Survey vs. questionnaire: What’s the difference?

Cement vs. concrete. Poisonous vs. venomous. Shrimp vs. prawn.

Survey vs. questionnaire.

There are a ton of words in English that people mistake for synonyms. Although these words have different meanings, they tend to be used interchangeably. But delve into the details, and you see that they’re actually very different.

Surveys and questionnaires are a great example of this. There are a few differences between them, such as sample sizes and whether or not you’re looking to report and analyze data. In this article, we’ll dive into the key difference between a survey and questionnaire every marketer, manager, and researcher should know: a survey refers to the entire research process, including design, data collection, aggregation, and analysis, while a questionnaire is just the set of questions used to gather information.

Survey vs. questionnaire: Differences and definitions

A survey collects data about a group of people so you can analyze and forecast trends about that group. As opposed to its questionnaire cousin, the data isn’t analyzed in isolation. Surveys look for trends, behavior, or a bigger picture rather than individual insights. A broader survey aggregates and analyzes data from multiple questionnaires or data sources to identify patterns and collective insights. The term survey refers to a comprehensive research method that includes not just the questions, but also the design, delivery, collection, and analysis of data. A survey includes all these elements to provide a complete understanding of the overall situation or opinion. Surveys typically involve multiple respondents, allowing organizations to aggregate responses from many people for broader insights. Surveys are often used in descriptive research to understand and characterize populations or phenomena by answering questions like who, what, where, and when. The purpose of a survey is to collect and analyze statistical data, supporting data-driven decision making.

A questionnaire collects data about individuals from a list of questions. It’s not used to look for trends, behavior, or a bigger picture. A questionnaire is usually limited in scope, and it isn’t used for gathering data or analyzing statistics.

Here’s another way to put it:

• A questionnaire is a single-purpose data collection through a set of questions.
• A survey is data collection using a set of questions for statistical analysis.

A survey covers the entire process from designing and delivering questions to collecting and analyzing responses, making it a comprehensive research tool.

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In the average person’s daily life, it’s not really a big deal to use “survey” and “questionnaire” interchangeably. But why? Well, sometimes because the context clears things up. Other times, the difference is so subtle the mishap goes unnoticed and unpunished, and so confusing the two terms doesn’t impact the message.

But these differences matter when it comes to surveys and questionnaires. Clarity is crucial if you’re the person reaching out for information. For marketers, managers, and researchers, these terms are two different beasts.

Once you have a handle on precisely what each does and doesn’t do, you’ll never mix them up again.

What is a survey?

If you’ve ever been handed a slip of paper asking for feedback after enjoying a dinner out, then you’re familiar with surveys.

Think of a survey as a major project that uses a larger dataset to analyze trends in that dataset. With a survey, you can dig deeper and find out peoples’ opinions and ideas. Surveys are designed to gain insights into behaviors, preferences, and attitudes, helping organizations make informed decisions.

By analyzing data from survey responses, you can extract valuable insights that inform research outcomes. The collected data must be unbiased to ensure accurate and useful results. Gathering detailed data through various question types allows for a comprehensive understanding of respondents. Surveys are also used to uncover trends by identifying patterns and shifts in opinions or behaviors. You can ask demographic survey questions, determine how engaged your employees are, conduct market research, and much more.

Survey types

Surveys come in many shapes and sizes, each designed to collect data for a specific purpose and provide actionable insights about your target audience. Some of the most widely used survey types include customer satisfaction surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys, Customer Effort Score (CES) surveys, and System Usability Scale (SUS) surveys.

Customer satisfaction surveys are essential tools for measuring how happy your customers are with your product or service. By gathering feedback directly from survey respondents, businesses can identify strengths and areas for improvement, helping to boost overall customer satisfaction.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys focus on customer loyalty by asking a simple but powerful question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” The responses provide a clear metric for customer loyalty and can help you track changes over time.

Customer Effort Score (CES) surveys are all about ease of use. These surveys ask customers how easy it was to complete a specific action, such as making a purchase or getting support. CES surveys help businesses pinpoint friction points in the customer journey and make practical improvements.

System Usability Scale (SUS) surveys measure how user-friendly a system or product is. By collecting data on usability, companies can refine their products to better meet user needs.

Each of these survey types is tailored to collect specific data, whether it’s about customer satisfaction, loyalty, or usability. By choosing the right survey for your goals, you can gain valuable insights into your target audience and make informed decisions that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty.

What is a questionnaire?

Flashback to the last time you joined a gym. Maybe you opted for a health check when you signed up. If so, you’d have been asked to answer a list of specific questions about your medical history.

That was a questionnaire.

Questionnaires are a common tool for collecting information from individuals, allowing organizations to gather data for various purposes. The information you provide is used to assess risk, help with diagnoses, and paint a picture of your personal medical history. Open-ended questions in questionnaires are often used in qualitative research to collect in-depth, non-numerical insights. Closed-ended questions, on the other hand, are used in quantitative research to gather numerical data that can be analyzed statistically. The data collected from these questionnaires becomes valuable research data, supporting further analysis and decision-making.

In applied research, questionnaires can help identify practical solutions to real-life problems, such as improving workplace productivity. Today, questionnaires are frequently distributed as an online form, making it easier to reach respondents and collect feedback digitally. It’s not used to look for trends, behavior, or paint a bigger picture.

Questionnaire design

Creating an effective questionnaire is the foundation of collecting high quality data and ensuring your research project delivers meaningful results. The design process starts with understanding your target audience—what are their needs, preferences, and characteristics? Tailoring your questions to your audience helps you gather information that’s both relevant and reliable.

There are several types of questionnaires, each suited to different research methods and objectives. Quantitative questionnaires use closed ended questions with predefined answer choices, making it easy to collect numerical data for statistical analysis. These are ideal for gathering large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. Qualitative questionnaires, on the other hand, feature open-ended questions that encourage detailed, written responses. This approach is perfect for collecting personal accounts and qualitative feedback that provide deeper insights.

Demographic questionnaires focus on collecting data about characteristics like age, gender, income, and education, helping you segment your audience and analyze trends across different groups. Psychographic questionnaires go a step further by exploring attitudes, values, and lifestyle choices, offering a richer understanding of what motivates your respondents. Pictorial questionnaires use images and visuals to collect responses, making them especially useful for advertising, branding, or when working with younger audiences.

To ensure the data collected is accurate and actionable, keep your questions clear, concise, and free from leading questions or unclear response options. Using online survey tools can streamline the process, allowing you to create, distribute, and analyze questionnaires with ease—no matter the size of your audience. With thoughtful questionnaire design, you’ll be well-equipped to collect data that drives high quality insights and supports your research goals.

When to use a survey vs. questionnaire

So, when all is said and done, does any of this matter? Who even cares about the terminology?

Let’s go back to the gym membership example.

When you answer all those questions about heart problems, fainting, and diabetes, your answers aren’t used to assess the health of local people in the area. Unless you reveal you have a medical condition, that questionnaire is placed in your file—until it’s needed.

But what if that medical questionnaire were being used as part of a large-scale medical research program?

Simply filing that piece of paper away wouldn’t achieve anything—the answers on it would have to be collated and merged with the answers given by other people.

And this is when the questionnaire becomes part of a survey. There’s a need to turn that raw data into actionable intelligence, which requires aggregation, analysis, and the identification of statistical trends.

Now, to dial your level of confusion up to 11, there’s also such a thing as a survey questionnaire. It starts as a simple questionnaire but later transforms into a survey—mindblown.

Imagine you’re trying to gauge how your employees feel about working with you. By using Likert scale questionnaires, you can ask people to express their feelings on a scale of, say, one to five. Then, by aggregating the scores, you can get an overall picture of satisfaction levels within your organization.

Let’s talk through some common situations where you might need to gather data and how you can choose between using a survey versus a questionnaire.

Building your pipeline

Surveys and questionnaires have their own purposes, so how do you decide which is right for what you need to accomplish?

Questionnaires are better suited for when you need quick data intake. Looking to gather contact information for new clients? A questionnaire is a great way to get everything you need.

Surveys are better for gathering large sets of data to interpret and pull trends from. Looking to create a report analyzing the behaviors of your top-converting prospects for some target audience research? A survey can help you spot and analyze big-picture trends. Collecting feedback through surveys is essential for understanding customer needs and improving your strategies based on real client input.

Collecting data

Both surveys and questionnaires work for data collection, depending on what you want to do with that data.

Surveys are typically employed when you need to collect large amounts of data about groups of people, while questionnaires are better suited for smaller groups or collecting data about individuals. It is important to ensure that the collected data is unbiased and accurate, as biased questions can compromise the quality and usefulness of the collected data.

Are you trying to gather info on which new benefits your employees want the most? A survey will do. What about helping your employees set goals for the next quarter? Try a questionnaire.

Data analysis

Surveys are the clear winner if you need to conduct data analysis. Think about a medical questionnaire—it’s helpful if you’re trying to evaluate a single patient’s health history, but you can’t use it to inform public health decisions.

A survey is built to make it easier to gather data about a large group of people, relying on qualitative data so you can pull patterns from responses at a glance. When analyzing data from surveys, you can extract valuable insights from aggregated responses to inform decision-making and research outcomes. Questionnaires typically gather quantitative data, so they tell you a lot about an individual, but are too complicated for data analysis.

Perfect your surveys and questionnaires with Typeform

We’ve covered everything you need to know about using a survey vsersus a questionnaire to gather the data you need. But how do you get started?

You don’t need to worry. Whether you need to gather information to gather customer feedback or learn more about your customers, help is at hand. Use a simple survey maker and give your survey the best possible start.

Remember that you need to ask the right questions—and in the right way, to get the best answers.

Typeform captures your participants’ attention and keeps them engaged, guiding them through your survey or questionnaire one step at a time. Conditional logic allows a customized experience for each respondent, helping you dive deeper and gather more data—without creating more surveys. And you never have to worry about security because Typeforms are PCI, HIPAA, and WCAG 2.1 compliant.

Questionnaire or survey, out-of-the-blue conversational data collection is the best way to increase engagement rates—and give your business the information it needs to grow.