This is when data is gathered from a large section of the population in a relatively short amount of time; many social surveys are in the form of questionnaires, i.e. the Census.
There are two types of questionnaires; open questionnaires (where the respondent is provided with space to give their own opinion) and closed questionnaires (often consists of ‘multiple choice’ questions; the respondent can give their own opinion, but not to the same extent as open questions)
Could be time consuming as the social surveys/ questionnaires are often widely distributed, it may take some time for all of them to be returned.
Also, printing and posting the questionnaires may be very expensive. However, certain social surveys/ questionnaires, such as the Census, are funded by the government who may ask for…