Systems and methods for surveying users

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by a social networking system, at least one survey to be presented to users of the social networking system, wherein the survey is targeted to a number of users at each time interval;

determining, by the social networking system, a uniform distribution of the users of the social networking system that may be surveyed, wherein users in the uniform distribution are each assigned a numerical value;

determining, by the social networking system, a sampling window that references a numerical range, wherein the sampling window is adjusted upon completion of each time interval, wherein users of the social networking system that have been assigned a respective numerical value within the numerical range are eligible for the survey; and

providing, by the social networking system, data describing the survey to a computing device of a first user, wherein the survey is cached by the computing device and presented when the sampling window corresponds to a numerical range that includes a numerical value assigned to the first user.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the uniform distribution of users further comprises:

providing, by the social networking system, a respective user ID of each user to a hash function as input to obtain a corresponding numerical value for the user.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

determining, by the social networking system, that a first user is eligible for the survey; and

providing, by the social networking system, data describing the survey to a computing device of the first user, wherein the survey is presented through an interface of the computing device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , the method further comprising:

receiving, by the social networking system, a response to the survey from the computing device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the survey is presented in a content feed corresponding to the first user.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the survey is associated with at least one triggering action, the method further comprising:

determining, by the social networking system, that a first user is eligible for the survey;

determining, by the social networking system, that the first user has performed the at least one triggering action while being eligible for the survey; and

providing, by the social networking system, data describing the survey to a computing device of the first user, wherein the survey is presented through an interface of the computing device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the sampling window further comprises:

determining, by the social networking system, a specified number of users to be presented with the survey at each time interval; and

determining, by the social networking system, a size of the numerical range referenced by the sampling window based at least in part on the specified number of users.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the sampling window further comprises:

determining, by the social networking system, a number of desired responses for the survey;

determining, by the social networking system, a response rate of the users; and

determining, by the social networking system, a size of the numerical range referenced by the sampling window based at least in part on the number of desired responses and the response rate.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the sampling window further comprises:

determining, by the social networking system, a number of desired responses for the survey;

determining, by the social networking system, a first rate at which the users are expected to respond to the survey;

determining, by the social networking system, a second rate at which users are expected to perform a triggering action associated with the survey; and

determining, by the social networking system, a size of the numerical range referenced by the sampling window based at least in part on the number of desired responses, the first rate, and the second rate.

10. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform:

determining at least one survey to be presented to users of the social networking system, wherein the survey is targeted to a number of users at each time interval;

determining a uniform distribution of the users of the social networking system that may be surveyed, wherein users in the uniform distribution are each assigned a numerical value;

determining a sampling window that references a numerical range, wherein the sampling window is adjusted upon completion of each time interval, wherein users of the social networking system that have been assigned a respective numerical value within the numerical range are eligible for the survey; and

providing data describing the survey to a computing device of a first user, wherein the survey is cached by the computing device and presented when the sampling window corresponds to a numerical range that includes a numerical value assigned to the first user.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining the uniform distribution of users further causes the system to perform:

providing a respective user ID of each user to a hash function as input to obtain a corresponding numerical value for the user.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system further performs:

determining that a first user is eligible for the survey; and

providing data describing the survey to a computing device of the first user, wherein the survey is presented through an interface of the computing device.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system further performs:

receiving a response to the survey from the computing device.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the survey is presented in a content feed corresponding to the first user.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method comprising:

determining at least one survey to be presented to users of the social networking system, wherein the survey is targeted to a number of users at each time interval;

determining a uniform distribution of the users of the social networking system that may be surveyed, wherein users in the uniform distribution are each assigned a numerical value;

determining a sampling window that references a numerical range, wherein the sampling window is adjusted upon completion of each time interval, wherein users of the social networking system that have been assigned a respective numerical value within the numerical range are eligible for the survey; and

providing data describing the survey to a computing device of a first user, wherein the survey is cached by the computing device and presented when the sampling window corresponds to a numerical range that includes a numerical value assigned to the first user.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein determining the uniform distribution of users further causes the computing system to perform:

providing a respective user ID of each user to a hash function as input to obtain a corresponding numerical value for the user.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the computing system further performs:

determining that a first user is eligible for the survey; and

providing data describing the survey to a computing device of the first user, wherein the survey is presented through an interface of the computing device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the computing system further performs:

receiving a response to the survey from the computing device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the survey is presented in a content feed corresponding to the first user.