Based on our overview of the different types of surveys that exist, let’s briefly summarize the general advantages and disadvantages held on common by all survey techniques.

The General Advantages of SurveysSurveys are versatile. A survey can be structured collect information on almost any topic of interest to marketing management. This is why surveys are the most widely used tools for conducting marketing research.Surveys are relatively easy and quick to conduct. If management has had experience with a particular type of survey, the survey instrument -- which is typically a questionnaire -- can be quickly constructed, pre-tested, and administered.A survey is about the only way to get information that bears on why people behave the way they do.  In other words, surveys are still the best approach when researchers are interested in identifying consumers' motives for engaging in certain behaviors in the market place.

The General Disadvantages of SurveysSurvey research is highly dependent upon the researcher’s skills. A high degree of expertise and experience is required to design and implement a quality survey.  Because a typical survey yields large amounts of information, the specific item of information in which managers may be most interested often is buried in fairly bulky reports. In other words, it may be very difficult for managers to pick out the most important information from the mass of data that have been collected and reported. This is where the researcher can really help out.  By helping management precisely define the objectives of the study ahead of time, the final report can be formatted to specifically highlight the information that pertains directly to the stated objectives.Surveys are susceptible to sampling error. Generally this is means that the sample is too small or is, for some other reason, not truly representative of the population of interest.  In either case, the results of the survey cannot be generalized back to the population of interest.  Essentially, this means that the survey's results are of little value to decision makers.Surveys are subject to systematic error or biases introduced because something is done incorrectly during the research process. The wrong questions may have been asked; the questions may be in the wrong order; questions may be worded incorrectly so that they mean something different to the subject than what was intended; or, the interviewer may have said or done something to change the way subjects answer questions.  We will examine these and other sources of systematic error later on in this topic