It is not our intention to complicate this issue especially because this website is not targeted at scholars but all consumers who want to get paid for online surveys . However, it is important to share some basics so that you may be more comfortable taking part in the paid surveys when the opportunity comes.
Generally, a survey is a way of collecting data in order to find a solution to a problem.
This is why you will most often hear researchers talking about the "statement of the problem", which basically means the issue that is driving the need for the survey.
It is often said that a well defined statement of the problem leads to a great methodology and hence useful results. A problem could be something like, a decrease in sales for product X. Once the product X manufacturer notices this, they may want to conduct a survey to unearth the reasons behind the decrease and to ensure participation, these companies would offer incentives and hence you will often come across ads that say "get paid for online surveys".
The problem statement will then result in a formulation of specific objectives. This means the brand owner or manufacturer will state exactly why they need to conduct the paid survey. Most often this activity is done by an external research agency, most of which have online paid survey divisions. The survey agency will then use the objectives to formulate the necessary questions to ask the consumers like you, which will all revolve around product X.
There are various ways of formulating the questionnaire for paid surveys but this article will not go into that. If you are interested you can send us an email and we would be glad to give you more details on this.
At this state, the paid survey agency will then have to determine the target market to be interviewed, specify the number of people based on their accuracy targets, often called confidence interval and confidence level.
Now, there are two different ways to select a sample or survey respondents, the first one, is called probability sampling. This means every person in the target group has an equeal and known chance of being selected to take part and get paid for taking the survey. The second one is called non-probability sampling or convenience sampling. This means that the survey company selects people that are reachable and easy to communicate with - meaning not everyone has an equal chance of being selected.
Online paid surveys can be classified as non-probability surveys, because not everyone who may be meant to take a certain survey is accessible through the internet. However, because of the magnitude of the databases the online paid survey companies have, they are able to utilize the random sampling method. This means say out of a million people in the database they are able to randomly select 5000 to take part in a particular survey. The results can be reliable and useful to companies like the manufacture for product X.
Paid online surveys basically evolves around the same principles discussed here, only that there are no fieldworkers who go from door-to-door asking people to fill in some questionnaires. Instead you get the survey questionnaire in your inbox or members area of the online paid survey company.
It is important to note that not all surveys are paid surveys, often times you will come across field workers asking you to fill in a questionnaire from the goodness of your heart i.e. without getting paid for taking the survey. Just because there is not incentive for these kind of surveys does not mean you shouldn't take part in them especially if the course is worthwhile.
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