Surveys on the Web for Fun and Profit

What’s Involved

Online surveys are an increasingly common form of information-gathering. Businesses of all scales, as well as branches of the media and even various governments want information about the wants, needs and preferences of their customers, readers and constituents. Online surveys are more often than not opt-in, short, and designed to be as non-intrusive as possible. However, from the perspective of the surveyor, there is a problem with surveys on the web: only individuals that feel strongly enough to do something will respond. This has a strong biasing effect. While some forms of surveys, such as censuses, can be considered accurate because of their status as a legal requirement that can be followed up and investigated, personal surveys are prone to only involve those of strong feeling.

To avoid this, incentives are offered to participate. In this instance, the incentive is what drives people to respond, even if the topic does not appeal to them. This provides more honest results for those attempting to collect data. For you, the consumer–it produces rewards.

Benefits of Survey Taking

Surveys on the web are an excellent source of extra leisure income and a great way to collect rewards. They may be on topics ranging from beauty products to food coupons to computer equipment like mice, gamepads or even RAM. Some market research panels offer point systems, and points can be exchanged for rewards, while others offer straight cash, often redeemable at certain breakpoints like ten or fifty pounds. The latter often offers the option of being paid using an online payment service such as PayPal, instead of being mailed a cheque.

Survey Incentives

Online surveys are an excellent means by which companies can collect data, and as a consequence, hundreds upon hundreds of studies are available to be taken at any given time across all market research companies. It is no trouble for an individual to do one or two, spending less than an hour a day for a tidy sum at the end of the month. It is simple work, but it can be quite rewarding.

Survey taking is growing increasingly more and more popular over time, and more and more big names are participating. Generally, the bigger and more well-known the company attached, the better and more reliable the rewards.

Some surveys and “survey companies” are scams, but these usually present themselves rather plainly as unreliable and unsafe. Don’t be taken in by the scams, and pick what you spend your time on wisely, and you can earn some quite great rewards with a relatively small amount of time and labour involved. It is important to keep things in perspective; surveys on the web are not get rich quick schemes. However, they do provide excellent perks for participants and are more than worth the time to anyone with the patience to pursue them to their ends.