Chapter 15 focuses a lot on the different methods of data gathering: artifacts, interviews, surveys and observation. I have already seen numerous blogs already about which method is the most effective. I prefer surveys to any other method, even though they have downsides which are recognized on page 449. I think surveys are great because the responses can be provided by people remotely and anonymously. I especially like online surveys that people can do at their own convenience on their own computer. A survey is great because the person filling out the survey won't be as influenced by the person conducting the survey and there's less pressure to choose the "perfect" answer. The optimal data collection method would obviously be a combination of all four methods, but if I had to choose one I would choose to conduct surveys.
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I think surveys are an excellent and cost efficient way to gather data. They are also easy to analyze because if the responses are pre-filled and not open-ended, you can just punch values on to a computer and try to find a pattern. However, surveys are useful depending on what sort of information you are trying to acquire. For example, from a marketing perspective, a survey would tell them if you prefer a certain car brand over another brand but it does not explain what the reasons are. However, if you are using a survey to find out if more people prefer to go bowling rather than ice skating as a company event, then a survey would be perfectly sufficient.
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