Surveys or opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals. See Survey - wiki for more details. Online surveys provide an additional channel for capturing opinions. Used alongside traditional methods they are cheaper and easier to do and broaden the potential audience.
Surveys provide an important tool for gauging local opinion.
See eSurveys at ICELE to find out more about online methods for carrying out surveys, products that are available, examples, and research.