11.22
The most misunderstood tool in the history of business?

­Last week, I stumbled upon a Quora thread where users discussed the question, “How accurate are surveys?” As I skimmed the responses, it occurred to me that asking “How accurate are surveys?” is like asking, “How accurate are pencils?”

A survey is neither accurate nor inaccurate. It’s an all-purpose tool, with applications ranging from measuring brand awareness to generating leads. Surveys do not cause errors any more than pencils cause bad novels or illegible handwriting.

So why doesn’t the question “How accurate are surveys” feel as absurd as “How accurate are pencils”?

Surveys are more closely linked to statistics and methodological rules than pencils are linked to, say, the dos and don'ts of portrait drawing or storytelling. In the Quora thread, commentators focused exclusively on poor question design, sampling biases, and other sources of error.

While surveys might not be as versatile as pencils, they are not as coupled to stats and research methods as most people think.

On its website, the survey platform Typeform features a product category it calls “Funny Online Polls.” In one example you’re prompted with the message, “Hey you. Fancy answering a few random, pointless questions just for the heck of it?” It’s hard to resist clicking “Sounds stoopid. I’m in.”

The subsequent questions are whimsical yet Typeform wisely shows how surveys can be used as a marketing tool. In a section featuring case studies, Krispy Kreme’s #DoughtnutBowl playoff poll is mentioned alongside a survey AirBnb conducted in which they asked people about their wildest dream vacations. Across each example the goal is sales, engagement, and PR-points – not accuracy.

Historically, surveys are managed by analysts and research departments. What happens when a marketer uses a survey to, say, build a click funnel that nudges shoppers to click “add to cart?” In the digital era, I’m drawn to creative people using data and the tools of science.

Like Dylan going electric, they will create new categories of value by challenging what we expect from the current ones.