Survey facts for kids

A survey is a way of gathering information or carefully looking at something. It can mean different things depending on what you are studying. For example, it can be about measuring land, collecting information from people, or exploring the Earth or space.

Measuring and Mapping Land

When people talk about a survey in geography, they often mean measuring and mapping land. This helps us understand where things are and how big they are.

Land Surveying

Surveying is the science of measuring positions and distances on Earth. Surveyors use special tools to find exact locations and create maps. This is important for building roads, houses, and even for knowing where your property ends.

Surveys from the Sky

An aerial survey uses planes or drones to take pictures from above. These pictures help collect information about large areas of land quickly. It's like taking a giant selfie of the Earth!

Mapping Property Lines

A cadastral survey is all about land ownership. It helps create official documents, maps, and diagrams that show who owns which piece of land. This makes sure everyone knows their property boundaries.

Big Land Divisions

In some countries, surveys were used to divide huge areas of land.

• The Dominion Land Survey helped divide most of Western Canada into square sections, often for farming.
• The Public Land Survey System did a similar job in the United States, creating a grid for land parcels.
• A survey township is a square area of land, about six miles (9.7 km) on each side, used in the U.S. Public Land Survey System.

Gathering Information from People

Surveys are also a common way to collect information from groups of people. This is often used in statistics to understand opinions or facts about a population.

Statistical Surveys

A statistical survey collects facts and numbers about a group of people or things.

• A census is a special type of survey where information is collected from every single person in a population, like a country.
• Sampling is when you collect information from only a small part of a group. This is done when it's too hard or expensive to ask everyone.

Opinion Polls

An opinion poll is a way to find out what people think about a topic. It usually asks a sample of people their views, like who they might vote for in an election.

Surveys for Businesses

Quantitative marketing research uses surveys to gather information that helps businesses understand what customers want. For example, they might ask people about their favorite snacks. Sometimes, companies offer a small reward for taking part in a paid survey to get more people to share their opinions.

Questionnaires

A questionnaire is simply a list of questions used to gather information. You might have filled one out at school or online.

Exploring the Earth

Scientists use surveys to learn about what's happening beneath the Earth's surface or in hidden places.

Geological Surveys

A geological survey explores the ground beneath our feet. Scientists look at rocks and soil to create maps that show what the Earth is made of in different places. This helps us find resources like water or minerals.

Geophysical Surveys

A geophysical survey uses special tools to measure things like gravity, magnetism, or sound waves to learn about the Earth's structure without digging. It's like giving the Earth an X-ray!

Soil Surveys

A soil survey maps out different types of soil in an area. This is important for farming, as different soils are good for different crops.

Archaeological Surveys

Before archaeologists start digging for ancient artifacts, they often do an archaeological field survey. They walk over an area, looking for clues on the surface that might tell them where to dig.

Underwater Surveys

A hydrographic survey gathers information about water bodies, like oceans, lakes, and rivers. This helps create maps for ships to navigate safely and avoid shallow areas or rocks.

Cave Mapping

A cave survey is like creating a 3D map of an underground cave system. Explorers measure the tunnels and rooms to create a detailed map, which is also called a survey.

Looking at the Stars

Astronomers use surveys to map and study vast areas of the sky.

Astronomical Surveys

An astronomical survey involves taking pictures or mapping large parts of the sky. This helps astronomers find new stars, galaxies, and other objects.

Measuring Distances in Space

A redshift survey is a special astronomical survey that helps scientists figure out how far away objects in space are from Earth. They do this by looking at how light from these objects is stretched, which is called redshift.

Academic Surveys

In universities and research, a "survey" can also refer to a type of written work.

Survey Articles

A survey article is a scholarly paper that summarizes all the important research and ideas that have been published on a particular topic. It helps researchers quickly understand a field without reading every single paper.

Organizations That Do Surveys

Many important organizations around the world are dedicated to conducting different types of surveys.

• The Institut Géographique National in France creates and keeps up-to-date maps and geographical information for the country.
• The Survey of India is India's main agency for mapping and surveying.
• The Zoological Survey of India studies all the different animals found in India.
• The British Geological Survey explores and monitors the geology of the UK.
• The Ordnance Survey is the national mapping agency for Great Britain.
• The British Antarctic Survey does scientific research in and around Antarctica.
• The United States Geological Survey is a government agency that studies the landscape of the U.S.
• The U.S. National Geodetic Survey performs geographic surveys as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.