43 Survey Research: What Is It and When Should It Be Used?

Survey research is a quantitative method whereby a researcher poses a set of predetermined questions to an entire group, or sample of individuals. Survey research is an especially useful approach when a researcher aims to describe or explain features of a very large group or groups. This method may also be used as a way of quickly gaining some general details about one’s population of interest to help prepare for a more focused, in-depth study using time-intensive methods such as in-depth interviews or field research. In this case, a survey may help a researcher identify specific individuals or locations from which to collect additional data.  As is true of all methods of data collection, survey research is better suited to answering some kinds of research question more than others.

Text Attributions

• This chapter has been adapted from Chapter 8.1 in Principles of Sociological Inquiry, which was adapted by the Saylor Academy without attribution to the original authors or publisher, as requested by the licensor. © Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.