Katana VentraIP

Survey (human research)

In research of human subjects, a survey is a list of questions aimed for extracting specific data from a particular group of people. Surveys may be conducted by phone, mail, via the internet, and also in person in public spaces. Surveys are used to gather or gain knowledge in fields such as social research and demography.

Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions and feelings.[1] Surveys can be specific and limited, or they can have more global, widespread goals. Psychologists and sociologists often use surveys to analyze behavior, while it is also used to meet the more pragmatic needs of the media, such as, in evaluating political candidates, public health officials, professional organizations, and advertising and marketing directors. Survey research has also been employed in various medical and surgical fields to gather information about healthcare personnel’s practice patterns and professional attitudes toward various clinical problems and diseases. Healthcare professionals that may be enrolled in survey studies include physicians,[2][3] nurses,[4] and physical therapists[5] among others. A survey consists of a predetermined set of questions that is given to a sample.[1] With a representative sample, that is, one that is representative of the larger population of interest, one can describe the attitudes of the population from which the sample was drawn. Further, one can compare the attitudes of different populations as well as look for changes in attitudes over time. A good sample selection is key as it allows one to generalize the findings from the sample to the population, which is the whole purpose of survey research. In addition to this, it is important to ensure that survey questions are not biased such as using suggestive words. This prevents inaccurate results in a survey.

conducted in private households in Great Britain. It is a repeated cross-sectional study, conducted annually, which uses a sample of 9,731 households in the 2006 survey.

General Household Survey

conducted in several countries in Europe as well as Australia and Japan.[7] The programme has collected least one wave of surveys in 19 countries, with an average of 9,000 respondents per country.[8]

Generations and Gender Survey

where the wave 1 panel consisted of 7,682 households and 19,914 individuals

Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey

a survey made up of multiple other surveys in the UK. It includes about 340,000 respondents, making it the largest collection of social data in the UK after the census.[9]

Integrated Household Survey

conducted in the United States by the National Center for Health Statistics division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to understand trends related to fertility, family structure, and demographics in the United States.[10] The 2006-2010 NSFG surveyed 22,682 interviews.

National Survey of Family Growth

in the United States, wherein data have been collected from the same families and their descendants since 1968. The study started with over 18,000 nationally representative individuals.[11] It involved more than 9,000 individuals as of 2009.

Panel Study of Income Dynamics

a longitudinal panel dataset of the population in Germany. It is a household-based study that started in 1984 and which reinterviews adult household members annually. In 2007, the study involved about 12,000 households, with more than 20,000 adult persons sampled.

Socio-Economic Panel

now known as Understanding Society.[12] Its sample size is 40,000 households from the United Kingdom or approx. 100,000 individuals.

UK households: a longitudinal study

History[edit]

The Statistical Society of London pioneered the questionnaire in 1838. "Among the earliest acts of the Statistical Society of London ... was the appointment of committees to enquire into industrial and social conditions. One of these committees, in 1838, used the first written questionnaire of which I have any record. The committee-men prepared and printed a list of questions 'designed to elicit the complete and impartial history of strikes.'"[26]


The most famous public survey in the United States of America is the national census. Held every ten years since 1790, the census attempts to count all persons, and also to obtain demographic data about factors such as age, ethnicity, and relationships within households.


Nielsen ratings (carried out since 1947) provide another example of public surveys in the United States. Nielsen rating track media-viewing habits (radio, television, internet, print) the results of which are used to make commissioning decisions. Some Nielsen ratings localize the data points to give marketing firms more specific information with which to target customers. Demographic data is also used to understand what influences work best to market consumer products, political campaigns, etc.


Following the invention of the telephone survey (used at least as early as the 1940s),[27] the development of the Internet in the late-20th century fostered online surveys and web surveys.

Audience measurement

Opinion poll

Statistical survey

Questionnaire

Wiki survey