Commentary
Survey Research: Old Tech Or Old Standby?
- by Ted McConnell , Featured Contributor, January 7, 2021
The recent election and pandemic have prompted the usual commentary from marketers pronouncing that surveys don’t work. But they do work. Surveys are tools, and like any tool they have to be used for the right job, by people who know how to use them.
It’s worth talking about, because …
2 comments about "Survey Research: Old Tech Or Old Standby?".
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Good one, Ted. Whenever I design a survey---and there have been many---I always try to put myself into the mind of the respondent. Does my question make sense? Can a respondent provide a precise answer?Is the sequence of my questions logical? Am I asking too much?Is there some way, in constructing the questionnaire, to help the respondent's thinking process and memory to get a more valid answer? Have I hidden the true purpose of the study well enough from the respondent so I will get more open and less biased replies?Ask youself these kinds of questions---instead of cramming everything you might want to know into a cluttered questionnaire and you are generally on the right track.
Nine out of ten people who proclaim that surveys don't work just happen to hold a different opinion to that survey's finding, so of course the survey is wrong.