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According to the Encyclopedia of Research Design, a survey is a data collection method. The instrument used to collect the data is called a questionnaire.
Choose the survey data collection method when it is the appropriate way to collect data that responds to your research questions.
Survey questions can be open-ended or closed-ended. Quantitative data is obtained using closed-ended questions. The qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions may be recoded so that it can be treated as quantitative data, or it can be thematically coded using methodologies such as modified grounded theory.
Questionnaires can also be used for scripted interviews.
A public opinion poll is a quick sampling used for decision making during an event such as a marketing promotion or a political campaign.
Start with these resources:
- Designing and doing survey research
HA31.2 .A5195 2012 - Doing survey research : A guide to quantitative methods
HN29 .N25 2014 - Handbook of survey research
HN29 .H294 2010 - How to conduct surveys : A step-by-step guide, 4th ed.
HN29 .F53 2009
Databases
- SAGE Research Methods
This database contains encyclopedias, handbooks, and text books on survey methodology.
Books
- Assessing the quality of survey data
HM538 .B57 2012 - Conducting online surveys
HM538 .S84 2007 - Constructing effective questionnaires
HN29.P45 [and online] - Constructing questions for interviews and questionnaires : theory and practice in social research
HM48 .F57 1993 - Constructing survey data : an interactional approach
HA31.2 .G63 2014 - Design, evaluation, and analysis of questionnaires for survey research, 2nd ed.
- Designing effective web surveys
HM538 .C68 2008 - Envisioning the survey interview of the future
HM538 .E68 2008 - Handbook of research on electronic surveys and measurements
HA31.2 .H347 2007 - Handbook of survey methodology for the social sciences
- Indirect Questioning in Sample Surveys
- The problem with survey research
HA31.2 .B43 2012 - Methods for testing and evaluating survey questionnaires
- Practical research : planning and design, 10th ed.
Q180.55.M4 L43 2013 [chapters 8, 11] - Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches
H62 .C6963 2014 [chapter 8] - The science of web surveys
HM538 .T68 2013 - Social and behavioral research and the internet : advances in applied methods and research strategies
HM538 .S63 2011 - Survey and opinion research : procedures for processing and analysis
H62.S724735 - The survey research handbook
HN29 .A46 2004 - Survey methodology, 2nd ed.
HA31.2 .S87 2009 - Survey research methods, 5th ed.
HN29 .F68 2014
Journals
Journal Articles
Forza, C. (2002). Survey research in operations management: a process‐based perspective. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 22 (2), 152-194.
Hulland, J., Baumgartner, H. & Smith, K. M. (2017). Marketing survey research best practices: Evidence and recommendations from a review of JAMS articles. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
Hunt, S., Sparkman, R., & Wilcox, J. (1982). The pretest in survey research: Issues and preliminary findings. Journal of Marketing Research, 19(2), 269-273.
Kelley, K., Clark, B., Brown, V. & Sitzia, J. (1999). Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 15(3), 261–266.
Krosnick, J. A. (1999). Survey research. Annual Review of Psychology 50, 537-567.
Pfleeger, S. L. & Kitchenham, B. A. (2001-2003). Principles of survey Research.
- Part 1: Turning lemons into lemonade. ACM SIGSOFT 26(6)
- Part 2: Designing a survey. ACM SIGSOFT 27(1)
- Part 3: Constructing a survey instrument. ACM SIGSOFT 27(2)
- Part 4: Questionnaire evaluation. ACM SIGSOFT 27(3)
- Part 5: Populations and samples. ACM SIGSOFT 27(5)
- Part 6: Data analysis ACM SIGSOFT 28(2)
Zhang, Y. (2000). Using the Internet for survey research: A case study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51, 57–68.
Some titles below discuss ways to conduct surveys within a particular discipline. Others are examples of surveys that have been conducted within particular disciplines.
Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies
- Writing about quantitative research in applied linguistics
PE1478 .W68 2014
Business
- Market research in practice : how to get greater insight from your market [chapter 9]
- Questionnaire design : how to plan, structure and write survey material for effective market research
Criminology, Risk, Security
- Risk analysis and the security survey
HV8290 .B76 2012 [also online]
Demography
- Hard-to-survey populations
HB849.49 .H367 2014 - Harmonising demographic and socio-economic variables for cross-national comparative survey research
- Millennials in America
HQ799.7 .S24 2015
Family Studies
- Methods of family research, 3rd ed.
HQ10 .G724 2013 [chapters 7, 11] - Personality and family development : an intergenerational longitudinal comparison
HQ626 .S37513 2014
Gender Studies
- Feminist measures in survey research
HQ1180 .H37 2013
Health care
- Being safe, being me : results of the Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey
- Guide to improved data collection in health and health care surveys : personal interview, telephone interview, electronic and mail surveys
MDC RA409 .W66 2012 - Health and health-related behaviours among young people in the Northwest Territories
- Patient First Review update : the journey so far and the path forward
- Research methods in health : investigating health and health services
RA440.85 .B69 2014 - Where you live matters : Canadian views on health care quality : results from the 2013 Commonwealth Fund international health policy survey of the general public
Psychology
- Research methods and statistics in psychology
BF76.5 .H385 2014 p - Surveying human vulnerabilities across the life course
Public Administration
- Research methods in public administration and nonprofit management : quantitative and qualitative approaches, 3rd ed.
JF1338.A2 M38 2013 [chapters 12, 13, 16]
Sexuality Studies
- Being safe, being me : results of the Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey
- Handbook of sexuality-related measures
HQ60 .H36 2011
Social Work
- Fundamentals of social work research
HV11 .E567 2014 [chapters 8, 12] -
The practice of research in social work, 3rd ed.
HV11 .E57 2013 [chapter 8]
Sociology
- Harmonising demographic and socio-economic variables for cross-national comparative survey research
- A review of general social surveys
- A social justice approach to survey design and analysis
HN29 .C67 2014 [also online] - Social measurement through social surveys : an applied approach
HM538 .B85 2010 - Social media, sociality, and survey research
HM742 .S62845 2014 [also online] - Surveying ethnic minorities and immigrant populations : methodological challenges and research strategies
JV7590 .S87 2013 [also online]
Youth, Adolescents
Public opinion polls are used to capture attitude, particularly for use in politics or marketing. A key source is Gallup, but others exist. See the guide on public opinion polls for more information.
For coverage in other Gallup products please see Public opinion polls -- Periodicals
Journal
Books
- Standards for the conduct of Government of Canada public opinion research (2013)
- Numbered voices : how opinion polling has shaped American politics
HN90.P8H47 - Polling and public opinion : a Canadian perspective
HN103.5 .B88 2007 - Public opinion and polling around the world : a historical encyclopedia
HM1236 .P84 2004 [2v.]
More information
For more information, consult the help guide on public opinion polls, or the section on public opinion polls from the surveys section of the data guide.
A list of government surveys can be found on the Statistics Canada site. Of potential interest are:
- Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS)
- Annual Passenger Bus & Urban Transit Survey
- Annual Retail Trade Survey
- Annual Survey of Service Industries: Food Services and Drinking Places
- Canadian Health Measures Survey
- General Social Survey – Family (GSS)
- Survey of Household Spending
The Census Program is a survey of the entire population of Canada. The 2011 Census was canceled, but many responded voluntarily. Both the survey instruments and analyzed data reports are available. For more information about Census data, consult the Data "find" guide.
Analyses are released as reports which can be found in Omni, in the Canadian Public Policy Collection, or in the Canadian Research Health Collection. Here is a selection:
- Aboriginal women in Canada : a statistical profile from the 2006 Census
- Enduring diversity : living arrangements of children in Canada over 100 years of the census
- Fifty years of families in Canada, 1961 to 2011 : families, households and marital status, 2011 Census of population
- Immigration in Canada : a portrait of the foreign-born population, 2006 census
- Languages in Canada : 2006 census
- A statistical profile of artists in Canada : based on the 2001 census
- Where Canadians work and how they get there
Learn more about survey methods and practices from Statistics Canada.
Software packages
Multiple software packages (such as Qualtrics), are available through Information Technology Services (ITS). Free services:
- Google Forms
- Free service.
- Survey Monkey
- If your survey is 10 questions or less, the number of respondents is 100 or less, and you do not require any special flow through the survey, a free subscription is sufficient. Carleton does not have a subscription.
Make sure you read the ethics of conducting research online as provided by the Department of Psychology.
Software package reviews
- The best online survey tools of 2019 -- PC Magazine
- Best Picks: Email marketing services and survey software -- business.com
