Elevate your Survey & Analytics Knowledge
The Survey Science Institute blog articles below draw on published surveys to highlight errors in survey methodology, survey questionnaires, and survey analytics. We explain how the errors produce inaccurate data and findings, and provide suggestions for what could have been done to avoid these errors.
Courses on surveys, statistics and data analytics tell you how to do things correctly. But it is very often a challenge to apply ‘academic’ learnings to real world contexts where the unique details require methodological know how to navigate.
Our goal is to help you up your survey game — whether you are an experienced survey researcher, hiring a survey specialist, or leading DIY surveys in your organization.
[The issues raised in the SSI blog articles are common issues experienced by many organisations. The articles should not be viewed as a negative commentary about any individual organisation. Survey learning is an ongoing process.]
Blog Articles — Elevate your game
US Elections – Don’t blame survey science
Wondering why US pollsters got it wrong? Non-response bias is the primary reason. In 2024, the vast majority of election [...]
Foundations: No p-values for Census data
A Census survey gathers information from every member (unit) of the Target Population. A random sample survey, on the other [...]
So what IS Survey Methodology, anyway?
Survey Methodology relates to the approach taken to select survey respondents (sampling) and to other key facets of a survey [...]
Qualitative Research: The Forbidden Extrapolation
Qualitative research cannot be extrapolated to a Target Population. Period. Only quantitative research with specific design structures can be statistically [...]
Forced-choice questions more accurate than ‘select all that apply’
'Select all that apply' questions are quick a quick and easy option for online surveys; however, studies show that the [...]
Paraphrasing can distort your findings
A tiny change in wording can change survey findings . It has been demonstrated repeatedly that a small change in [...]
“Average” is not a rating scale mid-point
A student's "average" level of satisfaction with their teachers could be "very satisfied" or "very dissatisfied" or anywhere in between. [...]
Survey suppliers: Don’t do me a bamboozle
You’ve hired a survey supplier, but something doesn’t look right to you. Trust yourself. Ask questions. Expect plain language answers [...]
The assumption of “high quality data”
Context The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) has conducted a State of the Sector survey for 4 consecutive years. ONN describes [...]
Define your Target Population: It can be tricky
It is important to define your Target Population very specifically. This may sound simple, but very often it's not. Your [...]
The Interpretation Leap: Analysis must stick to survey wording
Surveys are notoriously fickle when it comes to wording. A slight wording change can change a respondent's answer. As such, [...]