What are Surveys?

At a Glance

Surveys gather data from a representative group of people, usually to understand a larger population. Surveys with large numbers of contributors collect quantitative feedback, while UserTesting tests collect qualitative feedback.

 

Overview of Surveys

Surveys allow you to collect information from a large number of people (usually 100+) and then draw inferences about an entire population. For example, you might collect survey responses from a subset of your customers to make inferences about all of your customers.

With surveys, respondents self-report data about themselves or how they think or feel about something. Surveys are often leveraged to get opinions about topics.

Some everyday use cases for conducting surveys include:

  • Collecting demographic information about your audience
  • Collecting opinions about an experience, product, or service
  • Gauging customer satisfaction (such as via a Net Promoter Score)
  • Measuring people's attitudes or activities

Surveys with UserTesting

Surveys collect a large amount of data, but that data often lacks qualitative insights to help you understand why respondents are selecting those answers. Conducting UserTesting tests in parallel with your surveys can provide that richer data.

  • Before you launch a survey to a large group of people, pilot the survey using the UserTesting Platform. You will observe whether respondents understand the questions you are asking and the choices you provide.
  • Similar to the item above, point to the survey from a UserTesting test in parallel with your launch to the larger group of people. You don’t need the videos of ALL survey respondents, but being able to watch the videos of 10–15 people completing your survey can give you a qualitative sample of responses. Asking contributors to speak out loud as they complete the survey allows you to observe their behavior and listen to their feedback as they go through the activity.
  • You can also leverage UserTesting integration for Qualtrics when running an online survey. This integration hands off a certain number of your survey respondents to a UserTesting test where they then provide more details of their experiences. 
  • You can also ask survey-type questions in a UserTesting test, such as rating scale and multiple choice questions.

Learn More

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