Title: Strengths and weaknesses of survey design
Course: UGQuants (SSPS) > Section: Survey Design

Strengths and weaknesses of survey design

Strength |  | Weakness
- Survey data are ideally suited to large-scale research projects, as surveys generally comprise large amounts of information on a large number of people. |  | - Survey data are more suited to providing breadth as opposed to depth of information. In the same vein, survey data are therefore better suited to answering ‘what’ questions as opposed to ‘why’.
- Where probability sampling techniques have been applied, findings can be generalisable beyond the specific context of the survey to wider populations. |  | - Survey data does not allow us to explore the meaning or significance of the response categories provided to respondents in the way that respondents’ answers can be probed and explored in interviews, for example.
- The data collected by surveys is usually relatively easily prepared for analysis, arguably far more so than qualitative data which can be time consuming and difficult to prepare. |  | - Survey data can be regarded as decontextualising respondents’ answers. Responses may vary under differing conditions but often survey data provides no room for the analysis of such conditions and their potential influence.
- In addition to being easy to prepare for analysis, readily available survey software and computer power allows advanced statistical techniques to be utilised allowing complex analyses to be undertaken. |  | - Survey research is undoubtedly less flexible than qualitative research. For example, if we have sent a postal survey to 1000 respondents and upon receipt of incoming responses it becomes clear that respondents are misunderstanding a particular question or that we ought to have asked additional questions, there is nothing we can do to rectify such issues.
- Survey data are easily replicable. Replication allows us to assess the reliability of research findings. If we repeat a study and get the same results, this lends support to the reliability of the original findings. Qualitative studies are less amenable to replication, and it is therefore more difficult to critically examine research findings in this way. |  |