Definition Survey

The survey is one of the most common methods of collecting data. The person is interviewed based on a questionnaire. Surveys can be carried out via telephone or in writing (and with greater frequency, via the internet). Respondents give their own answers in all cases.

During interviews, errors can occur when people assess their own behavior as wrong. A typical example is the duration of daily TV consumption: respondents often ignore how often the TV runs in the background. Therefore, the survey will bring less accurate results than observations and experiments in this instance.

Please note that the definitions in our statistics encyclopedia are simplified explanations of terms. Our goal is to make the definitions accessible for a broad audience; thus it is possible that some definitions do not adhere entirely to scientific standards.