Glossary for surveys and research

The terms from A to Ö (by Swedish term)

Background question (bakgrundsfråga)

E.g. turnover, gender, income.

Processing error (bearbetningsfel)

Errors in recording the answers.

Nonresponse (bortfall)

The people who did not answer, for various reasons.

Nonresponse error (bortfallsfel)

The respondents have not answered all questions

CSAT

Customer Satisfaction Score. The share of customers who are satisfied with a single occasion, for example a purchase or a support case. Given as a percentage.

Data processing (databearbetning)

Review of the collected data

Data collection (datainsamling)

How you will collect the data.

A statistical survey (en statistisk undersökning)

Differs from other surveys in that it is based on statistics. See Quantitative surveys It requires a certain number of answers.

Survey (enkät)

The same questions are asked to a large number of people. By phone, by web survey or directly on the street, for example. Read the guide How to succeed with your survey.

Single-choice questions (envalsfrågor)

A question type where the respondent should choose only one of several alternatives.

Case study (fallstudie)

Is not based on statistics. You focus on a single individual, for example.

Filter questions (filterfrågor)

Lead the respondent on to a follow-up question depending on what they answered to the question before.

Multiple-choice questions (flervalsfrågor)

The respondent can choose between several different answer alternatives.

Focus group or the focus group method (fokusgrupp eller fokusgruppsmetoden)

See also Qualitative surveys. A very important tool for getting views on new products and services before they are launched. The focus group is led by a chosen moderator.

Questionnaire (frågeformulär)

A number of written questions. Ready-made examples are among our survey templates.

Histogram

How a property varies in a population or in a sample.

Control question (kontrollfråga)

The same question asked twice but with different wording.

Correlation (korrelation)

How two variables are related. If one decreases, the other decreases too.

Cross-tabulation (korstabulering)

A way of analyzing used to find out what those who answered a certain way to one question think in another question. Example: how do the big customers answer compared with the small ones?

Customer survey (kundundersökning)

A survey where you ask your customers how they experience your product, service and relationship. See the guide on customer surveys.

Qualitative surveys (kvalitativa undersökningar)

A personal meeting in a focus group or a personal interview. Goes deeper than a:

Quantitative surveys (kvantitativa undersökningar)

Aimed at a large/larger group of people

Likert scale (likertskala)

An answer scale where the person answering takes a position on a statement, often in five steps from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

Market research (marknadsundersökning)

Aimed at consumers and customers. You examine their attitude toward the company, the service or the product. See the guide How do you do market research?

Mean (medelvärde)

All the respondents' answers to the question divided by the number of respondents.

Median

The middle value.

Measurement error (mätfel)

Errors in the question, a misunderstanding of what the question means. You get the “wrong” answer.

Measurement method (mätmetod)

E.g. register data, surveys, telephone and in-person interviews.

NKI

Nöjd Kund Index (customer satisfaction index). A number between 0 and 100 that shows how satisfied the customers are, calculated from a few questions about the overall impression and expectations. Read more in the guide on NKI surveys.

NPS

Net Promoter Score. Shows how willingly the customers recommend you. Calculated as the share who answer 9 or 10 minus the share who answer 0 to 6 on a scale from 0 to 10.

Object (objekt)

People, events and things that you want to study.

Opinion poll (opinionsundersökning)

Measures opinion and should reflect the population's views on chosen issues.

Pilot study (pilotstudie)

A test round where a few people answer the survey before it is sent out for real, so that unclear questions can be corrected in time.

Population

The group that you want to describe

Register data (registerdata)

Data that has already been collected

Reliability (reliabilitet)

How dependable the survey is

Respondent

The person who answers the survey or questionnaire.

Raw data (rådata)

Unprocessed answers and statistics.

Subject problem (sakproblem)

Often a complicated problem that a statistical survey can help solve or shed light on. Can be about economics, politics or social issues.

Scale questions (skalfrågor)

E.g. that the respondents rate how satisfied they are on a scale of 1-5.

Standard deviation (standardavvikelse)

Used with scale questions and shows how much the respondents' answers deviate from the mean.

Bar chart (stapeldiagram)

How different categories differ.

Statistical report (statistisk rapport)

The account (report) you write when you have finished your statistical survey.

Statistical problem (statistiskt problem)

Based on the subject problem, you specify a statistical problem.

Response rate (svarsfrekvens)

The number of answers in relation to the number of possible answers.

Response rate per question (svarsfrekvens per fråga)

What percentage of those who answered the survey answered a specific question.

Time series chart (tidsseriediagram)

A measurement made repeatedly over time on a chosen object.

Coverage error (täckningsfel)

Shortcomings in the survey: customers who were left out, or customers who were included but should not have been.

Sample (urval)

Should you ask all customers, or is it enough to ask every other customer?

Validity (validitet)

That you have examined what you set out to. Distinguish between reliability and validity.

Variable (variabel)

Properties that vary between customers, e.g. turnover, income, gender and geographical location.

Open answers (öppna svar)

Those answering, the respondents, write and phrase the answers themselves.

Read on

Do you want to go from words to action? Send your survey to your contacts by email and follow up with a reminder by SMS.