Demerits of Survey Methods:

1. The first drawback of survey  method is  the money  needed for conducting  the surveys. In  most cases the  researcher has to  recruit a large number of field  workers make arrangement for their training and  supervision and arrange  for the printing of schedules and the tabulation of  collected data. All this  requires  a considerable  amount  of money  which very  few  people  can afford.

2. Survey is  prolonged and time  consuming process. A large and elaborate survey may take  years and it is a real task  for anyone to maintain his zeal during this period. As a result most of  the surveys are conducted in a hurry and greater reliance is placed upon whatever information can be had quickly and  conveniently. The  reliability and validity of such  information  is not  always  beyond  question.

3. Survey  techniques leaves  little  scope  for manoeuvring. The whole  scheme  is perfectly  rigid  and must be  decided before  hand. Any change  in the  research design or any  one  of the major  variables may mean conducting the  survey afresh. A survey  unless well planned in advance may  very  well lead to complication later on  and howsoever perfect  the pre planning it is impossible to visualize all the  techniques flaws that  may be  revealed only  through  experience.

4. The  reliability  and validity  of the data collected through  survey  is not  always  doubt. The  reliability of data to  a great extent is dependent upon the honesty and efficiency  of the field workers the cooperation of the respondents the adequacy and suitability  of schedule etc. All  these  requirements  are very  seldom fully met and  the collected data may  contain much  invalid and inaccurate information.

5. The study  through survey method at times  becomes  too much  aggregative and therefore  too much  general. A survey must be  fairly large  to give  valid results  and the very extensiveness of the survey precludes the intensive study of individuals  and even  small group  within  the large  population.

6. Survey method is not  suitable for  problems  that  require the study  in the historical retrospect  ordinarily  survey  reporting  refers  to specific point in time or to  a relatively short time  period studies of origins and long term development require research methods of more longitudinal character.

7. Most  of the survey are conducted on sample  basis  and the  information collected is subject to sampling  error. Beside  this the  sample  itself may not be representative and then whatever information  is collected may become  unpreventative  of the group  to which  it is intended to be applied.

8. Survey  method lays to  much  emphasis  upon problem of immediate importance. It does not  permit  a more  comprehensive  study  of the  society. The study of the fundamental points  of society in its  wider perspective over time is not  possible through  this methods. This is why most  of the  surveys deal with  problems of immediate  importance  only.