Understanding Surveys

Surveys are often used in combination with focus groups, but are also a very effective stand-alone research method. Using a carefully-selected sample of target customers, a professionally prepared and analyzed survey provides statistical answers to important questions. It provides the confidence necessary to make important decisions, because the results are accurate to an exact percentage.
Surveys are versatile; they can be used to explore many subjects, including product testing, perceptions of service quality, or a strategic competitive analysis. To discover the percentage of your current or potential customers who purchase a product or service, or who hold a particular opinion, feeling, or perception, surveys are the best answer.
Some companies try to conduct and tabulate their own surveys, but construction of survey questions, selection of samples, collection and interpretation of data is best left to an experienced, objective professional. It might seem more economical to do it yourself, but if the quality or quantity of data collected is not sufficient to take action, the time and money invested will have been wasted. Market Trends Research has designed and analyzed hundreds of surveys, so we know how to ask the questions that get the answers your company needs!
To ensure complete satisfaction, Market Trends Research defines the objectives, constructs the survey questions, selects the most appropriate methodology, ensures that the survey is accurately administered, then provides a full statistical and interpretive analysis of the results, a comprehensive research report including graphics, an in-depth examination of the survey results, accurate reporting of the results, including the margin of error for each question, and suggestions for implementation of the survey results.
Mail or Telephone Survey?
The two key advantages of a telephone survey are the speed of data collection, and the ability to probe respondents for additional information. Other advantages are that anonymity can be maintained and the characteristics of respondents can be more easily controlled.
The disadvantages of telephone surveys are that they can be more expensive when compared to mail, complex questions can sometimes be hard to administer, and respondents cannot be shown any printed material.
The main advantage to mail surveys is that very large numbers of people can be surveyed for a relatively low cost. The main drawback of this methodology is that since you cannot control who responds to the survey, the data may not be representative of the target population. This can lead to misleading or inaccurate results.