There are plenty of survey sampling options available to event marketers, planners, and sales teams. Sometimes, though, a sample isn't enough. If you're looking for a comprehensive data set and think a census survey might be the answer, let's take a look at what a census survey is and the advantages and disadvantages of census surveys.
What Is a Census Survey?
A census survey collects data from every person in a specific population or group. It aims to provide a complete and accurate count of all members of the population being studied without relying on sampling or estimation. You'll often see survey results based on responses from a set number of people within a target group, but these respondents are only a small portion of the entire group.
For example, you might find a survey of event planners with 500+ respondents, but there are clearly more than 500 event planners in the world. A census survey requires responses from a complete group.
What Type of Survey Is the Census?
A census is a population survey. It aims to count and collect data on everyone within a specific population. Depending on how you want to use the census data, the type of questions asked and data collected will vary, but responses must be collected from everyone in the specified group.
What Is the Purpose of a Census Survey?
You're likely familiar with government census surveys, which are designed to collect demographic, social, economic, and housing information, among other variables. However, a census survey can have B2B use cases if leveraged strategically (and sparingly).
Because census surveys collect data from an entire population rather than a subset or sample, they ensure you're getting a complete picture without room for approximate results. The data collected from census surveys can be used to identify trends and patterns in a population, areas of need or pain points within a group, changes in sentiment over time, how budgets might be better allocated, and so much more.
Advantages of Census Surveys
While census surveys can be exceptionally complicated and certainly aren't worth the effort in every scenario, there are several advantages to leveraging a census survey, including:
- Increased confidence interval: Conducting a census often results in enough respondents to have a high degree of statistical confidence in the survey results. If you're working with a population of less than 1,000 individuals, you may often need to survey everyone to achieve statistical confidence.
- Universal coverage: Because census surveys collect data from everyone in a population, the data is relevant to the entire group, and each member of the group can feel like their opinions, experiences, and identities are represented.
- Sampling framework for subsequent studies: With data as comprehensive as what you can achieve in a census, you'll be well-prepared to embark on subsequent surveys, leveraging the census data to identify subsets in your population and target more specific groups with specific survey topics.
- Ability to identify trends in smaller groups: A census survey allows you to look at the big picture, which means you're better able to identify trends within the data received. This can help you identify trends across the entire population as well as within smaller subgroups.
- Ability to identify and prioritize negative feedback: When considering negative feedback from a small sample size, it's never clear how widespread an issue is or how many people you might be helping by addressing it. With a census survey, you can get a clear picture of how many people share the same pain points, and you can prioritize any changes you make based on the volume of complaints and suggestions.
- Avoiding sampling errors: When working with a sample size, there's a decent amount of estimation and assumption involved in survey results. With a survey that targets a complete population, you leave little to no room for sampling errors or incorrect assumptions.
Disadvantages of Census Surveys
- Difficult to require participation: While it's every marketer's dream to think when a survey request goes out, everyone will respond, that's just not realistic. Unfortunately, that's exactly what census surveys require. In order to conduct a true census, you'll need responses from the entire population you're surveying, which means creating a way to require participation or heavily incentivizing participation so no one is left out.
- Time-consuming and costly to conduct: Because a census surveys everyone in a population, you'll naturally want it to be as comprehensive as possible. That means it's time-consuming for you to create and for your respondents to complete. This can be off-putting for respondents, so be transparent upfront about how long the survey should take. That way, respondents can work it into their schedules. It can also be costly to conduct these types of surveys depending on how you choose to conduct them, so survey software and email marketing are your friends here.
- Difficult to control response quality: The size and complexity of a census survey make it difficult to control the quality and depth of responses. You'll likely be asking a lot of questions in a census survey, which means you can't afford to make any of your questions too complicated or specific. Unfortunately, this can mean less in-depth data to mine.
- Delay between data collection and data sharing: A census is a huge undertaking for you and your respondents. It's going to take you a while to create the survey, and then you'll need to provide respondents ample time to complete the survey. What's more, you'll need a window of time to urge holdouts to respond before your final deadline so you can be sure you don't leave anyone out. Once your survey is complete, you'll need time to gather the data and start digging into findings and trends. All of this takes time, so from survey creation to sharing the results, you'll be looking at a rather large time gap. Just be sure that the data you collect in a census will still be relevant once you're finally ready to share it – otherwise, the census simply isn't worth it!
- Limits participation in other surveys: Unfortunately, it's unrealistic to think you'll be able to get full participation every time you send out a survey request. By sending out a census, which requires participation in a rather lengthy survey, it's possible your respondents won't be as likely to complete another survey for you in the future. Just imagine you're asked to complete a mandatory census, and then a few weeks later, you have another optional survey request in your inbox. Probably not going to get to that second survey, are you? Before embarking on a census survey, evaluate the other survey projects in your pipeline, and consider whether these are more important.
When weighing the advantages and disadvantages of census surveys, be sure to keep in mind the survey goals and other survey projects in the pipeline. If you've decided that maybe sending email survey invitations to everyone for a web-based census survey isn't a great idea, check out our other posts on types of survey questions and when to use them, as well as how you can use different data types.
How to Conduct a Census Survey
If you've weighed the pros and cons and decided a census survey is the right option, here's a step-by-step guide to help you get started:
- Determine your target population and ensure you have contact information for the entire group.
- Identify and test your survey software and invitation methods.
- Design your survey, determining which questions you need to ask, relevant data on the characteristics and behaviors of the target population, and how long your survey will be.
- Send your survey out to a test group to identify any potential issues or biases, then adjust your survey as needed before sending it to your target group.
- Administer your survey using your chosen method, including online survey software, phone interviews, mail surveys, etc.
- Collect data and analyze it, identifying key trends, establishing subgroups, and creating reports.
- Present your findings in a report that highlights key insights and recommendations for future action, and ensure respondents have the opportunity to see your insights and the end value of your survey.
Ready to get started with your next survey? Make sure you have the right survey software for the job!
