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Twenty tricks to creating efficient questionnaires

By: John-Miles Wilson-Harper

Writing surveys is straightforward; or is it? The reality is that writing surveys is easy however writing effective surveys is more difficult. The following are 20 tips that if adopted will make it easier to write more effective surveys.

1. What is the function of the questionnaire?

Questionnaires are performed for a lot of reasons. By phrasing the questions and structuring the solutions questionnaires can be used in a large number of ways and for quite a lot of reasons. When compiling a questionnaire don't lose sight of its purpose.

2. Title the survey

The survey title is a golden opportunity to immediately summarise a questionnaire's goal and seize the attention of invited respondents. Respondents are going to invest time in finishing the questionnaire so make them feel that their investment is worthwhile.

3. Do not make the survey any longer than it needs to be

Each question that is requested ought to be requested for a reason. Focus on 'need to know' questions and minimise 'nice to know' information.

4. Use plain English, avoid jargon and acronyms, preserve the consistency and do not ask questions that may result in ambiguous answers

Care should be taken in wording a question. If a question isn't clear then there is a likelihood that respondents might interpret the question differently to that intended by the publisher making any evaluation of the information meaningless or at the very least misleading.

5. Keep away from long questions

Attempt to use short sentences wherever possible. Long questions are likely to trigger respondents discomfort and may result in a higher level of incidents where respondents abandon a survey.

6. Ask one question at a time

Avoid confusing the respondent with a query like 'Do you like football and tennis?'

7. Keep away from influencing the reply

It is important to not load the question. 'Should irresponsible shop keepers who promote tobacco to kids be prosecuted?' is unlikely to have any value.

8. Be sure that the answer format used permits the respondent to answer the question being asked

Enable the respondent to answer how they really feel or they could be less inclined to finish the survey. As a last resort think about the good thing about including a "Don't know", "Cannot say" or comparable response option.

9. At the same time that you compile the survey contemplate, when the survey is complete, how the compiled data is going be analysed

If a question is asked that enables a free text open ended response appreciate that such info is likely to be difficult to score and/or summarised. Think about grouping answers. For example "How long have you worked here?" - 'less than 1 year', 'between 1 and 3 years' and 'more than 3'.

10. Ensure that the survey flows

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

11. Target your respondents

In some instances you'll want to target a selected group, in others a cross section. If you cannot easily control the respondents take into account including questions/answers that will will let you filter out respondents who do not fit your target profile.

12. Allow the respondent to expand or make feedback

Allowing the respondent to make additional feedback will improve their satisfaction level and also will give useful suggestions on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Keep in mind though for a big sample collection it could be difficult to analyse free text open ended responses.

13. If the questionnaire you might be conducting is to be confidential ensure that your pledge is upheld

When you have assured the respondents that the questionnaire is confidential make sure that the person's knowledge is not to be shared with anyone and the data is not going to be used for some other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained always and any identifying information destroyed after the questionnaire is complete.

14. Weigh up the benefits of permitting respondents to be anonymous or identifiable

In case your respondents are to be anonymous then appreciate that you can be unable to follow up or match "pre" or "post" questionnaires. Nevertheless in some cases allowing individuals to remain anonymous will allow individuals to respond without possible peer pressure.

15. Give cautious consideration to the best response format

It is good practice to maintain a consistency in the format used for responses. Needless to say when analysing the information radio buttons are simpler to analyse than check boxes that offer the respondent multiple responses. Do not use a check box if a radio response would do.

16. Give the respondent an idea of how much time the survey will take

Respondent drop out can occur if the questionnaire appears to be a stream of never ending questions. It is good practice to provide an indication as to how long the survey is likely to take so the respondents can choose the best time to complete the survey.

17. Inform the respondents of the survey finish date

Encourage respondents to complete the survey as quickly as possible but advice respondents as to the surveys finish date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the required time.

18. Pilot the questionnaire

Before publishing a live survey publish a small pilot questionnaire to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the questionnaire is aesthetically pleasing.

19. Prior to publishing the survey proof read the survey several times

Check and check again that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible get someone else to proof read the questionnaire before you publish, if nobody else is available then take a break before checking again.

20. Remember to say thanks

To complete questionnaires respondents need to invest their time and ought to be thanked either in a covering letter, at the end of completing the questionnaire or in a follow up letter. It's possible you'll even want to think about incentives such as a reward or prize draw.

Article Source: http://articles.tiptopweb.info

For an example please view the Sample Survey. Martin Day is the Managing Director of Survey Galaxy, the web site that allows surveys and questionnaires to be created, designed and published to the Internet; easy to use, fast and very cost effective.

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Twenty tricks to creating efficient questionnaires