Linton Weeks reviews the current state of (online) surveys and survey software.
Then came the Internet, interactive voice recognition and other methods of collecting data that involve less cost and quicker turnaround times for corporations thirsty for consumer information.
There are two salient reasons for the burgeoning survey industry, [Nancy Mathiowetz, past president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research] says. First, the corporate desire to make empirically based decisions “requires the collection of data to examine satisfaction, how people view products, etc. Second, the marginal cost of data collection — for some modes of data collection — has dropped.”