Which type of survey is appropriate for you?

As an event manager, I am sure that you know customer feedback is extremely beneficial to gauging the success of your event and in averting pitfalls for future events. You will probably agree that the best method to collect feedback is by conducting ‘Surveys'. In fact, for the last 30 to 40 years, most companies have been using ‘the Telephone Survey' method to gather feedback from their customers quite effectively. However, the past decade has seen a high level of internet penetration in both developed and developing countries and a shift in attitudes and perception of customers. These factors have given rise to the question, ‘Which survey type will generate accurate results at an effective cost - the traditional Telephone Survey or the innovative Online Survey?'

Here are some pros and cons that will help you decide which survey method is appropriate for:

Cost: When conducting a survey ‘cost' is an important factor as most often you have a fixed budget and the cost of conducting the survey cannot be so high that it depletes your event budget. Conducting Telephonic Surveys can be expensive as factors such as time required per survey, local or international calls and the number of phone hang-ups tend to increase the cost per survey. Online Surveys usually cost less because they involve pop-ups on websites or email surveys where the respondent completes the questionnaire directly online. Beside the cost of creating the pop-up or mailing charges, the onus is completely on the respondent.

Time Required and Manpower: Collecting surveys takes a considerable amount of time to create, distribute and collect. This does not even include the amount of time and effort required to tabulate the results. Incase of Telephone Surveys, unless you dedicate serious manpower to conducting telephonic interviews, it will be a long, drawn-out process as the interviewer can conduct only one interview at a time. The Online Survey method allows 100s of respondent to answer your survey at the same time. Even if you are using the Email Survey method to collect information, a single employee could probably send out over 100 mails in a single day or you can opt to sign up for a service that will send out your survey for a minimal amount.

Interviewer Bias: Interviewer Bias is a term used to describe how interviewers can have different effects on respondents' answers based on their gender or their speech patterns. Interviewer Bias is one of the biggest drawbacks on the Telephone Survey method. It does not come into play for the Online Survey method, as there is no one-to-one contact with the respondent.

Accuracy & Results: Accuracy is extremely important when conducting a survey. The accuracy of the respondent's responses determine the accuracy of the survey results. There are pro and cons involving both Telephone and Online Survey methods. In a Telephone Survey, there is direct contact between the interviewer and respondent, which allows the interviewer to interact with the respondent, clarify any doubts and draw out insightful comments. The drawbacks of this survey method is that the respondent may feel pressurized to give quick responses, which may lead to less than accurate responses; and human error on the part of the interviewer as he adds his own insight while entering the respondents responses. In the Online Survey method, accuracy is hampered by whether the respondent is genuine or not. The respondent might lie about his age or gender which tampers with the end results as you cannot double check a respondent's id. This drawback typically occurs while conducting pop-up surveys. Another drawback is that if the respondent has not understood a question there is no way for you to know and explain it to him. However, barring these two factors, the surveys conducted using the Online Survey method tend to have more accurate responses as the online respondents can read the questions and respond accordingly, resulting in higher quality responses. There is also a lack of pressure to answer immediately as the respondent can answer the survey at his own convenience.

We hope this article has helped you decide which mode of survey is more efficient for your business.