ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE SURVEY

2.  Survey is a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular
group of people. Surveys may be conducted by phone, mail, via the internet, and
sometimes face-to-face on busy street corners or in malls. Surveys are used to
increase knowledge in fields such as social research and demography.
 Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings. Surveys
can be specific and limited, or they can have more global, widespread
goals. Psychologists and sociologists often use surveys to analyze behaviour, 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

3.  Other household surveys:
 Other surveys than the census may explore characteristics in households, such as
fertility, family structure, and demographics.
 Household surveys with at least 10,000 participants include:
 General Household 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.
 Generations and Gender Survey,
conducted in several countries in Europe as well as Australia and Japan. The
programme has collected least one wave of surveys in 19 countries, with an average
of 9,000 respondents per country.

4.  Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, where the wave 1 panel
consisted of 7,682 households and 19,914 individuals
 Integrated Household 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.
 National Survey of Family Growth, 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. The 2006-
2010 NSFG surveyed 22,682 interviews.
 Panel Study of Income Dynamics 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. It involved more than 9,000 individuals as of 2009.
 Socio-Economic Panel, a longitudinal panel dataset of the population in Germany. It is a
household based study which started in 1984 and which re interviews adult household
members annually. In 2007, the study involved about 12,000 households, with more than
20,000 adult persons sampled.
 UK households: a longitudinal study, now known as Understanding Society. Its sample size
is 40,000 households from the United Kingdom or approx. 100,000 individuals.

5.  Opinion poll
 November 3, 1948: President Harry S. Truman, shortly after being elected as
President, smiles as he holds up a copy of the Chicago Tribune issue predicting his
electoral defeat. This image has become iconic of the consequences of bad polling
data.
 An opinion poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion
polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a
series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence
intervals.

6.  Methodology
A single survey is made of at least a sample (or full population in the case of a
census), a method of data collection (e.g., a questionnaire) and individual questions or
items that become data that can be analyzed statistically. A single survey may focus
on different types of topics such as preferences (e.g., for a presidential candidate),
opinions (e.g., should abortion be legal?), behaviour (smoking and alcohol use), or
factual information (e.g., income), depending on its purpose. Since survey research is
almost always based on a sample of the population, the success of the research is
dependent on the representativeness of the sample with respect to a target population
of interest to the researcher. That target population can range from the general
population of a given country to specific groups of people within that country, to a
membership list of a professional organization, or list of students enrolled in a school
system (see also sampling (statistics) and survey sampling).

7.  Healthcare surveys
Medical or health-related survey research is particularly concerned with uncovering
knowledge-practice gaps. That is to say to reveal any inconsistencies between the established
international recommended guidelines and the real time medical practice regarding a certain
disease or clinical problem. In other words, some medical surveys aim at exploring the
difference between the proper practice and the actual practice reported by the healthcare
professionals. Medical survey research has also been used to collect information from the
patients, caregivers and even the public[on relevant health issues. In turn the information
gathered from survey results can be used to upgrade the professional performance of healthcare
personnel including physicians, develop the quality of healthcare delivered to patients mend
existing deficiencies of the healthcare delivery system and professional health education.
Furthermore, the results of survey research can inform the public health domain and help
conduct health awareness campaigns in vulnerable populations and guide healthcare policy-
makers. This is especially true when survey research deals with a wide spread disease that
constitutes a nationwide or global health challenge.

8.  INTERPRETATION
When two variables are related, or correlated, one can make predictions for these
two variables. However, it is important to note that this does not mean causality. At
this point, it is not possible to determine a causal relationship between the two
variables; correlation does not imply causality. However, correlation evidence is
significant because it can help identify potential causes of behaviour. Path analysis
is a statistical technique that can be used with correlation data. This involves the
identification of mediator and moderator variables. A mediator variable is used to
explain the correlation between two variables. A moderator variable affects the
direction or strength of the correlation between two variables. A spurious
relationship is a relationship in which the relation between two variables can be
explained by a third variable.

9.  Reported behaviour versus actual behaviour
The value of collected data completely depends upon how truthful respondents are
in their answers on questionnaires. In general, survey researchers accept
respondents’ answers as true. Survey researchers avoid reactive measurement by
examining the accuracy of verbal reports, and directly observing respondents’
behaviour in comparison with their verbal reports to determine what behaviors
they really engage in or what attitudes they really uphold. Studies examining the
association between self reports (attitudes, intentions) and actual behaviour show
that the link between them—though positive—is not always strong—thus caution
is needed when extrapolating self-reports to actual behaviors, Dishonesty is
pronounced in some sex-related queries, with men often amplifying their number
of sex partners, while women tend to downplay and slash their true number.

10.  increased Response Rate
The low cost and overall convenience of online surveys bring in a high response. Respondents
get to answer questions on their own schedule at a pace they choose.
 Low Cost
Collecting data doesn't have to break the bank anymore. There are plenty of websites and
platforms that make creating your survey fast and affordable.
 Real-time Access
Respondents' answers store automatically so you get results at your fingertips in no time. This
turns analyzing your results into effortless and immediate action.
 Convenience
Respondents answer questions on their own schedule and can even have flexibility with
completion time.
 Design Flexibility
Surveys can be programmed even if they're very complex. Intricate skip patterns and logic
can be employed seamlessly. You can create the layout, questions, and answer choices with
no hassle.
 No Interviewer
Since respondents are not disclosing their answers directly to another person, it is easier for
them to open up. Interviewers can also influence responses in some cases

11.  Survey Fraud
This is the biggest challenge. If your survey is long and/or confusing you might get fake
answers. Since there is less accountability, the chances for people just hitting buttons to finish are
high. Check the questions you use carefully.
People often take surveys because they're promised a reward at the end, resulting in them not
accurately contributing to your study.
 Limited Sampling and Respondent Availability
Certain populations are less likely to have internet access and to respond to online questionnaires.
Drawing samples is harder based on email addresses or website visitations.
 Possible Cooperation Problems
Online surveys could be deleted and ignored. People hate feeling poked and if they get annoyed,
they just have to click delete.
 No Interviewer
The lack of a trained interviewer to clarify and probe can lead to less reliable data.