Differences between Poll, Survey and Quiz
Have you ever faced a situation when you decided to make a quiz, you eventually created something that others consider a poll or survey? If you got concerned with a similar situation, this article would definitely help you! You will clearly understand the difference between quizzes,polls and surveys, and you will achieve your targets more accurately.
Surveys, quizzes, and polls are excellent options to increase engagement and generate leads on your website, as a result, receive more subscribers, traffic, and income. They are known as a boost for your website, allowing you to keep in touch with your audience for a long time.
Understanding the difference between surveys, polls, and quizzes is essential not only for entrepreneurs but also for the general public. Therefore both the entrepreneurs and their customers must know different methods of collecting data. Now we will discuss Surveys, Polls, and Quizzes separately.
What is a “Survey” and why is it important?
The survey is known as a research tool used for collecting data from a predefined sample of people. Traditionally it is done to gain the necessary information to use in different larger tasks or just generalize the results and make assumptions. The survey is used for generating more complex feedback , not just basic data.
Surveys allow users to ask various types of questions, such as multiple-choice questions and rating short answers. A survey questionnaire can collect opinions and facts regarding different topics. In the modern world surveys are the perfect tool to manage events and guests, it is as simple as creating an event sign-up form and you are all set to collect the needed data.
For example, politicians, owners of prominent corporations, and various companies use surveys to get feedback from their audience and employees. In fact, surveys are very engaging and interactive for the audience. The reason is that users are required to explain their reasoning, experience, suggestions, and complaints in detail.
Psychologists and sociologists usually use surveys to analyze the behaviors of their clients. At the same time, it is also used to meet more pragmatic needs of the media, including evaluating public health officials, professional organizations, Universities, advertising and marketing managers, etc.
A survey can collect statistical and quantitative data that will help you to gain detailed feedback and make assumptions about future trends. For example, if you want to know whether the event you organized was successful, you can ask the participants to fill a short survey. This will definitely help you to understand the level of satisfaction of the participants. Given below is an example of such a survey form.
Created with WordPress Survey Maker
What is a “Poll” used for?
The poll is a research method where people should express their opinion about something. Usually, it is done to find out how popular something is or whether people accept or reject certain phenomena. In other words, a poll is a a tool that records votes and opinions.
A poll allows you to ask one multiple choice question. This is a relatively easy option to collect data about only one specific thing. Polls are usually very popular on different social media platforms and other websites. Most of you might have noticed a little question saying, “Do you know how to make a Poll in WordPress?” or “Did you find this article helpful?” at the corner of different websites. These are examples of a poll.
The participants of a poll have only one option; however, some polls may allow choosing multiple options. Generally speaking, it is anonymous feedback as the respondents’ personal information is not taken. The main advantage of a poll is its’ quickness. It only takes a few seconds to select and click on an answer. Thus, the information is retrieved within seconds.
A random sample of people voluntarily takes part in a poll. They are administered in many ways, including face-to-face, phone, social media, etc. However, nowadays, polls are mainly conducted online to be more convenient for users. So, they can pass the poll whenever they find it suitable.
You can use polls when you want to obtain a general idea about people’s opinions regarding a particular thing. In fact, people make websites for making Online Polls. For example, if you want to know if your readers are satisfied or dissatisfied with an article, website, or blog post, you can create a poll with this question, “Was this information helpful?”. This will allow you to get a general idea about the reader’s satisfaction and the usefulness of the article. However, you cannot ask for a detailed review, for example, which information is useful, what should be added, and what can be improved, from a poll.
Generally, polls are conducted to obtain data on various patterns of opinions or trends on a societal level. Final results are presented in the form of graphed percentages or charts.
Polls are widely used by lots of international big companies, as well as by professional focus groups and panels to collect opinions and feedback from customers.
Below you can see an example of a poll.
Created with WordPress Poll Maker
What is the meaning of “Quiz”?
Quizzes are used for different purposes. You can use them to test the knowledge of students or entertain the audience. Nowadays, the internet is full of entertaining quizzes as most companies want to spread awareness of their products or services, drive social shares and traffic to their website using quizzes.
Quizzes contain any type of questions, including multiple-choice, short answers, long text, etc. They can be similar to exams with different restrictions such as timer and navigation. Moreover, entrepreneurs can use quizzes to increase engagement on the website and receive more subscribers, followers, traffic, and income.
For example, if you are an English language instructor, you can arrange English level quiz. This will help you understand the English level of your potential students, entertain your audience, and earn money.
Below you can find an example of a quiz.
Multi-selection questions are a great way to get as much information as you will need for your survey. Give the participants many choices so that they can choose the appropriate ones for them and you will get the needed information from them. That is you are giving the participant the ability to choose from different options. And offering the participants various options will make the process of learning even more interesting and engaging.
Created with WordPress Quiz Plugin
Survey VS Poll
“Should I create a poll or a survey” ; this is a common question asked. The answer is that it depends on which kind of data and information you expect to gain. Polls and surveys have several differences that allow you to choose which one is more suitable for your project.
To begin with, surveys are more comprehensive compared to polls as they usually include many questions and may also contain multiple-choice, ranking, textbox, and open-ended questions. On the other hand, a survey is mainly used to collect opinions on a broad topic or to gain detailed feedback. In both cases, a survey should include a certain number of questions.
For doing market research online surveys are an ideal option. They are done to collect customers' detailed opinions. So, for data collecting or for getting gathering information about the target audience surveys are perfect options. Online polls on the other hand offer the users multiple choice questions, for a better understanding of public opinion.
A poll is used to ask a straightforward question to get a general idea. It requires a few seconds to answer with an anonymous click because its purpose is to get a basic opinion. In contrast, a survey is more time-consuming and will usually ask the respondent to insert personal information.
The poll results are just a general overview as the answers to polls are limited to the provided multiple-choice options. Surveys offer more detailed answers and give a broader picture.
When it comes to reporting, a poll can be summarized in a few sentences, while a survey takes more analysis to explore the outcomes.
Quiz VS Survey
Now let us compare the characteristics and features provided by the quiz and survey and discuss their main differences. This will help you understand in which cases to use a Quiz and in which cases a Survey.
First of all, there are right or wrong answers in a quiz, while a survey contains questions that do not have any wrong answers. The primary purpose of a quiz is to test the knowledge of the quiz taker or just entertain the audience, for example, you can create an IQ Test with 100+ questions, on the contrary surveys are mainly for collecting feedback, and usually, there is a great variety of survey question types used depending on the goal.
Quizzes are typically used in teaching, training, and learning to build and test knowledge. Therefore, they are sometimes also called tests & exams.
After passing, the quiz takers usually receive a grade, certificate, or valuable information related to their answers. However, surveys do not provide anything to the participants. Instead, they just have a chance to express their own opinion about certain things.
Which one is better to use?
This question has NO general answer. The answer depends on the project you are working on and what kind of data or information you are seeking for. Hopefully, this article will help you clearly define a quiz, survey, and poll in order to avoid concerning situations.
By the way, all the examples illustrated in this article are made by Quiz Maker, Survey Maker, and Poll Maker. If you want to quickly prepare various types of quizzes, surveys, and polls with a number of interesting and user-friendly features, these tools are EXCELLENT for you.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a test and a survey?
Tests are usually created to assess the knowledge of participants, while surveys are used to collect opinions and feedback, they are a good tool for lead generation.
What are the advantages of using polls?
Polls can reach a wider audience, they can be anonymous and they are quick to answer.
How do polls, surveys, and quizzes influence website traffic?
Polls, surveys, and quizzes are different tools that increase website traffic with interactive content. This engages more and more people and influences the website traffic positively.