Survey Researchers

Summary

Survey researchers develop surveys for research, marketing, and other purposes.

Quick Facts: Survey Researchers
2010 Median Pay	$36,050 per year $17.33 per hour
Entry-Level Education	Bachelor’s degree
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	None
Number of Jobs, 2010	19,600
Job Outlook, 2010-20	24% (Faster than average)
Employment Change, 2010-20	4,700

What Survey Researchers Do

Survey researchers design or conduct surveys and analyze survey data. Many groups use surveys to collect factual data, such as employment and salary information, or to ask questions that help them understand people's opinions, attitudes, beliefs, or desires.

Work Environment

Most survey researchers work in research firms, polling organizations, nonprofits, corporations, colleges and universities, and government agencies. The majority work full time during regular business hours. Some occasionally work outside the office to conduct interviews and focus groups.

How to Become a Survey Researcher

Although some survey researchers have a bachelor’s degree, many technical research positions require a master’s degree or Ph.D. Employers generally prefer candidates who have previous work experience using statistics, analyzing data, or conducting interviews or surveys.

Pay

The median annual wage of survey researchers was $36,050 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of survey researchers is expected to grow 24 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Job prospects should be good for those with an advanced degree in survey methodology, survey research, or statistics.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of survey researchers with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about survey researchers by contacting these additional resources.

What Survey Researchers Do About this section

Survey researchers may give presentations of survey results.

Survey researchers design or conduct surveys and analyze survey data. Many groups use surveys to collect factual data, such as employment and salary information, or to ask questions that help them understand people's opinions, attitudes, beliefs, or desires.

Duties

Survey researchers typically do the following:

• Conduct background research on survey topics
• Plan and design surveys and develop appropriate survey methods
• Test their surveys to make sure that people will understand the questions
• Conduct surveys and collect data
• Account for and solve problems caused by non-respondents or other sampling issues
• Analyze data using statistical software and techniques
• Summarize survey data using tables, graphs, and fact sheets
• Evaluate surveys, methods, and performance to improve future surveys

Survey researchers design and conduct surveys for scientific, public opinion, and marketing research purposes. Surveys for scientific research cover various fields, including government, health, social sciences, and education. A survey researcher may, for example, try to accurately capture information such as prevalence of drug use or disease.

Some survey researchers design public opinion surveys, which are intended to gather information about the attitudes and opinions of a certain group. Surveys cover a wide variety of topics, including political issues, social issues, culture, the economy, or health.

Other survey researchers design marketing surveys that examine products or services consumers want, need, or prefer. Researchers who both collect and analyze market research data are known as market research analysts. For more information, see the profile on market research analysts.

Survey researchers design and may conduct surveys in many different formats, such as interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups (in-person, small group sessions with a facilitator). They use different mediums to conduct surveys, including the Internet, mail, and telephone and in-person interviews.

Some surveys solicit the opinion of the entire population and others target a smaller group, such as residents of a particular state, a specific demographic group, or members of a political party. Researchers survey a sample of the population and use statistics to make sure the sample accurately represents the target population group. Researchers use a variety of statistical techniques and analytical software to plan surveys and analyze the results.   

Survey researchers sometimes supervise interviewers who collect the survey data though in-person or telephone interviews.

Work Environment About this section

Survey researchers often work alone compiling survey results and analyzing data.

Survey researchers held about 19,600 jobs in 2010. They work in research firms, polling organizations, nonprofits, corporations, colleges and universities, and government agencies. 

The following industries employed the largest numbers of survey researchers in 2010:

Survey researchers who conduct interviews have frequent contact with the public. Some occasionally work outside the office, traveling to conduct in-person interviews and focus group sessions. When designing surveys and analyzing data, they usually work alone in a typical office setting, though some work on teams with other researchers. Most survey researchers work full time during regular business hours.

How to Become a Survey Researcher About this section

Survey researchers may conduct focus groups to learn people’s opinions.

Although some survey researchers have a bachelor’s degree, many technical research positions require a graduate degree. Employers generally prefer candidates who have previous work experience using statistics, analyzing data, or conducting interviews or surveys. 

Education

Survey researchers can have a bachelor’s degree in a variety of fields, including business, psychology, and political science. Students should take courses in research methods, survey methodology, and statistics. Many also may benefit from taking business courses, such as marketing and consumer behavior, and social science courses, such as psychology, sociology, and economics. 

Most technical or advanced research positions require a master’s degree or Ph.D. Some survey researchers take degree programs in survey research, survey methodology, or marketing research. Others complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or concentrate in social sciences or statistics.

Prospective survey researchers can gain valuable experience through internships. Several research and marketing firms offer internships for college students or recent graduates who want to work in market and survey research.

Certification

The Marketing Research Association offers the Professional Researcher Certification (PRC) for survey researchers. Although not mandatory, certification can show a level of professional competency. Candidates qualify based on experience and knowledge, including at least 3 years working in opinion and marketing research, passing an exam, and membership in a professional organization. To keep their certification valid, researchers must take continuing education courses and apply for renewal every 2 years. 

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Survey researchers must be able to apply statistical techniques to large amounts of data and interpret the analysis correctly. 

Communication skills. Survey researchers need strong communication skills when conducting surveys and interpreting and presenting results to clients.

Critical-thinking skills. Survey researchers must design or choose a survey and survey method that best captures the information needed. They must also be able to look at the data and analyses and understand what can be learned from the survey.

Detail oriented. Survey researchers must pay attention to details as they work because survey results depend on collecting, analyzing, and reporting the data accurately. 

People skills. Depending on their technique, survey researchers may talk with people in face-to-face or during telephone interviews or in focus group sessions. Survey researchers must be able to make people comfortable enough to give meaningful responses and reveal their opinions.

Pay About this section

The median annual wage of survey researchers was $36,050 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $18,660, and the top 10 percent earned more than $78,030. 

Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of survey researchers in May 2010 were as follows:

Most survey researchers work full time during regular business hours.

Job Outlook About this section

Employment of survey researchers is expected to grow 24 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 4,700 new jobs over the 10-year period. Companies throughout all industries are increasingly using research, and survey researchers play an important role in the research process.

The market research and public opinion polling industry will continue to employ the largest number of survey researchers. Governments and organizations will continue to use public opinion research to help make decisions on transit systems, social programs, and numerous other issues.

Survey researchers also will be needed to design surveys for businesses and organizations. In an increasingly competitive economy, firms will continue to use market and consumer research surveys to help make business decisions and compete in the market. Many of these researcher jobs will be in consulting firms.

However, employment growth will be tempered by changing research methods. Research is an evolving field and companies occasionally adopt new research methods or adapt to new data sources. For example, collecting information from social media sites and data mining—finding trends in large sets of existing data—are expected to reduce the need for some surveys.

Job Prospects

Job prospects are expected to be good for those with an advanced degree in survey methodology, survey research, or statistics. Qualified candidates should find job opportunities in market research, public opinion polling, and consulting firms. 

Although survey researchers also may qualify with a background in a variety of other fields, those with strong statistical and analytical skills and experience working in a research firm will have more job opportunities. Due to the relatively small number of survey researcher positions, bachelor’s degree holders will likely face competition from more qualified candidates.

Contacts for More Information About this section

For information about careers in survey research, visit

American Association for Public Opinion Research

Council of American Survey Research Organizations