Big data and survey research: Supplement or substitute?

Abstract

The increasing availability of organic Big Data has prompted questions regarding its usefulness as an auxiliary data source that can enhance the value of design-based survey data, or possibly serve as a replacement for it. Big Data’s potential value as a substitute for survey data is largely driven by recognition of the potential cost savings associated with a transition from reliance on expensive and often slow-to-complete survey data collection to reliance on far less-costly and readily available Big Data sources. There may be, of course, serious methodological costs of doing so. We review and compare the advantages and disadvantages of survey-based vs. Big Data-based methodologies, concluding that each data source has unique qualities and that future efforts to find ways of integrating data obtained from varying sources, including Big Data and survey research, are most likely to be fruitful.