Make sure the respondent has enough information
Remember your survey’s purpose
Keep your questions simple
Include only one topic per question
If in doubt, throw it out
Avoid leading questions
Write more effective survey questions
Naturally, no question is “good” in all situations, but there are some general rules to follow. Using these rules and examples will help you write useful questions.
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All other rules and guidelines are based on this one. There was a reason you decided to spend your time and money to do your survey, and you should ensure that every question you ask supports that reason. If you start to get lost while writing your questions, refer back to this rule.
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This is another way of stating the first rule, but it is important enough to repeat. A question should never be included in a survey because you can’t think of a good reason to discard it. If you cannot come up with a concrete benefit that will result from the question, don’t use it.
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Compound sentences force respondents to keep a lot of information in their heads, and are likely to produce unpredictable results. Example: “Imagine a situation where the production supervisor is away from the line, a series of defective parts is being manufactured, and you just heard that a new client requires ten thousand of these parts in order to make their production schedule. How empowered do you feel by your organization to stop the line and make the repairs to the manufacturing equipment?” This question is too complex for a clear, usable answer. Try breaking it down into components parts.
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How would you interpret the responses to “Please rate your satisfaction with the amount and kind of care you received while in the hospital.” or, a question asking about speed and accuracy? If you want to be able to come up with specific recommended actions, you need specific questions.
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Asking respondents “How effective has this company’s new distribution program been?” may not be as effective as “Recently, we used a new distribution system. Did you know this?” Followed by “Have you seen any positive benefits resulting from this change?” It can be beneficial to break down questions that require background information into two parts: a screening item describing the situation which asks if the respondent knows about it, and a follow-up question addressing attitudes the respondent has about the topic.