Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Auditing Discussion Lists

Ray Taylor (taylor_at_bizbiz.com)
Thu, 23 Jan 1997 08:49:47 +0000

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>Why not just send the survey to the entire list? There are no postage >or
>printing costs to >make it cost prohibitive. And it's a no-brainer to
>>send it out to everyone, since you're >already set up to do that with
>the newsletter itself.

>Why go to the trouble of pulling out a sample and emailing to them, >when
>it's easier to email >it to everyone? Plus, the responses you get >would
>be a sample of your entire subscribership, >rather than a sample >of your
>random sample. Wouldn't that be better? Is there a reason to >prefer a
>ramdom sample when it's possible to work with the whole >thing?

One of the problems with email, or Web form, surveys is that the
responses are in no way representative. If you send out a questionnaire,
the people who return it are the kind of people who have nothing better
to do than fill in forms plus one or two public-spirited individuals who
feel they ought to contribute.

This is the main reason why most of the research available on, about, or
from the Internet, is way, way, wide of the mark.

The only way to conduct effective market research is to do it in the
time-honoured ways. The first thing is to _select_ your sample and take
steps to ensure a representative percentage respond. A mailing to 100%
of a population will always be distored by _self_-selection.

Ray Taylor
taylor_at_bizbiz.com
The UK Internet Advertising Report
http://www.bizbiz.com/iar/

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