What is market research and what exactly does it entail? Although taking online surveys is fun, do you know how the answers you provide to questionnaires are used? Many survey takers might not even realize how important the answers they provide when taking surveys can be. Major company decisions such as product names, product launches, allocation of funds to customer service departments, etc. can all be swayed by the opinions you provide.

Read more with our new Paid Market Research article.

Voice of Alberta is looking for new members to join their survey panel. Join for your chance to give your opinion and win great prizes.

Make your province proud, and voice your opinions on issues that relate to you!

Stay at home moms, working moms, single moms, all Canadian moms can enjoy the benefits of participating online surveys. Take surveys whenever you have some spare time – in between meetings at work, at home on your laptop when baby sleeps or at 4 am when most others are sleeping too! It’s all up to you. There are are different reward types for taking surveys; get compensated for your time with cash, gift certificates, great contest entries, points like AirMiles, and more! Find how how your privacy is protected and how you or someone you know can get started with paid surveys.

Read more in our Surveys for Moms article.

People take different approaches to survey taking; some do it seriously, and for others it’s a very casual, or one-in-a-blue-moon type of activity. Either way there are things you can do to make those most out of taking surveys – whether you do it every day or only once a month.

Falling for scams is a big reason why people fail to be successful. Scams are becoming more and more difficult to identify but if you know what to look for you should be able to spot them. Signing up with genuine market research companies is very important – not only will you reap more rewards by joining the real panels but your information will also be protected.

Get more great tips on how to succeed at taking online surveys by reading the full article: Why Some Survey Takers Don’t Succeed.

All of these figures are obtained by the market research process. Typically, studies are commissioned by companies, not-for-profit organizations or even government to get these kinds of data by market research companies. Occasionally they conduct these studies internally, as is the case of Statistics Canada, who often compile their own results. The majority of market research studies however are done by polling companies including LegerWeb and Angus Reid, who are often quoted in the media.

Learn more about the polling process by reading the full article, How Do Opinion Polls Work? Or, become part of the polling process yourself by becoming a free member of these Canadian market research companies.

Say you get to class early, or are meeting a friend for a study session and they’re late – just take 10 minutes or so to fill out an online survey and soon you’ll be eligible for rewards like cash and gift certificates!

The great thing is that most companies will give you rewards for referring your friends, and once they see you earning easy spending money they’ll want to join up too! Discover more by reading the full Surveys for Students article.

Find out more about this new survey panel by reading more about Shopper’s Voice Canada.

The biggest thing to remember when trying to identify if something is a scam or not is to simply use your common sense; if something seems to good to be true, it probably is. That old adage especially rings true when it comes to online surveys. Does it sound reasonable to be paid, for example, thousands of dollars monthly for completing surveys at home? Probably not. In fact, if people could make this kind of money taking surveys, everyone would quit their jobs and take online surveys!

This is stating the obvious however there are more subtle clues to look out for when identifying survey scams. Read our latest article entitled, Paid Survey Scams to find out more.

If you’ve had this experience, check out our new article on The True Value of Points for Surveys.

Discover why survey companies use points systems rather than just paying straight cash, the benefits to you, and which companies offer points in exchange for taking surveys.