey is the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting ... SkiptocontentWe’rehiring|Contactus|Login Products MakeSmarterdecisionswithreal-timefeedback. CoreProducts SurveySoftwareQuicklycreateandsendgreatsurveys EnterpriseSurveySoftwareAdvancedsurveytoolsthatdriveenterprises SpecialisedProducts ConsumerPanelsInstantlycollecttheexactaudienceresponsesyouneed NPS®SurveyMeasurethenincreaseyourbrandadvocacy 360AssessmentsBooststaffperformancewithco-workerfeedback Integrations&PluginsConnectwithyourfavouritebusinesstools Wanttodiscussyourrequirements?Getintouch Solutions Completesolutionsforenterprise. 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Tools Calculators SurveyTemplates Know-how eBooks Webinars ChoosingSurveyTools SurveyTypes SurveyQuestions SurveyDesign ProductInformation AccessibleSurveyGuide Articles CalculatingSampleSize PrimaryResearchMethods GDPRCompliance AdvantagesofOnlineSurveys ConductingAnOnlineSurvey EmployeeAttitudeSurveys TipsForDesigningSurveys CustomerSatisfaction NetPromoterScore® SurveyVsQuestionnaire Company Blog CaseStudies Careers Pricing We’rehiringContactusSignupLogin Signup Articles/TheDifferenceBetweenSurveyandQuestionnaire TheDifferenceBetweenSurveyandQuestionnaireTL/DR Aquestionnaireisthetermusedtodescribethesetofquestionsyou’reaskinganindividual.Asurveyistheprocessofcollecting,analysingandinterpretingdatafrommanyindividuals.Itaimstodetermineinsightsaboutagroupofpeople.Asurveygoesmuchdeeperthanaquestionnaireandofteninvolvesmorethanoneformofdatacollection. Introduction You’reprobablyherewonderingaboutthedifferencebetweensurveysandquestionnaires.Youmightbeaskingaboutthedifferencebetweenquestionnairesvs.surveysduetoaschoolproject.Or,youmightbelookingthisupfromabusinessperspective.It’seasytogetthetwowordsmixedup. Theterms‘survey’and‘questionnaire’areoften(wrongly)usedinterchangeably.Thisisbecausepeoplefrequentlyviewthemasmeaningthesamething.Someexplanationssurroundingthedifferencebetweenquestionnairesandsurveyscanbeincorrect.Otherwise,theycanbedownrightconfusing.Whenconductinganyformofresearch,it’simportanttounderstandthedifference. That’swhywe’veputtogetherthishandyguide.We’reheretohelpyoudefinequestionnairesandsurveysinsimpleterms.Thisarticlewillidentifydifferencesbetweensurveysandquestionnairesusingrealworldexamples.Thisisalwayshelpfulwhenitcomestoputtingthingsintocontext. Thedifferencemayseemconfusingatfirst,butdon’tworry.We’reheretoansweryourquestionsanddefinetheseresearchterms,helpingyougettogripswiththelingo. Whyisitimportanttounderstandthedifference? Whenundertakinganyformofresearch,you’llbeinteractingwithmembersofthepublic.Thesearealsoknownasyourparticipants.Participantsmaybeselectedfromatargetsample,orrandomlychosenonthestreet.Eitherway,theresearchermustunderstandthemeaningbehindphrasesthey’reusing. Onceyouunderstandthesetwoterms,you’remorelikelytobeabletocollectdatasuccessfully.Simplicityiseverythingwhenexplainingwhatyouneedfromparticipants.Explainingthedifferencebetweenasurveyandquestionnaireisnodifferent. Whatisaquestionnaire? Questionnairedefinition Aquestionnaireisthesetofquestionsgiventoparticipantsofyourresearchproject.Itmaybepartofawidersurvey.However,thecompletionofaquestionnairealonewillnotprovidetheanswersyouarelookingfor. Thepurposeofaquestionnaireistogatherdatafromatargetaudience.Itwillincludeopenendedquestions,closedendedquestions,oracombinationofboth. Asparticipantsfilloutaquestionnaire,they’regivingvaluabletitbitsofdata.Thedatacollectedcanbequantitativeorqualitative.Quantitativedataisnumericalandmeasurable.Qualitativedataisnon-numerical,writteninformationthatshouldbeanalysedfurther. Theindividualresultsfromonequestionnairewilltellyouinformationaboutoneparticipant.Thesoleactofadministeringaquestionnaireisnotconsideredtobeasurvey.Thisisbecausethedatagatheredfromquestionnairesonlybecomesvaluableonceinterpretedaspartofawidersurvey. Itmightbeusefulforyoutopicturethequestionnaireasaphysicalsheetofpaperitself.Therearemanyotherwaysofadministeringquestionnaires,suchasonline.But,envisioningthequestionnaireasthepapercontainingallthequestionsisaneasywaytodefineit. Tohelpyouunderstandhowquestionnairescanbeusedinaresearchcontext,we’veoutlinedanexamplebelow.Readontodelvefurtherintotheworldofsurveysandquestionnaires.We’llexplainaboutwhatasurveyisinmoredepthfurtherdowninthearticle. Questionnaireinresearchexample Let’spictureascenario…Yourbosswantsyoutobeginworkingfromhome.Theywanttofindoutmoreaboutthetechnologyrequirementsyouneedtoworkefficientlyfromhome. Theytheninviteyoutofilloutaquestionnairebyhandingyouapieceofpaperandapen.Thepieceofpaperhandedtoyouisthequestionnaire. Theresultsthatyouinputintothequestionnaireareusedtodiscoverinformationaboutyouasanindividual,ratherthanagroupofpeople. Whatisasurvey? Surveydefinition Asurveyisthecombinationofquestions,processesandmethodologiesthatanalysedataaboutothers.Asurveyalwaysinvolvesquestionnaires.But,asinglequestionnaireisonlyonesmallpartofasurvey. Typicallyorganisedforaprofessionaloracademicpurpose,creatingasurveycantaketimeandrequiresgreatcare.Theyarestrategicmethodsofresearchthatcanprovideuswithgreatinsights.Collectingorinterpretingdataincorrectlycanreducethevalidityofresults.Thismeanstheentiresurveybecomesawastedeffort.Surveysarecostlytoconduct,soit’sessentialtogeteverythingright. Theultimatepurposeofasurveyistofindoutmoreaboutacertaingroupofpeople.Thisisdoneformanyreasons.Forexample,businessesusesurveystofindoutmoreabouthowspecificconsumersbehave.Doctorsmayalsousethemtoundertakemedicalresearch. So,wenowknowthequestionnaireisthesetofquestionsgiventoindividuals.Aquestionnaireisnotautomaticallypartofasurvey.Foraquestionnairetobecomeasurvey,afewthingsmusthappen.Thedatacollectedfrommanyquestionnairerespondentsisgathered.Itshouldthenbeorganised,beforeanalysisandinterpretationofthedata. Theentireprocessofdoingthisisasurvey.Ourdefinitionofasurveydoesn’tmakecompletesense.So,we’veaddedanexampleofhowasurveyisusedwithinaresearchcontextunderneath. Surveyinresearchexample We’lltakealookbackattheexampleweusedwhendiscussingquestionnairesearlier.Let’sassumethequestionnairewasusedasprimaryresearchforacompany-widesurvey.Thissurveyaimstofindoutaboutpeople’sworkingfromhomeexperiences.Thesurveyisn’tfocusedononlyyourownexperiences,butthoseofthewholeworkforce. Wefilledoutthequestionnairewithourpersonalinformation,soitmeansverylittlewhenconsideredonitsown.Itwouldnothelpyourcompanydeterminemoreaboutthewholeworkforce.Thatis,untilit’scombinedwithmanyotherquestionnairesaspartofasurvey. Theprocessofadministeringquestionnairesisnotasurvey.Collectingthedata,gatheringitinauseful(quantitative)way,andcombiningitwithotherformsofdatacollection,isasurvey. Inconclusion:surveysvs.questionnaires Wehopethisarticlehelpedyouunderstandthedifferencebetweenquestionnairesandsurveys.Tosharpenthingsupthatlittlebitfurther,here’samoreconciseconclusionofthedifferences. Aquestionnaireis… Notasurveyinitself,butitisapartofasurvey.Questionnairesaretheactualsetofquestionsthattheparticipantsanswer. Thinkofthequestionnaireasthephysicalsheetofquestions.Aquestionnaireonitsownisunlikelytogiveyoualltheanswersneededforyourresearch.Thisisbecauseitonlygatherspuredatafromoneindividual,ratherthanagroup. It’sthecollectionofmanysetsofdatafromvariousquestionnaires,combinedwithotherfactors,thatleadtogood,completeresearch.Theseotherfactorsmightincludeobservations,andtheinsightfulanalysisofinformation.Thisiswhatasurveyis. Asurveyis… Theprocessofusingquestionnairesandotherdatacollectionmethodstofindoutmoreaboutaspecificgroup. Thedatacollectedisthenorganisedintoquantifiablesetsofdataforanalysis.Thismayincludeorganisingquantitativedata,suchasnumbersorstatistics.Itcanalsoinvolvere-definingqualitativeanswers(descriptive,emotionalresponses)intoquantitativefactors. Thisorganiseddataisthenanalysedasawhole.Interpretingthedatacollectedcanleadtogreatinsights.Theseinsightstellusmoreabouthowaspecifictargetaudiencemaybehaveorfeel. Seeforyourself,createasurveywithinminutesforFREE Nocreditcardrequired. Createasurvey SmarterSurveySoftware SeewhypeopleuseSmartSurveytobetterengagerespondentsandrevealactionableinsights. Learnmore Getstartedandcreateyourfirstsurvey Ifyouwouldlikemoreinformationthenpleasegetintouch,oryoucancalluson08000937822 GetstartedRequestademo BookYourLivePersonalisedDemonstration RequestafreeliveandpersonaliseddemonstrationofSmartSurvey.Oneofourfriendlyteammemberswilltalkyouthroughthesoftwareandansweranyquestions.× SmartSurveyisadigitalsurveysolutionthathelpsanyonecreatesurveys,buildquestionnairesandanalysetheresults. Close