If you’re new to survey creation, you may have some questions about what a survey is and how to create different sorts of surveys. We provide you with the tools you need to construct any survey at SurveySlack. We’d also want to assist you in learning how to design better surveys that fit your specific needs. Learn more about what is a survey and what types of surveys are Qualitative vs. Quantitative
What is Survey?
A survey is a means of gathering data from a small group of individuals. The facts and insights gained from survey replies are then used to develop conclusions about a subject. The sample size in a survey indicates a bigger population. Qualitative and quantitative research are the two forms of research. Which sorts of questions you ask will depend on the type of study you wish to do.
What is a Qualitative Survey?
A qualitative survey is one that gathers information in order to characterize a subject. In other words, the survey is more concerned with learning about people’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions than it is with collecting numerical data. Qualitative surveys are less organized and aim to learn more about how individuals think, what motivates them, and how they feel about your issue. These surveys are harder to evaluate, but they may provide your study with a lot of detail. Qualitative surveys provide answers to the questions “why” and “how.”
Benefits of Using a Qualitative Survey
Qualitative surveys are, for the most part, exploratory in nature. Their major goal is to figure out how your group thinks, what their ideas are, and how they feel about a given issue. You get to study every word they write throughout the analysis phase to come up with a hypothesis about their replies.
Although this form of survey is excellent for learning more about personal perspectives, it works best with small sample numbers. This implies that the conclusions you reach aren’t a complete picture of your audience, but rather a subset of it.
Qualitative surveys are critical for discovering weak spots in your organization, despite tiny sample numbers. The weak places you find can then be used to build relevant questions for a quantitative survey. These questions are frequently not posed without first doing qualitative research.
Examples of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research may be used in a variety of ways. To begin, qualitative questions are frequently used in interviews, which collect information from a single individual on a single topic. Interviewing a few workers ahead of time is an excellent place to start if you want to send a survey to your firm inquiring about job happiness or corporate culture. This will give you an idea of what themes and follow-up questions to include in your survey. Consider qualitative surveys as a technique to gather the information that will aid in the development of a more thorough quantitative survey in the future.
A case study is another type of qualitative research. Case studies are similar to interviews in that they collect data from a single source and are primarily concerned with opinions. You may conduct a one-on-one interview and ask the participant a number of questions about your business to exhibit on your website later if you want to employ a case study as a marketing method to attract more clients to your firm.
Another type of qualitative research is expert opinions. You might desire an expert’s opinion on a subject that interests you. When you get an expert opinion, you’re getting information from a single source regarding a given subject.
Focus groups are another type of qualitative research. With focus groups, you ask a small group of people for their thoughts on a specific topic. Focus groups help you to get a sense of people’s reactions in a relaxed situation. This is a fantastic approach to getting feedback on a new product or marketing plan from a small group of people.
A qualitative survey can also be used to gather the same sort of data. You would pose the questions in a survey with a brief answer box allowing them to express themselves rather than sitting down one-on-one with participants.
Read more about: The Ultimate Guide to Feedback Surveys.
What is a Quantitative Survey?
A quantitative survey gathers information in the form of facts and figures. It’s most often utilized to confirm or invalidate a notion you came up with after conducting qualitative research. The analysis step examines the statistical data in order to draw findings such as verifying or denying your theory. The sort of survey you send to your sample is determined by the goals you have for the survey.
Benefits of Using a Quantitative Survey
Qualitative surveys are, for the most part, exploratory in nature. Their major goal is to figure out how your group thinks, what their thoughts and attitudes are on a certain issue. You get to study every word they write throughout the analysis phase to come up with a hypothesis about their replies.
Although this form of survey is excellent for learning more about personal perspectives, it works best with small sample numbers. This implies that the conclusions you reach aren’t a complete picture of your audience, but rather a subset of it.
Qualitative surveys are critical for discovering weak spots in your organization, despite tiny sample numbers. The weak places you find can then be used to build relevant questions for a quantitative survey. These questions are frequently not posed without first doing qualitative research.
Examples of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research may be used in a variety of ways. To begin, qualitative questions are frequently used in interviews, which collect information from a single individual on a single topic. Interviewing a few workers ahead of time is an excellent place to start if you want to send a survey to your firm inquiring about job happiness or corporate culture. This will give you an idea of what themes and follow-up questions to include in your survey. Consider qualitative surveys as a technique to gather the information that will aid in the development of a more thorough quantitative survey in the future.
A case study is another type of qualitative research. Case studies are similar to interviews in that they collect data from a single source and are primarily concerned with opinions. You may conduct a one-on-one interview and ask the participant a number of questions about your business to exhibit on your website later if you want to employ a case study as a marketing method to attract more clients to your firm.
Another type of qualitative research is expert opinions. You might desire an expert’s opinion on a subject that interests you. When you get an expert opinion, you’re getting information from a single source regarding a given subject.
Focus groups are another type of qualitative research. With focus groups, you ask a small group of people for their thoughts on a specific topic. Focus groups help you to get a sense of people’s reactions in a relaxed situation. This is a fantastic approach to getting feedback on a new product or marketing plan from a small group of people.
A qualitative survey can also be used to gather the same sort of data. You would pose the questions in a survey with a brief answer box allowing them to express themselves rather than sitting down one-on-one with participants.
How to balance Qualitative and Quantitative Research?
These two study strategies are not mutually exclusive. They actually operate better together. In the realm of Big Data, there is a plethora of data and numbers that may serve as a solid foundation for your judgments. However, without the data gathered from actual individuals to give the meaning of the statistics, the foundation is inadequate.
So, how do you combine these two types of research? When you’re looking for fresh issues and possibilities, qualitative research is usually always the place to start–and it’ll help you perform more in-depth research later. Quantitative data will provide you with measures to validate and understand each problem or opportunity.
Example:
Assume you had a conference and we’re looking for feedback from the guests. Quantitative research can presumably already quantify a variety of aspects, such as attendance rate, general happiness, speaker quality, information value, and so on. All of these questions may be answered in a fashion that is both closed-ended and quantitative.
However, you might want to include a few open-ended qualitative research questions to see what you could have missed. You might ask things like:
- What was your favorite part of the conference?
- How could we make your experience better?
- Is there anything else you’d like us to know about the conference?
If these qualitative questions reveal any recurring themes, you may opt to go more into them, make adjustments to your next event, and be sure to include quantitative questions on these subjects following the next conference.
Example:
Let’s assume numerous guests felt the conference’s difficult-to-reach venue was their least favorite aspect. Your survey may offer quantitative questions next time, such as how happy individuals were with the place, or allow respondents to pick from a list of prospective venues.
When to Use Qualitative vs Quantitative Research
When should a qualitative survey be used instead of a quantitative survey? When your main goal is to understand motivations, viewpoints, or gather information to generate a hypothesis to test with quantitative research, qualitative research is the way to go. Quantitative research should be used to quantify data and measure qualitative research findings. Quantitative research typically allows you to reach a conclusion, but qualitative research just allows you to formulate a hypothesis.
Let’s look at how each method can be used in research:
- Formulating hypotheses: Qualitative research aids in the collection of thorough information on a subject. You may utilize it to kickstart your study by learning about the difficulties or opportunities that others are considering. Those thoughts may be turned into hypotheses that can be tested with quantitative research.
- Validating general answers: Quantitative research will provide you with data that you may use to validate your hypothesis using statistical analysis. Was that issue genuine, or was it simply someone’s imagination? You will be able to make judgments based on objective observations thanks to the concrete data you have gathered.
- Finding general answers: Because a multiple-choice survey is quicker to perform than a series of interviews or focus groups, quantitative research often includes more respondents than qualitative research. As a result, it may assist you in answering broad queries such as: Do people prefer you over your competitors? Which of your firm’s services is the most crucial? Which advertisement appeals to you the most?
- Incorporating the human element: Qualitative research might also assist you with the project’s final stages. The responses you got from open-ended inquiries can give the objective figures and trends in your research a human face. Hearing your consumers describe your organization in their own words may often reveal your blind spots. Qualitative data will provide you with this information.
Create a survey to get started if you’re ready to test qualitative or quantitative research on your own. To get you started, SurveySlack offers a variety of themes and prepared questionnaires. Begin gathering information and developing conclusions about your pressing questions. Create a free account right now! Our Pro plan allows you access to even more tools, such as question branching, if you want to get additional insight and broaden your study.
FAQ
Are Quantitative Survey Questions good for market research?
Quantitative survey questions are a great place to start in market research since they allow a researcher to see if a product or service is wanted or needed before engaging in more expensive qualitative research.
What are Quantitative survey questions?
Quantitative survey questions are used to collect data on frequency, probability, ratings, price, and other variables. Likert scales and other survey question types are frequently used to keep respondents engaged throughout the questionnaire.
How do qualitative and quantitative questions differ?
In order to define a research project for the correct target audience, quantitative survey questions are employed in preliminary research. Qualitative inquiries are frequently open-ended and aid in answering “why” questions, gaining context for quantifiable data, and comprehending difficult-to-quantify actions.
When the survey audience is enormous, can quantitative research be utilized to target a specific audience?
Quantitative research can be targeted to a specific population, even if the survey audience is quite vast. This is generally decided by demographic information such as age, gender, and geographic region.
