Based on our overview of the different types of surveys that exist, lets briefly

summarize the general advantages and disadvantages held on common by all

survey techniques.

The General Advantages of Surveys

Surveys 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 Surveys

Survey research is highly dependent upon the researchers 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