Surveys, questionnaires and interviews

A survey is a market research method that asks questions of people or organisations. A survey is the overall approach and may use a written questionnaire, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, or a mixture. A questionnaire can form part of a survey, but the two terms are not interchangeable.

Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a list of questions answered by respondents, designed to gather information about consumer tastes. It must be carefully planned so the questions collect exactly what the business needs; vague or extra questions make the results harder to use. A questionnaire usually mixes closed questions, such as ‘How often do you visit a climbing wall?’ with set answers, and open questions, such as ‘What would make you visit more often?’ Closed questions produce quantitative data that is quick to count; open questions give qualitative detail about reasons.

Questionnaires can reach many people cheaply and give standardised answers, because everyone is asked the same questions, making answers easier to compare. But response rates can be low, some answers may be unclear or dishonest, and they give limited depth because there is no chance to ask ‘why?’ straight away.

Interviews

Interviews can be face-to-face or by telephone. They allow the researcher to ask follow-up questions and clarify confusing answers, so they can produce richer detail than a questionnaire alone. The drawback is that interviews are time-consuming and costly, especially face-to-face, so they usually involve fewer people. For example, an indoor climbing centre might interview 15 members about a new beginner session to understand their reasons in depth, then use a questionnaire to survey 200 visitors to check how many would pay for it.