We move on to blog post number 5 in our 12-part blog series: Find the Best Survey Software Solution. In this series, we discuss the 12 most important questions you should ask yourself when assessing your company’s needs for a survey software solution.
Question 5: Are you looking for a survey software solution for online surveys only?
If your answer to this question is ‘Yes,’ then you may find that the survey software choices might just be more complex – some may even say confusing. The market is full of small- and large-sized online survey providers. There is everything from free online survey software to very expensive software solutions. However, one thing is certain – you get what you pay for! If you find a free survey solution that appears to be too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true. There will certainly be “a catch” somewhere, for example – an unwanted logo on every page in the survey, perhaps a limit on the size of the survey or a limit on the types of questions, or possibly a limit on the appearance of the questionnaire. These are all factors that need to be taken into consideration when reviewing a potential free online survey option.
If your answer to this question is ‘No,’ and you are considering multiple modes of survey research, including online surveys, then your survey software choices may be more narrowed. The number of survey providers offering just online surveys is greatly reduced. This will make your evaluation of more advanced survey software solutions slightly easier. The majority of advanced survey software providers offer software packages that can handle all modes of survey research – online surveys, paper surveys (some with survey scanning capabilities), mobile surveys, kiosk surveys, telephone interviewing surveys, and PDA and tablet surveys. If you plan to run multi-mode surveys, ideally, you would want to consider a software provider that offers all the survey modes mentioned. Surely, online surveys seem to be a simple and easy mode of survey administration, however, online surveys don’t always reach the proper targeted market sectors that can be better reached by other survey modes, such as paper surveys or mobile surveys. In many research cases, you will want to consider administering a survey in multiple modes – online, paper, and mobile surveying to reach a broader sample and increase response rates.
Next blog post:
Stay tuned for part 6 of this 12 part blog series. Finding the Best Survey Software Solution, Question 6: What is the complexity level of your surveys?
Did you miss the first four blog posts in the series?
Find the Best Survey Software Solution
Blog 1 of 12, Question 1: How many surveys do you intend to develop?
Blog 2 of 12, Question 2: How many questions will appear in your survey?
Blog 3 of 12, Question 3: What is your experience level with survey software?
Blog 4 of 12, Question 4: Do you already have the internal resources to design & administer surveys?