Survey vs Experiment

Survey and experiment are one and the same thing when you see them superficially but an in
depth study of these two terms will reveal a truly different story. When a business man wants to
market his products its the survey he will need and not an experiment and similarly a scientist
who has discovered a new element or a new drug he will need an experiment to prove its
usefulness and not a survey. A survey is random opinion of different people who give their
opinion about a particular product or about a particular issue whereas experiment is a
comprehensive study about something to prove it scientifically.

Survey is often conducted by the volunteers or by the employees of a company so that the
usefulness of a product to the consumer can be established but an experiment of the same
product is conducted by the qualified person a scientist or an educated person so that the
effectiveness of the product and its safety of the consumer can be ensured. Survey involves
analysis of data that is amassed by the volunteers regarding the product or regarding the opinion
as in the case of an issue but experiment zeroes down on the figures that are obtained when the
product is put to different tests.

Both survey and experiment can at times be mistaken as same by a layman but they are definitely
poles apart. Survey is conducted on a mass scale with lots of data but experiment does not
require mass data as it only requires qualitative data. The results of survey are never dependable
as they are simply opinions and may show a certain bias but the results of an experiment are the
confirmed results that reflect the true nature of the product. Hence it can be said that survey is a
mere shadow whereas experiment is the true reflection.
Survey
Surveys are questionnaires that are presented
to individuals who have been selected from a
population of interest.
Experiments vary greatly in their goal and
scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure
and logical analysis of the results in a method
called the scientific method.
Surveys take many different forms: paper
surveys sent through the mail, questionnaires
on Web sites, call-in polls conducted by TV
networks, phone surveys, and so on.

Experiment
An experiment is an orderly procedure carried
out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or
establishing the validity of a hypothesis.
Experiments provide insight into cause-andeffect by demonstrating what outcome occurs
when a particular factor is manipulated.