Survey (human research)
Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings. Surveys can be specific and limited, or they can have more global, widespread goals. Psychologists and sociologists often use surveys to analyze behavior, while it is also used to meet the more pragmatic needs of the media, such as, in evaluating political candidates, public health officials, professional organizations, and advertising and marketing directors. A survey consists of a predetermined set of questions that is given to a sample. With a representative sample, that is, one that is representative of the larger population of interest, one can describe the attitudes of the population from which the sample was drawn. Further, one can compare the attitudes of different populations as well as look for changes in attitudes over time. A good sample selection is key as it allows one to generalize the findings from the sample to the population, which is the whole purpose of survey research.
Prairie Research Institute
In 2008, with the passage of Public Act 95-728, also known as the Illinois Scientific Surveys Act (110 ILCS 425)), the lllinois State Legislature established the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Scientific Surveys Act also transferred all the rights, duties, powers, property, and functions of the Scientific Surveys and the Sustainable Technology Center from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to the Prairie Research Institute. Under the Scientific Surveys Act, the Scientific Surveys are authorized to investigate, study, conserve and develop Illinois' natural and cultural resources; collaborate with and advise Illinois, other states, and the federal government about Illinois' natural resources; disseminate and educate the public about their research and investigations; and maintain relationships between and among the Scientific Surveys and Illinois' public and private colleges and universities. The Institute itself is governed by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, with its Executive Director reporting directly to the University's Vice Chancellor for Research. 
Researchers at the Institute are engaged in basic and applied research across a spectrum of disciplines including agriculture and forestry, biodiversity and ecosystem health, atmospheric resources, climate and associated natural hazards, cultural resources and history of human settlements, disease and public health, emerging pests, fisheries and wildlife, energy and industrial technology, mineral resources, pollution prevention and mitigation, and water resources. Examples include impact and control of invasive Asian carp, Lyme disease vector ecology, Illinois water supply quality and quantity investigations, geologic carbon sequestration, development of geospatial tools, discovery and excavation of massive prehistoric settlements surrounding Cahokia in advance of new bridge construction, persistence of estrogens in dairy farm wastewater, electronics re-use to minimize electronic waste, and monitoring atmospheric deposition of radioisotopes in North America following the Fukushima reactor incident.