Online survey
Also called: Internet survey, Web survey · Topic: Economic Data: Census, NSS, Surveys and Statistical Tools · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Collection of Data"
Meaning
An online survey collects answers over the internet or by SMS (short text messages). It is fast and cheap, even when very large numbers of people are covered. Its main weakness is that it misses people without an internet or phone connection. This is a form of sampling bias: part of the target population cannot be reached by the survey plan, so the results may not represent everyone.
Example
A company asks customers across India to rate its app through a web form. It gets thousands of replies in a day. However, it hears nothing from rural households without internet access, so their views are left out.
Don't confuse with
- Telephone interview: a person asks the questions live and can clarify doubts. An online survey is usually filled in by the respondent alone.
Related concepts
- Primary data
- Secondary data
- Survey
- Variable
- Observation
- Questionnaire
- Enumerator
- Informant
- Closed-ended question
- Open-ended question