Top 20 Tips for Writing Effective Surveys

Writing surveys is easy; Or is that it? The truth is that writing surveys is easy, but writing effective surveys is more difficult. The following are twenty tips to help you write more effective surveys.

1. What is the purpose of the survey?

Surveys are done for many reasons. In asking questions and structuring responses, surveys can be used in many ways and for a variety of reasons. When compiling a survey, don’t lose sight of its purpose.

2. Title of the survey

The survey title is a golden opportunity to instantly summarize the purpose of a survey and grab the attention of invited respondents. Respondents will spend time completing the survey, so let them feel that their investment is worth it.

3. Don’t take the survey more than necessary

Every question that is asked must be asked for a reason. Focus on “need to know” questions and minimize “nice to know” information.

4. Use plain English, avoid jargon and acronyms, stay consistent, and do not ask questions that may lead to ambiguous answers.

Care must be taken when writing a question. If a question is unclear, there is a chance that respondents will interpret the question differently than the editor intended, making any analysis of the data pointless or at least misleading.

5. Avoid long questions

Try to use short sentences whenever possible. Long questions tend to cause discomfort to respondents and can lead to a higher level of incidents where respondents drop out of a survey.

6. Ask one question at a time

Avoid confusing the respondent with a question such as “Do you like soccer and tennis?”

7. Avoid influencing the answer

It is important not to load the question. “Should irresponsible shopkeepers who sell tobacco to children be prosecuted?” it is unlikely to be of any value.

8. Make sure that the response format used allows the respondent to answer the question being asked.

Allow the respondent to answer how they really feel or they may be less inclined to complete the survey. As a last resort, consider the benefit of including “I don’t know,” “I can’t say,” or a similar answer choice.

9. As you compile the survey, consider, when the survey is complete, how the compiled data will be analyzed.

If you ask yourself a question that allows for an open-ended, free-text response, please appreciate that such information is likely to be difficult to qualify and / or summarize. Consider grouping the answers. For example, “How long have you been working here?” – ‘less than 1 year’, ‘between 1 and 3 years’ and ‘more than 3’.

10. Make sure the questionnaire flows

When asking questions, group the questions into clear categories as this makes the task of completing the survey easier for participants.

11. Reach out to your respondents

In some cases you will want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can’t easily control respondents, consider including questions / answers that allow you to filter out respondents who don’t fit your target profile.

12. Allow the respondent to expand or comment.

Allowing the respondent to make additional comments will increase their satisfaction level and will also provide valuable feedback on the specific questions and / or the survey as a whole. However, remember that for a large collection of samples it can be difficult to analyze open-ended free text responses.

13. If the survey you are taking is to be kept confidential, make sure your commitment is honored.

If you have assured respondents that the survey is confidential, make sure that individual data is not shared with anyone and that the information is not used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and any identifying information must be destroyed after the survey is completed.

14. Evaluate the benefits of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable

If your respondents are required to remain anonymous, please understand that you will not be able to follow or match “before” or “after” surveys. However, in some cases, allowing people to remain anonymous will allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.

15. Pay special attention to the best response format

It is good practice to maintain consistency in the format used for responses. Note that when analyzing the data, radio buttons are easier to analyze than checkboxes that provide multiple responses to the respondent. Do not use a check box if a radio response would suffice.

16. Give the respondent an idea of ​​how long the survey will take.

Respondent attrition can occur if the survey appears to be an endless series of questions. It is good practice to give an indication of how long the survey may take so that respondents can choose the best time to complete the survey.

17. Inform respondents of the completion date of the survey.

Encourage respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible, but advise them of the end date of the survey so they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.

18. Test the survey

Before running a live survey, run a small pilot survey to check for ambiguous or confusing questions and to make sure the survey is aesthetically pleasing.

19. Before posting the survey test, read the survey several times.

Check and double check that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible, ask someone else to review the survey before posting it; If no one else is available, take a break before checking again.

20. Remember to say thank you

To complete the surveys, respondents should invest their time and thank them in a cover letter, at the end of completing the survey, or in a follow-up letter. You can even consider incentives like a giveaway or a reward.

For more information, visit http://www.SurveyGalaxy.com

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