What should a good survey be?

What should a good survey be?

• A. Random and representative.
• B. Voluntary responses only.
• C. Very long with many questions.
• D. Only from a specific group.

Answer: (A)

A good survey aims to reflect the larger group you care about. That means choosing respondents in a way that gives every member of the population a fair chance to be included, and making sure the group surveyed resembles the population in important respects. Random sampling helps prevent bias that comes from over- or under-representing certain kinds of people. If you rely on voluntary responses, you can get self-selection bias—people with strong opinions or particular experiences are more likely to participate, which can skew results. Very long surveys can tire respondents and produce lower quality data, and surveying only a specific group limits how far the findings apply to others. So the best approach is a random, representative sample so the results can accurately reflect the broader population.

A good survey aims to reflect the larger group you care about. That means choosing respondents in a way that gives every member of the population a fair chance to be included, and making sure the group surveyed resembles the population in important respects. Random sampling helps prevent bias that comes from over- or under-representing certain kinds of people. If you rely on voluntary responses, you can get self-selection bias—people with strong opinions or particular experiences are more likely to participate, which can skew results. Very long surveys can tire respondents and produce lower quality data, and surveying only a specific group limits how far the findings apply to others. So the best approach is a random, representative sample so the results can accurately reflect the broader population.