Would you like to collect fresh data for your company and support the launch of a new product with empirical findings? Here are the key aspects that should be considered when planning and conducting a nationwide survey.
What does representativeness mean?
A representative survey reflects the characteristics of the population to which the survey refers. In Germany, for example, this means that the sample should represent the entire voting population or a specific target group.
Definition and Meaning of Representativeness
Representativeness means that the sample corresponds to the population in terms of characteristics relevant to the question, such as gender, age and socioeconomic status. This is the most important criterion to ensure that the results of the survey can be extrapolated to the entire population.
Selecting the sample for your survey
The selection of the sample is the crucial step for a representative survey. It is important that the participants are selected randomly and without being influenced by external factors. This can be achieved through telephone surveys, online surveys or a combination of both methods. In Germany, surveys with around 500 to 3,000 randomly generated participants are considered representative. The number depends on the accepted standard error.
methods of data collection
Telephone surveys: These are traditional and are often supplemented by mobile phone connections to ensure wider accessibility.
Online surveys : These are more cost-effective, but they are often criticized because they can have representativeness problems, especially when it comes to including offline respondents.
Mixed mode design : A combination of telephone and online surveys can help to create a more comprehensive and representative sample.
sample size and accuracy
The size of the sample influences the accuracy of the survey. A sample of 1,000 participants already offers an error tolerance of around 3.2 percentage points. The larger the sample, the more accurate the results, but the effort and costs increase accordingly. However, much smaller samples are often sufficient to gain important insights when introducing a new product, as the finest statistical differences are often not important.
avoiding distortions
To conduct a representative survey , it is necessary to ensure that no relevant factors influence the selection of participants. This includes avoiding selection bias and ensuring that each person in the population has an equal chance of being selected .
design of the survey
How do you design a proper survey? Here are a few quick tips:
Make sure to design a proper questionnaire.
Answering the questionnaire should not take more than 8-10 minutes. People are lazy! People's attention span is very short.
The explanations for subjects should be as clear as possible.
By using attention testing questions, you can ensure that no data garbage is produced.
Single-choice and multiple-choice questions are cognitively much easier than text production.
Are you planning a survey and looking for participants? Do you want to conduct a survey and make sure that it is carried out properly?
We would be very happy to talk to you about the possibilities in a free and non-binding conversation.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Phone:
+49 171 55 434 86
E-mail: