We know that a person who conducts a survey is called a “surveyor,” but is there a word in English for the person who takes a survey?
Below, we’ve compiled a short list of suitable terms for the person who answers survey questions.
Moreover, we’ll explain each term in detail.
Words for Someone Who Takes a Survey
- Respondent
- Participant
- Surveyee
- Subject
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- You can call someone who responds to the questions in a survey a “respondent.”
- “Participant” is a word to describe someone who participates in any activity, including, but not limited to, a survey.
- A new term for someone who takes a survey is “surveyee,” although this term has not been adopted by most English dictionaries yet.
Before you go! We still need to unpack our three favorite terms for someone who takes a survey in the next section.
In addition, we’ll show you how to use each of our choices in some helpful example sentences.
Respondent
The most common term for a survey taker is “respondent.” After all, Merriam-Webster defines a “respondent” as “a person who responds to a poll.”
“Respondent” can also be more broadly defined as “one who responds.” Thus, this is a great term to use, whatever the nature of your survey or research.
In short, whether you conduct a survey through a poll, an information sheet, or through a series of verbal questions, you can call the person responding to your questions the “respondent.”
Have a look at how we’ve used this term in a couple of example sentences:
A majority of respondents disagreed with the remarks made by the president until we informed them of their origins.
This survey asked respondents to rate their satisfaction with current online news sources using a sliding scale.
Participant
Another word for a person who takes a survey is a “participant.”
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “participant” as “a person who takes part in or becomes involved in a particular activity.”
This is a very broad definition and doesn’t refer explicitly to someone taking a survey per se.
However, there’s no reason why the “particular activity” that someone takes part in should not be a survey either. Therefore, it is perfectly correct to call someone who takes your survey a “participant.”
Let’s see a few example sentences making use of this term:
We asked the survey participant to choose one option out of several rather than listing options from memory.
Upon completion of the survey, we found that over 60% of participants had never heard of the crisis in Libya.
Surveyee
“Surveyee” is not recognized by most English dictionaries. However, it is a neologism (or a newly coined word) that has been gaining traction in the business realm.
The Wiktionary defines “surveyee” as “a person who is subject to a survey.” Therefore, it is probably the most effective term for a person who participates in a survey specifically.
We haven’t officially adopted this term into the English vernacular. However, most English speakers will know the meaning of this term from context.
In English, the suffix “or” creates an agent noun from a verb. Thus, a “surveyor” is a person who conducts a survey.
Likewise, we use the suffix “ee” to refer to passive parties in a business or legal transaction. Similarly, we can add it to the word “survey” to describe the subject of a survey – the “surveyee.”
Consider the example sentences below:
We asked the surveyee to bring a few sentimental items with them as part of our experiment.
There were a number of questions that the surveyee refused to answer, citing propriety and privacy reasons.
Subject
Merriam-Webster defines a “subject” as “an individual whose reactions or responses are studied.” This is another broader definition.
Thus, it can refer to someone who takes a survey or someone who participates in another kind of test or study.
Nevertheless, it is a perfect term for a survey-taker. After all, a survey-taker’s responses to a series of questions are recorded and studied so that the questioner can better understand the thoughts of people in a society or particular group.
Therefore, see how we’ve used the term “subject” in some examples:
According to our most recent survey, only 12% of subjects, all of whom were from our consumer base, are aware of our most recent merge.
We have asked the subject to answer not what they think is correct but what they suspect most other people would deem an appropriate response.