Surveys have a long history, with their origin somewhere in the 19^th century, even when the internet didn’t exist. A time when online forms were not circulated to seek people’s views. Paper-based surveys by snail mail and interviewing people were the norms. Eventually came the calling facility with telephones where a person from a brand would call the consumers to ask questions.

Online surveys started nearly 100 years back. Paid surveys are a recent addition to the gamut to invite more users by appreciating their time with gift vouchers. Online survey sites in India and other countries are helping people without niched skills to make money online.

With advanced technologies and learning human behavior, online surveys are becoming more interesting every year for qualitative market research professionals. They explore novel ways to tap into human minds. But more interesting is the evolution of surveys from the very beginning. Let’s give you a glimpse into the history of surveys today.

History of Surveys

Genesis

The father of data processing, Herman Hollerith, is sometimes credited to be the pioneer in the market research industry. He carried out the first-ever survey and devised a technique for studying the users. Hollerith invented the machine to capture punched cards in 1889 that was used in processing and summarizing data. This humble origin of data processing machines led to the formation of what we know today as IBM.

The US government used these machines to process the census in 1890. By the early 20^th century, many countries started using Hollerith’s machine for census data. After IBM, various companies took shape between 1920 and the early 2000s, some of the major names include AMA, ESOMAR, Nielson, SurveyMonkey, and Qualtrics. These companies introduced many new ways of market research with time.

As the dot com era swamped the industries, more companies invested in proper market research by utilizing the internet.

Nagging Phone Surveys

Businesses in the old times used to call their customers to ask about their views on the products they used. A telephone executive would call and ask basic questions to gather information about the user and their views.

Customers found this method nagging and intrusive because the calls could come at any time during working hours and interrupt the busy users. Sometimes, users were wary of answering such calls discarding them as a sales activity. This was a big roadblock for the brands.

The Gallup’s Polling

Another breakthrough achieved in market research was President Roosevelt winning the US election in 1936. George Horace Gallup, the founder of Gallup Inc., predicted his win by only surveying 50K respondents compared to another big magazine with an audience double this size.

From then on, The Gallup Organization has been working in market research and polling successfully.

Quality with Focus Group

Focus groups are known to generate qualitative market research data. A trained moderator interviews 6-10 people who share a common interest and opens communication channels. Focus group interviews are nearly 8 decades old now.

Robert K. Merton introduced the first focus group after the 2^nd World War sometime in the 1940s. His process involved people responding to his questions by pressing a red or green button based on their sentiments. The study was conducted in a radio station, focusing on radio soap operas.

However, the actual term “focus group” was coined by Ernest Dichter quite late, in the 1990s.

Hello! Online Surveys

Paid online surveys in India, the US, Canada, the UK, and so many other countries have gained momentum in the last few decades. They appreciate users for their opinions. Most users are happy to offer their data and time for complex and long-form surveys with the rewards involved.

Although the history of online or digital surveys started with the punched card tabulators, a lot has changed between then and the 2020s. The processes have evolved according to the purpose of surveys from qualitative to quantitative feedback to understand users’ mindsets and the likes. And hence, many mechanisms and theories passed through the scrutiny of the market research companies.

Computer-assisted survey information collection, or CASIC, became the primary foundation of feedback collation in the 1950s and later. Companies like RAND corporation introduced data analysis and processing capabilities during that decade. The 1960s saw a major reform in data analysis. But apart from the processing, the framework also saw improvements such as better sampling and population selection.

Kiesler and Sproull surveyed online in 1986 and analyzed qualitative data. Likewise, another major achievement was bagged by Opinion Research Corporation, which conducted an online political poll and saw a grand success.

As the internet and technologies enhanced, online surveys got refined with time.

In Between Came The NPS

NPS, or Net Promoter Score, has changed the game of opinions in the world of marketing and market research. This number is the gist of how many users are your ambassadors—consumers who would recommend your brand to their friends and family. The important point to note here is: NPS is the number of promoters of your brand minus the number of detractors.

This number is not identified, surprisingly, by measuring your users’ satisfaction. But this stat is controlled by the users willing to recommend you to their network. No long forms or 15-question surveys. You only need to ask 1 question, “How likely are you to recommend our brand on a scale ranging from 0 to 10?”.

Frederick F. Reichheld first introduced NPS in 2003; he was then a partner at Bain & Company.

Now and Here

Online surveys have seen various reforms and have become so important in market research that companies now pay people to participate in surveys for their time.

AI and ML technologies are used to refine data collection and synthesis. Predictive analysis and facial recognition are common tools to get perspective on what holds in the future based on inputs.

Focus on The Future with Opinionest

As far as the history of surveys is concerned, it indeed is a boastful growth. But don’t skim around the history anymore. Instead, create a vision for your brand’s future by digging into users’ minds who love to share their opinions with online survey sites in India. Get started with paid surveys and tap the potential with qualitative market research processes. Connect with our team of experts here.