Market Research Surveys: How to Choose the Right Research Survey Method

A market research survey is one of the most effective ways to understand customers, communities, markets and stakeholders at scale.  But the value of a research survey depends greatly on choosing the right method.  Online surveys, telephone surveys, in-person interviews, kiosk surveys, IVR surveys and paper-based surveys all have different strengths, limitations and risks.

When the wrong research survey method is selected, organisations can waste money, frustrate customers or communities, collect biased data and make poor strategic decisions.  When the right method is chosen, a market research survey can produce reliable, decision-ready insights that help organisations understand what people need, value, experience and expect.

When choosing the right research survey method, you need to not only choose the method that will help provide the right insights but also the one that is the easiest and most attractive to the people you want to survey and that fits within your budget and available resources.

 

What is a market research survey?

Simply, a market research survey is a structured way of collecting information from a defined group of people, such as customers, residents, employees, stakeholders or potential buyers.  Market research surveys are used to measure behaviours, attitudes, needs, satisfaction, awareness, preferences and demand.

Unlike informal feedback, a well-designed research survey uses a clear questionnaire, a defined sample, an appropriate method and structured analysis to produce reliable insights.  Businesses and government organisations use market research surveys to support decisions about products, services, communications, customer experience, policy, pricing and brand strategy.

The well-designed structure of a research survey is what makes it valuable to decision-makers.  It is reliable, repeatable and allows generalisations beyond the sample used to make statements about the wider population and predictions.

For information on how to determine the right sample size, check out our article on sample size ‘How Many People Do You Really Need for a Survey?’

 

Why choosing the right market research survey method matters

Choosing a survey method is not just a technical decision. It affects who responds, how many will respond, what types of questions can be asked, survey length, how representative the data is, and how confidently the findings can be used.

The wrong method can lead to:

• • • biased results
    • low-quality responses
    • under-representation of important groups
    • poor respondent experience
    • wasted research budget
    • misleading recommendations
    • decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate evidence

The right method helps ensure the research survey reaches the right people, asks the right questions in the right way and produces insights that can be trusted.

Choosing the right market research method, including what survey method to use, starts with a well-defined understanding of your needs.   Our article on writing market research briefs – with templates – will help you understand your needs and write a strong market research brief.

 

Surveys are one type of quantitative research

Surveys are one of the main types of quantitative methods.  Quantitative research methods use a structured approach to collecting and analysing results to describe and explain the topic of interest.  As the name suggests, quantitative research focuses on the quantity to provide insights.  In comparison, qualitative research methods use a less structured approach that allows a more exploratory approach to getting insights.

The main types of quantitative methods in research include:

• • • Surveys
    • Experiments and quasi-experiments
    • Observation
    • Operational data
    • Customer data
    • Customer feedback
    • Secondary data analysis

The observation method is when data is actively collected for the research, while customer and operational data is passively collected as part of business operations.

Account set-up and use, and website data are common types of customer data.  Customer feedback data that is more than an analysis of comments is quantitative if it analyses trends and causes.

Surveys excel at providing a lower-cost, flexible, and proactive way to capture a diverse range of respondents’ experiences and allow decision-makers to go beyond what is already captured.

Note:  In survey research, ‘respondent’ means any person included in a survey and can include customers, community members, residents and any other person who ‘responds’ to a survey. 

 

What are the main types of research survey methods?

There are six main types of research surveys in market research and social research.  These surveys are divided into two main types: self-completion and administered.

The first three methods – online, kiosk and paper – are ‘self-completion’ methods because respondents can complete the survey independently.  The last two types of surveys are administered surveys, where a person asks the questions and records the answers.

• • • Online surveys
    • Kiosk surveys
    • Paper-based surveys
    • IVR survey (interactive voice surveys)
    • Telephone surveys
    • In-Person (face-to-face surveys)

Depending on how they are implemented, AI-driven Chatbot surveys are the same as online surveys, with a sequential conversation that focuses on open-ended (free-text) questions.  They are the online equivalent of an IVR when attached to the end of an online service or transaction.

 

Online Surveys

Online surveys are currently one of the most common forms of market research surveys.  They are often cheaper than other methods to set up and run and can quickly be undertaken anywhere a person can access the internet.

Besides cost and broad access, online surveys can also be dynamic, with questions reflecting earlier responses or pre-loaded information, so that only relevant questions are asked.

Online surveys can be adapted for mobile devices and other platforms, utilising sophisticated question designs and tools to better engage and uncover valuable insights.

The main downside to online surveys is that their ubiquity can make people less likely to complete them; they can attract AI bots; it is easy for people to give fake or poor-quality responses; without a person administering the survey, any ambiguity can be misinterpreted.

The ease of setting up online surveys means that there are many poorly designed surveys that force participants to guess what is being asked.

 

Eris Strategy perspective Online surveys are often the most efficient option, but they are not always the best.  At Eris Strategy, we assess whether an online survey will reach the right audience, the risks to data quality and how to mitigate those risks and how to leverage the method to deliver detailed insights efficiently.

 

 

Advantages:  Fast, cost-effective, scalable, flexible, easily accessible, ability to show stimulus material and use advanced question types.

Disadvantages:  Can easily attract low-quality and fake responses; easy for people to ignore; and high motivation is needed for detailed answers.

 

Kiosk Surveys

Kiosk surveys can be either online or saved on a device at a specific location.  Unlike online surveys, a person can only access the survey through the kiosk.  A kiosk is any device at a service or location.  Examples are feedback surveys in service centres on touch screens or purpose-built machines.

A kiosk survey has the advantage of being located at the site where a person receives the service or experience, making it easy for them to provide immediate feedback about the service they have just received.

Downsides to kiosk surveys include that they may need to be brief because customers may want to leave; customers may feel reluctant to provide negative feedback when the person who served them is nearby; and customers may not be able to offer feedback when a service requires multiple stages or remains unresolved.  These biases tend to give overly positive feedback.

Advantages:  Close proximity to service or event for linking survey to a specific encounter; low cost per complete; and can generate high response rates due to ‘relevance proximity’.

Disadvantages:  More complex to set up; costly if there is no existing kiosk; high bias potential in who completes the survey; incomplete service experience; and limited questioning depth and length.

 

Paper-Based Surveys

Paper-based surveys, while uncommon, still have a place in some projects. Paper-based surveys include both mailed surveys and questionnaires made available at a location.  In locations where internet access is not available or where setting up a kiosk is risky (theft or damage), a paper-based survey may provide the best access.  The main downsides to paper-based surveys are the cost of printing and data processing.  Even with surveys set up to be scanned, they require printing, scanning, and document destruction (especially if they have personally identifiable or sensitive information).  Because people are unlikely to carry a pen, you need to provide a pen or pencil.

Advantages: Easy to use and accessible for people without internet connections or difficulty using devices.

Disadvantages:  Expensive, not scalable, only for short and basic questions, and has a longer time turnaround.

 

IVR Surveys

IVR surveys are technically self-complete surveys.  IVR surveys are mostly done at the end of customer service calls but can be done with an automated telephone call to a person.  Both end-of-service and automated call IVR systems use a person’s voice, including AI-generated voices, to read out questions, and the person uses the phone keypad to provide answers.

With an IVR survey, a person can also provide voice-based responses that are then coded.

IVR surveys, like kiosk surveys, are best used at the end of a service experience, along with very short surveys of up to four simple questions.  Also, like kiosk surveys, they tend to elicit positively biased responses and reflect only the most recent experience rather than the full service.

Advantages: Cost-effective once set up, and the ability to link feedback to staff performance.

Disadvantages: Inflexible, limited insight does not reflect the total customer experience and can only be used after a telephone-based service.

 

Telephone (CATI) Surveys

Telephone surveys.  For surveys where email addresses are not available or SMS messages are not feasible, telephone surveys may be the best option.  Telephone surveys generally require either a contact list or a telephone number listing.  Telephone interviews are also helpful when an interview would benefit from having someone explain information or ask probing follow-up questions to get more detail from a person.

Telephone surveys are sometimes referred to as CATI surveys (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews).  This refers to the interviewer completing the survey on the software.  For large telephone survey field agencies, specialist software is also used to manage telephone calls, recording, and data quality management.

The main drawbacks of telephone surveys are the increasing difficulty in getting people to answer unsolicited calls, the cost of using interviewers, the fact that only simple question types can be used, response bias due to having to give responses to a person, and that telephone interviews take longer than a similar length online survey.  Due to the difficulty in recruiting participants for a telephone interview, the sample may be biased toward older individuals.

 

Eris Strategy perspective Telephone surveys can still be valuable when the target audience is difficult to reach online, when you have reliable lists, or when respondents need support to provide responses.  However, they require careful sample management and interviewer training to reduce bias.

 

Advantages: Interviewers can ask detailed questions, provide explanations, implement quickly, and cover a geographically dispersed population.   

Disadvantages: Expensive with low response rates; challenging to get a representative result; cannot show stimulus material; can only use simple questions; and answers tend to be the same (especially for importance, satisfaction and agreement scales).

 

In-Person Surveys

An in-person (face-to-face) survey is the original survey method, where interviewers approach people and ask them questions from a questionnaire.  In-person surveys can be conducted by interviewers approaching people at a location (intercept interviews) or visiting them to complete the survey at home, in an office, or another location.

Intercepting is more common than door-to-door because it is safer for staff, costs less (cost per interview), and provides more representative surveys.  With intercept interviews, you can target specific groups based on location.

In-person interviews are an ideal choice for location-based surveys or for surveys with a high density of target groups.

An in-person survey is not the same as using people to recruit someone to complete a survey by phone or online.  That is a recruitment method and not a survey method.

 

Eris Strategy perspective In-person surveys can still be valuable when the target audience is located in a specific place or when the research focuses on an event.  Because surveys are done when people are focused on other tasks, surveys need to be short and trained staff are needed to maximise response rates and reduce bias that comes from this more social research approach.

 

Advantages: Target specific people at a needed time and place; can show stimulus material; interviewers can ask follow-up questions and provide explanations; can use mobile devices or kiosks for more interactive and complex questioning; and can use people similar to target groups to improve response rates and engagement.

Disadvantages: Costly, with staff safety issues in some locations and at certain times; requires high-traffic areas; susceptible to weather conditions; necessitates staff training; and presents more challenges in controlling data quality.

 

Benefits and limitations of each market research survey method

Below is a summary of each research survey method, what it is best for, its main advantages and limitations.

 

Research survey method	Best used for	Main advantage	Main limitation
Online surveys	Scalable market research, detailed information, and complex topics	Fast, flexible and cost-effective	Risk of low-quality or fake responses when using open links
Kiosk surveys	Immediate feedback at a service location	Captures feedback close to the experience	Can be biased by location and context
Paper surveys	Audiences with limited digital access	Accessible without technology	Slow, expensive and hard to scale
IVR surveys	Short post-call feedback	Low cost once established	Limited depth and flexibility
Telephone surveys	Audiences hard to reach online	Interviewers can explain questions	More expensive and lower response rates
In-person surveys	Location-based research and intercept surveys	Can target people at a specific place and time	Higher cost and more complex fieldwork

 

 

Matching the research survey method to the type of research

The first stage in all research, including survey research, is having a clear idea of your purpose.  There are three major purposes of research.

• • • Exploratory
    • Descriptive
    • Causal (includes evaluations)

 

Exploratory research

Exploratory research focuses on discovering the who, what, when, where and how of your customers, community, or market to understand the ‘why’.   Exploratory research always precedes descriptive and causal research.

Exploratory survey research often follows qualitative exploratory research and a review of secondary research (research that was previously done).

If your survey requires extensive exploratory research, consider using online surveys to provide greater flexibility in the number and range of questions, including open-ended (free-text) question types.

For exploratory research, the focus is less on having an accurate representation but rather on different kinds of experiences and factors that could influence the research topic.

If you have not done adequate exploratory research before undertaking your survey, the results can be disastrous.  In community research, this could mean excluding the actual causes of concern and the factors affecting service use.

In market research, this could mean making the wrong product-launch decisions based on inaccurate sales forecasts.

For example, while working with a pain management client, they used a survey based on younger women.  The results showed limited interest in long-lasting pain relief and concern about lasting effects.  The product was almost dropped until it was discovered the research should have been conducted among older males and females, who are more likely to suffer arthritis and musculoskeletal pain.  For them, a long-lasting pain reliever was ideal.

 

Descriptive research

Descriptive research focuses on understanding the who, what, when, where, and how to size markets, opportunities, and problems.  Customer satisfaction, experience, and market sizing research are examples of descriptive research.  Their value to an organisation is in showing how many people in a population have a characteristic, experience, behaviour, opinion or interest.

Depending on the analysis done, some descriptive surveys can provide exploratory insights.

If your survey is descriptive, a key factor in survey method selection is maximising its representativeness.  The more representative a survey is, the more accurate the generalisations it can make.

 

Causal research

Causal research shifts the focus to how things are correlated and how they cause change.  Surveys focused on causation are part of an experiment or evaluation.  Testing how an event may have caused a change.  For example, this includes how a campaign changes attitudes and behaviour.

Within the survey, correlations between results may be used to indicate causation.  For example, satisfaction driver analysis infers causation from changes in experiences with satisfaction levels.

If your survey is focused on causation, a key factor is survey timing, related to what is being studied and to minimising bias in how the survey is undertaken and how people respond.  Self-completion surveys often offer the most effective approach for testing causation.

 

The Eris Strategy Survey Method Framework

At Eris Strategy, we assess survey method choice across eleven decision factors:

1. 1. 1. Accessibility
      2. Representativeness
      3. Location or timing proximity
      4. Depth of detail required
      5. Interviewer bias
      6. Context bias
      7. Stimulus material
      8. Observation needs
      9. Privacy and anonymity
      10. Analysis and question type
      11. Budget and operational constraints

This framework helps ensure the survey method is not chosen because it is familiar, cheap or easy, but because it is fit for the decision the research needs to support.

Listed below, in greater detail, are the criteria we use at Eris Strategy for choosing the right market research survey method for clients.

1. 1. 1. Accessibility.  The most accessible method to the people you want to interview, including what contact details (if any) are available, is the most important method criterion.  If you have contact details, the type you have will help determine which method to use.  Having email details makes online surveys a good choice.  Without contact details, surveys must purchase contacts or recruit directly through in-person intercept interviews.
      2. Representativeness. Each survey method needs to be evaluated against its ability to accurately represent the types of people, experiences and views you are interested in.  Not having the representation means getting the wrong results.  A survey that mainly includes happy customers will not show the true state of customer service.
      3. A location-based survey method is necessary when physical proximity to a place or event is crucial.  In-person surveys are ideal for targeting a specific location.   A kiosk survey may also be effective for high-volume service areas.  For time-based proximity such as straight after an event, online, telephone, IVR or in-person approaches can work, depending on contact information availability.
      4. Depth of Detail. Surveys that require a high level of detail will need an online method or a personally administered approach, such as telephone or in-person, if obtaining that detail requires assistance from an interviewer.
      5. Potential Interviewer Bias. A non-personal survey method is necessary when there is a strong potential for interviewer bias.  In some cases, having the right type of person will increase others’ willingness to participate in a survey.
      6. Context Bias. If there is a strong potential for bias based on when and when a survey is completed, such as near service staff, then kiosk or IVR methods should not be used.
      7. Stimulus Material. If you need people to view the video, images, models, prototypes, or any other material, you will need to use a method that allows you to display it to them in the survey or interview after sending it to them or after they have seen it at a location.
      8. Observation. Studies that include observing people perform a task will require in-person interviewing or recruitment to a survey stage.  For example, in-store observation or event engagement.
      9. Privacy and Anonymity. Perceptions of whether an organisation can identify someone in a study will strongly affect their willingness to assist and be honest.  This includes perceptions of being observed while completing a survey.  This impacts the methodological choice and all communication that accompanies a study.
      10. Analysis and Question Type. Some studies require specific questions, like choice modelling or detailed product lists. These approaches require online or in-person methods with access to an online version of the software.
      11. Budget. Limited budgets require trade-offs for sample size, survey length, and complexity, which may rule out telephone and in-person methods.

 

 

Mixed Method Surveys . . .  combining methods to get the best outcomes

Although we have focused on specific methods in isolation, methods can be combined to achieve more effective outcomes and efficiency.  For studies that require multiple stages, a different method may be necessary for the exploratory phase than for collecting descriptive data or testing causation (see the section above on the main types of research using surveys).

In some situations, multiple methods can make a survey more representative and accessible.  For example, for a housing survey, we needed to include both online and in-person face-to-face interviews to ensure coverage across multiple locations and access to specific target groups that were reluctant to complete online surveys due to accessibility reasons.

 

Need help choosing the right market research survey method?

Choosing the right research survey method can be the difference between useful insight and misleading data.  Eris Strategy helps organisations design market research surveys that reach the right people, ask the right questions and produce insights that can be confidently used in decision-making.

If you are planning a customer, community, stakeholder or market research survey, contact Eris Strategy at engage@erisstrategy.com.au.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 

What is a market research survey?

A research survey is a structured method of collecting information from people using a consistent set of questions. It can be used in market research, social research, customer research, employee research and academic research.

 

What is the best market research survey method?

The best method depends on the audience, research objectives, budget, required sample size, question complexity and whether the survey needs to show stimulus material or be completed at a specific location.

 

How do you choose a research survey method?

Choose a research survey method by considering who you need to reach, how accessible they are, how representative the sample needs to be, what questions you need to ask, whether an interviewer is needed, and how much budget is available.

 

Why use Eris Strategy for a market research survey?

Eris Strategy helps organisations design research surveys that are fit for purpose, methodologically robust and focused on practical decisions. We help with survey method selection, questionnaire design, sampling, analysis and translating findings into action.

 

What are the different types of research survey methods? 

There are six main types of survey methods: Online surveys, kiosk surveys, paper-based surveys, IVR surveys (interactive voice surveys), telephone surveys and in-person (face-to-face) surveys.  Online, kiosk, and IVR surveys are self-administered, while telephone and in-person surveys require an interviewer.  Chatbot surveys are a type of online survey.