Survey course

Surveyors gather facts and opinions by interviewing a general public or members of a particular group or organization. They usually follow a predetermined pattern, recording responses on a questionnaire. Interviews can be conducted in person or by telephone or mail, using questionnaires to be filled in. Market surveys are usually carried out on behalf of industrial companies and advertisers interested in selling certain goods. The aim is to understand what the audience needs, what they want and what they like or dislike. Industries can then produce the right goods and increase their sales. Opinion polls are a genre of market research that covers a wide variety of topics, from opinions on political and economic issues and on possible electoral behavior, up to the level of satisfaction of a public figure. Both central and local government bodies use market research to find out what the public thinks about topics of a different nature, such as, for example, environmental policies or urban planning proposals. They usually have to interview people for whom a certain object is intended. This can be a random sample or a selected group: for example, people of a certain age, parents of small children or people in a particular profession. Very often they work in commercial areas with many shops and approach people who, according to them, could match their parameters; interviews can also be done over the phone. Interviews done on the street and over the phone tend to be quite short. Surveyors during each interview must adhere to a procedure that has been strictly defined and must be careful not to do or say anything that could affect respondents' response to questions.