Types of Surveys – 1) Personal Interview_

Types of Surveys

1) Personal Interview

  • Definition: Face-to-face interview between a market researcher and a consumer, using a questionnaire.

2) Postal Survey

  • Definition: Questionnaires are sent and returned through the post.

3) Telephone Survey

  • Definition: A series of questions asked over the telephone.

4) Online Survey

  • Definition: Survey published on a website or sent via email.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Survey Types

Personal Interview

  • Advantages:

    • Allow for detailed responses.

    • Clarification about a question/answer can be sought.

  • Disadvantages:

    • Time-consuming.

    • Expensive.

    • Consumers may feel uncomfortable answering questions face-to-face and may lie in their answers.

Postal Survey

  • Advantages:

    • Cheaper than a personal interview as there is no interviewer involved.

    • People can answer in their own time.

  • Disadvantages:

    • Very low response rate.

    • Responses may take a long time to be returned.

Telephone Survey

  • Advantages:

    • Cheaper than a personal interview.

    • People can be chosen from a wide geographical area.

  • Disadvantages:

    • Difficult to get people to respond, especially if contacted during busy times.

    • People may rush through answers to finish quicker.

Online Survey

  • Advantages:

    • Cheapest method.

    • People worldwide can participate.

    • People can answer in their own time.

  • Disadvantages:

    • Many people ignore on-screen pop-ups or ignore the option to complete a survey.

    • The opinions of consumers who are not online are ignored.

Other Research Methods

Focus Groups

  • Definition: A group of consumers is brought together to discuss a particular product or service.

  • Advantages: Efficient way to gather reactions and opinions from a group of people.

  • Disadvantages: Some members may dominate the responses and influence views of other group members.

Observation

  • Definition: Watching or viewing consumers in action e.g., the number of customers selecting a specific product during a particular period in a store.

  • Advantages: Large numbers can be observed, relatively cheap method of market research.

  • Disadvantages: Time-consuming and provides limited information.

Analysing Field Research Findings

  • When gathering market research, analysis of findings is crucial.

  • Closed questions and multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are easier to analyze than open-ended questions.

  • Visual Aids:

    • Pie charts: Suitable for breaking answers into areas to identify which is most popular.

    • Bar charts: Useful for comparing answers.

Example of Research Analysis

  • Total Respondents (N) = 75

    • Female Respondents (f) = 50

    • Male Respondents (m) = 25

  • Formulas:

    • Female percentage = (f ÷ n) x 100

    • Male percentage = (m ÷ n) x 100