Survey Research: An Effective Design for Conducting Nursing Research

An important advantage of survey research is its flexibility. Surveys can be used to conduct large national studies or to query small groups. Surveys can be made up of a few unstructured questions or can involve a large-scale, multisite longitudinal study with multiple highly validated questionnaires. Regardless of the study's degree of sophistication and rigor, nurses must understand how to properly conduct survey research. This article describes survey research, including design, methods, analysis, limitations, and implications for researchers.