Distinctly different from Testing and assessment software (where there is one or a finite number of right answers), survey software has wide application in education, marketing research and public opinion polling, customer satisfaction and employee surveys, human resources, and program evaluation for healthcare and nonprofit agencies. Though this industry started out selling individual software packages for consumer installation and use, the trend is toward providing a hosted solution (application service provider - ASP) where you use their software and web servers to create and mange your surveys. This trend has the advantage of reducing the cost of entry to this type of application but increasing the cost of long term operation for users who create a lot of surveys. Sorta like leasing or buying a car....

·         SurveyTracker - Online and paper surveys, probably the "Cadillac" of this sub-industry. Has a hosted/ASP version of its software available at iFeedback  (www.surveytracker.com)

·         Perseus SurveySolutions - Microsoft Office-style interface with PERL-based server side script. Available in three versions; also offered in ASP-hosted version. (www.perseus.com)

·         StatPac - package for processing surveys from start to finish, including questionnaire design, interviewing, data management, CATI, email and web surveys, basic statistics, and advanced multivariate statistical analysis.(www.statpac.com)

·         The Survey System - handles all types of questionnaires from simple comment cards to the most sophisticated telephone-based interviews. It takes you through all aspects of the survey process from designing and printing a questionnaire through producing professional quality tables and graphics. You can enter and edit the data, spell check the text, calculate complex statistics and necessary sample sizes.(www.surveysystem.com)