Writing survey questions Thurstone scale

Survey Features

Writing survey questions

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Understanding a survey’s context is very important. It may include survey culture, identifying the purpose, clarifying the research and its objectives, and many more. 

It’s all about fretting the details when it comes to creating a successful survey that delivers useful findings. The first step is to create useful questionnaire questions. This article will teach you tips for writing survey questions for effective results.

Tips for writing good survey questions

Here are seven tips to help you in writing good survey questions. They are

  1. Make use of the funnel technique
  2. Identifying the specific purpose of the survey
  3. Clarify the language used in the survey
  4. Make your answer options clear and distinct
  5. Test your survey first
  6. Apply skip logic wherever possible
  7. Include media or photographs for better insight

Let’s learn about them in detail.

Make use of the funnel technique

Use the “funnel” technique to structure your questionnaire. Start with broad, general questions that are simple to answer. These questions assist in acquainting the responder with the survey and get them interested before presenting them with a challenge. 

The most difficult issues are placed at the center, ones that need more thought and are of less popular interest. Finally, ask generic questions that are easy to answer and have a wide range of interests and applicability. These last questions often include demographic and other categorization questions.

Identifying the specific purpose of the survey

Writing survey questions Thurstone scale

The intended outcome of a survey is its goal. Typically, you have a broad goal, such as understanding employee engagement, product preferences, or political leanings. 

However, when you are writing survey questions you should focus on specific concepts or aspects. For example, if you are concerned with job satisfaction, your survey should focus on that topic. In such cases, you should ask questions about respondents’ previous jobs, hobbies, personal backgrounds, etc. 

Clarify the language used in the survey

Just because you understand a notion does not indicate that your intended audience does. To be sure, a well-designed questionnaire comprises good survey questions. 

Use simple language (no jargon), and clarify ideas or acronyms that clients may be unfamiliar with. A perplexed audience results in irritation and poor-quality replies.

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Make your answer options clear and distinct

When provided with multiple-choice responses, the respondent must pick a decision. If these replies overlap or are unclear to the responder, the data quality suffers since the survey taker will be unsure of how to respond.

When writing survey questions make responses different and detailed so that the respondent can firmly pick the best answer.

Test your survey first

As a survey designer, there is nothing more frustrating than discovering errors in your survey after it has already been distributed to respondents. In some instances, this may necessitate scrapping the survey and starting over.

Another alternative is to send a new survey, however, this might undermine confidence and participation among respondents and result in a situation where some individuals take the original survey while others reply to the amended one.

Apply skip logic wherever possible

Writing survey questions Thurstone scale

Skip logic, often known as branching, enables you to design several inquiry pathways based on a previous response. This implies that more relevant respondents will be prompted to answer more in-depth questions, reducing subsequent responses such as “don’t know” or “no opinion.”

Include media or photographs for better insight

Images, video, and audio samples, for example, provide another degree of insight to your survey questions. You may use them to explain the question or provide media as a response option.

In the next section, you will learn about mistakes to avoid while creating a questionnaire.

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Mistakes to avoid while creating a questionnaire

Learn about the mistakes to avoid while writing survey questions. Let’s get started.

Using unbalanced scales carelessly

Unbalanced scales can be beneficial in some contexts while encouraging prejudice in others. Scale points should also be equidistant. The variable should have equal mental space between them.

Failure to avoid using leading words or questions

Changes in phrasing can generate significant differences in results. Leading statements such as “We think we offer the best room service. How awesome would you say we are?” conveys an opinion that you want your customers to agree with. 

Statements or questions like this show that you don’t care about the customer’s opinion.

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Overlooking to include a “prefer not to answer” selection

Respondents may object to you collecting specific information or providing you with the details asked.

The majority of individuals value their privacy. Incentives and pledges of secrecy can make obtaining private information simpler.

Income, occupation, personal health, money, family life, personal cleanliness, and personal, political, or religious convictions are examples of invasive questions that respondents may refuse.

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