An omnibus survey is a method of quantitative marketing research where data on a wide variety of subjects is collected during the same interview. Usually, multiple research clients will provide proprietary content for the survey (paying to 'get on the omnibus'), while sharing the common demographic data collected from each respondent.
The advantages to the research client include cost savings (because the sampling and screening costs are shared across multiple clients) and timeliness (because omnibus samples are large and interviewing is ongoing).
An omnibus survey generally uses a stratified sample and can be conducted either by mail, telephone, or Internet.
Famous quotes containing the word omnibus:
“An omnibus across the bridge
Crawls like a yellow butterfly,
And, here and there, a passer-by
Shows like a little restless midge.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)