How-tos

Five Ways to Avoid Survey Response Fatigue

We are now in an age where sending feedback requests or surveys has never been so easy. Technology has made online surveys popular and has streamlined telephone and mail surveys to be convenient as well. Target audiences are being flooded by survey requests that survey fatigue is inevitably happening.

Survey fatigue occurs when people are discouraged in responding to surveys because they are overwhelmed with the number of questions on a survey or bombarded with numerous surveys. In fact, in 2012, a report was made by Pew Research, their telephone survey response rates have dropped from 36% in 1997 to a mere 9%. With these results, it is essential to understand how to reduce survey response fatigue to improve overall survey response rates. Below we’ve listed five ways to avoid survey response fatigue for the benefit of your data collection project.

1. Filter Questions

WAYS TO AVOID SURVEY RESPONSE FATIGUE

Create surveys that will provide you with the most relevant and needed information. Remove unnecessary questions and use responses on earlier questions to further filter the survey from items that are looking for similar answers (although the way of questioning is different). Avoid gathering as much data as you can on a survey, instead keep your questions focused on meeting your survey goals.  

 

2. Time Your Survey

WAYS TO AVOID SURVEY RESPONSE FATIGUE

Fewer questions do not automatically mean a shorter time for respondents to answer the survey. The survey questions’ complexity is a significant factor, so make sure to test the survey and how long it takes to finish. Surveys that take too long can tire participants, which results in lower quality data, non-completion, or total abandonment.

Manage expectations by advising respondents on how long the survey will take before they begin. 

 

3. Keep Your Respondents in Mind

Focus not just on your research goals but on the people who will be providing data. Think about how they will feel about the questions, survey layout, and response options. Make notes on challenges or roadblocks the respondents may encounter, as well as check for bias in questions and remove them. Balancing the demand from stakeholders for additional data while maintaining a level of empathy will ultimately give you better data.

4. Communicate the Value 

WAYS TO AVOID SURVEY RESPONSE FATIGUE

A study by Vision Critical determined that people are more likely to do a survey when they feel their opinion matters. Accordingly, a majority of the respondents (87%) claim they took the survey because they believed it would contribute to making a difference in a company’s product or services. For example: Advising respondents that the survey will help the business create their new menu will motivate respondents to participate, especially regular customers. It would also be helpful if the request came from someone with authority, like the owner of the establishment, to emphasize the importance of the survey. 

 

5. Show Appreciation

WAYS TO AVOID SURVEY RESPONSE FATIGUE

Value the time and effort of your respondents. Provide respondents with incentives such as cash, promotion, or gift card. Check out our post on 3 Survey Incentives to Explode Your Response Rate. Another way to show appreciation is by allowing them to find out the results of the survey. Post the results online and reveal how the survey results are improving the brand.  

There you have it, Five Ways to Avoid Survey Response Fatigue for your respondents to have a more pleasant survey experience, and get you higher response rates and quality data.

For more information on survey research services, Mail Surveys and Data Collection in general, contact DataForce!

By |2020-06-22T20:41:30+00:00June 20th, 2020|Survey Mailing Services|0 Comments

What is a Likert Scale and How to Create One

Are you interested in finding out what you can use to measure questions that are neither agreed nor disagreed? A Likert scale can help you measure attitudes and opinions with a greater degree of nuance than simple binary questions, which offer only two answer options. Please read our blog post to learn what is a Likert scale and how to create one for your next survey.

1. What is a Likert scale? 

The Likert scale is one of the most popular rating scales developed to measure one’s attitudes or opinions. Fixed choice response formats are used to determine how people feel about the topic, products, services, or experience. The scale deems that the strength/intensity of the experience is linear. These linear scales measure points of agreement/disagreement. People are given five to seven choices, or even nine balanced responses, that often come with a neutral point. 

 

2. Common Likert Scale Question

A Likert scale does not have a fixed number of leveled items. Many researchers use five levels, but some also use 4, 7, 9, and even 10-leveled items. Since adding more levels produces diverse valuations, a 5 or 7 level scale is most often ideal for avoiding extreme options by obtaining just a bit of variation.

Below are some examples of Likert scale questions and answers:

a. Agreement

The employee training provided the knowledge I need to do my work efficiently.

  • Strongly Disagree
  • Disagree
  • Undecided
  • Agree
  • Strongly Agree

b. Satisfaction

How satisfied are you with our customer support?

  • Highly Dissatisfied
  • Dissatisfied
  • Neutral
  • Satisfied
  • Highly Satisfied

c. Frequency

How often do you visit our store?

  • Very Frequently
  • Frequently
  • Occasionally
  • Rarely
  • Never

 

3. When to Use Likert Scales

What is a Likert Scale

Likert scale is useful in measuring the general feeling or opinion of a particular topic, product, services or experience, and collecting additional data on the factors that contribute to those feelings or opinions. However, a Likert scale should only be used when the question items are related to each other and can be presented in a degree-scale form. Since respondents are not limited to a yes/no answer, a Likert scale allows researchers to obtain quantitative data that can be easily analyzed. Nevertheless, a Likert scale may be compromised because of “social desirability”. Social desirability is the bias exhibited by people to present themselves in a positive light in the community. For example, in taboo questions involving sex, illegal drugs, or racism, respondents may heighten “good behavior” or depress “bad” or undesirable behavior of their responses. One way to reduce social desirability bias is by allowing anonymity on self-administered surveys. A study by Paulhus (1984) found that when respondents have to put their name, address, and telephone number on the survey, results show more positive personality characteristics than an anonymous survey.  

 

4. How to create a Likert Scale

Establish the footing of your survey questions and response scale by first deciding what you want to measure. It is best to use a Likert scale when several factors are influencing the way your respondents feel about something. For instance, you want to measure patient satisfaction. Many factors affect patient satisfaction, including affordability, general behavior of doctors, amenities, and administrative procedures. The respondents’ opinions, attitudes, feelings, or experience must be measurable in a scale form. Moreover, make sure that there are two well-defined extremes for the response.  

For Example:

What is a Likert Scale

 

Recommendation

  • A Likert scale should have the same number of positive and negative responses.
  • Stay odd. Provide your respondents with a neutral option. 
  • Use the appropriate description to label response. When you just use numbers, people may obscure which end is affirmative and which is undesirable.
  • Make sure your survey questions are specific
  • Use terms that your target audience understands
  • Avoid bias questions
  • Avoid long and complicated questions
  • Avoid double-barreled questions

Check out our post on How to Write Great Survey Questions

You’ve most likely encountered Likert scale questionnaires without even knowing it. Likert scale questions are valuable for assessing people’s opinions on a specific topic when undertaking in-depth research. 

For more information on data collection techniques or any aspect of mail survey management, contact us today! We provide outstanding quantitative data collection services and paper scanning services!

 

Get more information on – survey research services incentive fulfillment services or survey mailing services

What’s the Difference Between Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research?

To understand a problem, large or small scale, both high quality and relevant data are needed. If you’re a researcher, you’ll have to collect this data using Qualitative Research or Quantitative Research methods. Without a solid understanding of the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, you risk using a less suitable method of data collection, impacting your results, and ultimately your study. 

In this post, we’ll discuss all the things you need to know about qualitative and quantitative research, their differences, and how to best use them for the success of your project. 

Content 

  • Definition of Qualitative and Quantitative Research
  • Table of Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Research
  • Key Differences and Example

 

Definition of Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Qualitative Research uses non-numerical measures to understand fundamental behavior, reasons, and motivations. Unstructured or semi-structured methods are utilized to gather insight into questions. This stage is often considered as the exploratory stage of research where freedom in response is implemented to gain an initial grasp of a problem.

Quantitative Research

  • For Example: An open dialogue with participants to find out why customer satisfaction ratings are low. Data from qualitative research can later be used to generate quantitative data to develop ideas or solutions. This is done by tallying the frequency of the qualitative result and determining the factors which are most relevant.

 

Quantitative Research is used to assess a subject by utilizing data that can be measured and then interpreted using statistical evaluations. Correspondingly, closed-ended questions are applied, and the target audience is given a set of options to use for responding. Quantitative data provides numerical facts!

 

Quantitative Research

  • For Example: The percent of people that find fulfillment in their job, or think their trainer is effective. The analysis of opinions, attitudes, and behaviors are simplified by using numerical data to draw conclusions, test a hypothesis, and discover trends in research. 

 

Table of Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Quantitative Research

Key Differences and Example

The key differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research are the purpose and methodology.

  • For Example: A School Board wants to find out how many of their students feel their teachers care about them. They use an in-house school survey composed of closed-ended questions to provide a numerical measurement. Let’s say the school finds out that 800 out of 1200 of the students don’t feel their teachers care about them. This is quantitative research. The purpose of quantitative research is to provide a concrete numerical measure by using the closed-ended methodology in order for the response of the students to be measured on a common scale. Furthermore, the school board decides to dig deeper into this issue. Consequently, they create a focus group discussion composed of 5 students from each class. The goal is to understand the key causes through open dialogue. The result of this research will be the opinions and statements of the chosen students. This is qualitative research. The purpose of qualitative research is to provide a deeper insight by looking at the human perspective, hence, using an open dialogue for respondents to sufficiently express themselves. 

 

Do You Need a Partner in Your Research?

Partner with DataForce Survey and Study Management

Our expertise in high-volume, paper-based, and multimodal data collection projects encompass the entire data collection supply chain. We can provide you with end-to-end data collection services, or participate in any part of the supply chain where you need assistance – from project scoping to form design to printing, mailing, fulfillment, data collection, data delivery, result reporting, and analytics. Contact us now!

 

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By |2020-05-28T07:03:20+00:00May 11th, 2020|Survey Research Services, Uncategorized|0 Comments

How to Increase Mail Survey Response Rates

When you’re doing a Mail Survey Project, the last thing you want is to spend a lot of time and resources creating and sending a survey and get a low response rate. Without a sufficient response rate, results are questionable, and data quality is severely affected. To avoid this, we lined up some Best Practices in How to Increase Mail Survey Response Rate:

 

  1. A Compelling Cover Letter
  2. Reduce Length of Survey
  3. Use Reminder Postcards and Pre-Notification Letters
  4. Ensure Survey Return is Simple and Convenient
  5. Brand your Survey
  6. Use Incentives

 

1. A Compelling Cover Letter 

The cover letter should not be overbearing but instead a request for help. Emphasize your genuine appreciation for the time and effort of your potential respondents. A study has found that including the phrase “it would really help us out” can increase the survey response rate by 18%. A strong cover letter should include:

  • The purpose of the study
  • The materials included for returning the survey (e.g. return stamp and envelope or business reply envelope)
  • The confidentiality or anonymity of the survey 
  • The significance of a prompt response without being overbearing 
  • The benefits to the respondent 
  • The impact of the respondent’s feedback and how their opinion is valued
  • Contact information in case respondents have inquiries about the survey

 

2. Reduce Length

A long survey is an instant rejection by most respondents. A study has found that data quality reduces by more than 10% when the survey takes more than 15-20 minutes to complete. For example, respondents only filling out a portion of the survey. Hence, it is best to keep the survey at or below 15 minutes.

 

How to Increase Mail Survey Response Rates

 

3. Use Reminder Postcards and/or Pre-Notification Letters

Letting respondents know that you will be sending them a mail survey is an essential component in most survey projects. Notifications can include: sending an email, letter, or postcard in advance. The message should include the purpose of the survey, the survey process, and why the potential respondents’ participation is vital. 

Don’t forget the reminder postcard or letter.  According to Don Dillman (Dillman as cited in Fox, R.J., & Crask, M.R., & Kim, J. (1988). Mail Survey Response Rate. Public Opinion Quarterly, 52, 474) this approach allows you to express your sincere appreciation for the persons hopeful participation, but this also enables you to combat one of the most common reasons that people cite for not participating in a survey – they forgot! In fact, if your budget can absorb it, we have found that a common practice for survey research is to send a prenotification letter, followed by the survey packet, followed by a follow- up contact of some form which will give you 3 different occasions to interact with your hopeful participants. There are multiple studies that have shown a simple reminder can increase response rates by 10-30%.

 

4. Ensure Survey Return is Simple and Convenient

Survey return should be costless and hassle-free for respondents. Consider using prepaid return envelope for higher response rate and reduced follow up. 

How to Increase Mail Survey Response Rates

Use Return Postage. Enclose postage and an envelope in the survey material for the expected reply. The response rate increases significantly with the use of return postage. Moreover, using stamps on return envelopes has been shown to be better than business reply mail, however, the costs may outweigh the benefits.

Check out this link 3 Tips to Streamline Your Survey Return Schedule

 

5. Brand your Survey

Make sure respondents know who the survey is from. Include a return address and your logo to identify the sender. This will improve credibility and increase response rates.

How to Design a Survey Form (Easy 7 Step Process)

 

6. Use Incentives

Answering a survey takes time away from the busy schedule of your respondents. Make it worthwhile by providing value. Money, promotional items, charitable donations, and raffles are the top incentives that are proven to work and reach target response rates of more than 40%. 

  • Money – This should come as little surprise. Monetary incentives include cash, checks, PayPal credits, money orders, gift cards, and coupons.
  • Promotional Item- Product and service samples are also a big hit with respondents. In order for them to work, however, you must know your audience. Offer something that speaks to them that you know they will enjoy.  
  • Charitable Donations- Charitable donations appeal to social and environmental consciousness. The stronger the emotional connection to the cause, the better your response rate will be and the more likely respondents will see you in a favorable light. 
  • Raffle A drawing incentive gives your respondents a random chance to win a valuable prize, as opposed to a contest based on merit. They simply complete the survey and return within a given timeframe and they are automatically entered to win.

If you want to learn more about the incentives, check out our post on 3 Survey Incentives to Explode your Response Rate

 

Bonus Tips:

1. Multi-modal or Mixed-mode Data Collection  

To increase the response rate, consider using mail surveys with other channels, such as online. This is called a multi-modal survey. Basically, you use two or more modes to collect responses from potential respondents, giving them options to complete the survey with the mode that best suits them. 

Check out our post If you want to learn  When to do a Multimodal Survey

2. Express Mail

According to a study, express mail can increase the response rate, especially to executives and business respondents. Express mail is a good way to validate the importance of the survey response to potential respondents. 

There you have it, the 6 best practice and 2 bonus tips that will greatly influence your response rate. To ensure success, be sure to take a look at these tips before you send out your mail survey.

  

Partner with Us

DataForce is a premier data collection company specializing in Mail and Multi-modal Survey Management. We are the only data collection company in the industry with large-scale, in-house capabilities for every stage of your survey or study. Rather than outsource your project to various partners, DataForce can streamline your entire research effort with end-to-end planning, printing, mailing, fulfillment, data collection, and analytics – all done in-house! Our one-source solution is uniquely designed to align with your organization’s mission at the strategic level while saving you time, risk and money! From simple, short-term surveys to complex, longitudinal studies, DataForce technology is built to scale. DataForce is also a certified Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), helping you meet diversity requirements.

For more information on Survey Mailing services and Data Collection Services, survey fulfillment services  Contact us Now!

 

By |2020-04-25T09:32:31+00:00April 15th, 2020|Survey Mailing Services|0 Comments

How to Design a Survey Form (Easy 7 Step Process)

Here’s the truth, answering surveys is not on the list of anyone’s most favorite thing to do- and without a good survey design your survey form might just end up in someone’s trash bin. The good news is, survey design is not rocket science, and it takes only a handful of simple steps and principles for you to make those dull couple of minutes of your respondent’s time a little bearable. So, if you’re ready to create a survey form that will actually be filled out by your desired respondents- check out this non-complicated 7-step process:

  • Step 1- Determine the research goals and list of objectives.
  • Step 2- Think about how you can keep your respondents honest and accurate.
  • Step 3- Keep in mind important Survey Principles before creating your questions.
  • Step 4- Structure questions that will produce all of the information you need.
  • Step 5- Create your Survey Form introduction.
  • Step 6- Select Survey Respondents sample size.
  • Step 7- Choose the best method to collect information.

 

Step 1 – Determine the research goals and list of objectives.

Once the survey questions are finished, review questions to ensure the data will answer your research goals and list of objectives. Eliminate questions that do not contribute to the end-goal and have a colleague review to validate your thoughts and ensure questions are not confusing.  

 

Step 2 – Think about how you can keep your respondents honest and accurate.

How to Design a Survey Form (Easy 7 Step Process)

  • a. If needed, give respondents the option of being anonymous. Some respondents might be hesitant in providing their most honest answer because of embarrassment, fear of judgment or reprimand.
  • b. Do not use too technical terms that might confuse your respondents. Choose the language that mirrors how the respondents truly think and talk regarding the topic.
  • c. Put easier questions first. Allow respondents time to become comfortable in answering the survey, in doing so, they will more likely answer the complex questions later.
  • d. Keep the survey short and simple. Consequently, this will ensure a higher response rate and limit survey fatigue. 


 

Step 3 – Keep in mind key Survey Principles before creating your questions.

How to Design a Survey Form (Easy 7 Step Process)

  • a.  Make sure each question is focused and designed for specific feedback.
    • Don’t use double-barrel questions: “How do you feel about our products and services?”
    • Instead, separate them into two questions: “How do you feel about our product?” and “How do you feel about our services?” These will provide an equal focus on both subjects.
  • b.  Questions should be grouped or ordered according to the subject.
  • c. Questions should be consistent.
    • For example: If you start with 1=low and 5=high, stick with that format.
  • d. Questions should be precise. Use actual numbers. Avoid generic answer choices like “sometimes” and “rarely” in the survey form.
    • For example: “more than 3 times per week”
  • e. Questions should be balanced. The number of positive and negative options should be equal.
  • f. Questions should be complete. Include all possible answers, and make sure there is no overlap between answer options.
  • g. Questions should be bias-free. Construct the questions as objectively as possible.
    • Avoid leading questions: “Can you see why this product was voted best in customer service?”
    • Instead, ask how they would describe their satisfaction level: “Please rate your satisfaction level in using this product.

 

Step 4 – Structure questions that will answer all of the information you need.

How to Design a Survey Form (Easy 7 Step Process)

  • Survey questions fall into two categories:
    • a. Structured or fixed response –  respondents choose from a provided list of answer options.
    • b. Non-structured or open-ended – respondents can fill in their own text or numeric answer.

Common Question Types:

  • a. Multiple Choice – These are questions with two or more answer options and is the most basic type of questions since respondents are limited to choices from the multiple answer options.  These are useful for collecting all kinds of demographic data.
  • b. Rating Scales – Rating scales ask respondents to rate how much they agree with a certain statement using a common scale (e.g. 1 to 5, where 1=low and 5=high). These are useful for gauging respondents’ opinions, attitudes, and behaviors.
  • c. Open-Ended Questions – These are questions with no provided answers options. Respondents answer by writing in their own text. These are great for eliciting responses about attitudes and opinions in a respondent’s own words or having them provide a numeric answer without a suggested range.

If you want to learn more about these question types check out our post on How to Write Great Survey Questions.

 

Step 5 – Create your survey form introduction.

  • a. Advise users of their privacy
  • b. Tell respondents how the data will be used
  • c. Don’t ask personal questions unless necessary
  • d. Give Clear instructions for completing the survey and how long it will take
  • e. If offered, clearly describe the incentive to increase the response rate.

 

Step 6 – Select Survey Respondents Sample Size.

How to Design a Survey Form (Easy 7 Step Process)

  • a. The target population and desired accuracy level will be the basis in choosing the sample size. Target Population is the total number of people you want to understand.
    • For example, you’re doing an employee satisfaction survey, and the company has 1000 employees; then 1000 is the population.
  • b. The Margin of Error – is how much error you can risk. Meaning if you have a margin of error of 5%, and the result of the survey shows 90% of the employees are happy- 85%-95% is the actual number. Simply, 5% is added and deducted on both ends.
  • c. Confidence Level – reflects that the respondents you chose mattered in the results you got. 95% Confidence interval means that you would get the same result 95% of the time and is the most commonly used.

From the chart table, you can determine your target population and then select the margin of error.

 

Population      

Margin of Error

     Confidence Interval
10% 5% 1%       90% 95% 99%
100 50 80 99        74 80 88
500 81 218 476        176 218 286
1,000 88 278 906        215 278 400
10,000 96 370 4,900        264 370 623
100,000 96 383 8,763        270 383 660
1,000,000+ 97 384 9,513        271 384 664

 

Check out this link for The DataForce Sample Size Calculator

 

Step 7 – Choose the best method to collect information.

Below are the most common types of survey distribution. Each survey method has its pros and cons that are affected by the budget, convenience, quality, and other considerations.

  • a. Online Survey– Services like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, Zoomerang, and many others have made online questionnaires very convenient to design and send. You can also use social media or your website to invite people to take surveys. An online survey is the most simple and cheapest survey to manage.
  • b. Face to Face or Telephone Interview – You have to create a script and train people for this kind of survey. This survey requires more effort and budget; however, you get in-depth answers that are most genuine.
  • c. Mail Survey– Despite being old school and having less control, many still opt to use mail surveys because it offers visual quality, looks professional, easy to administer, and not particularly costly.

Take note that you don’t have to choose one. In fact, for best results, it is encouraged to use several modes for survey administration.

Finally, you now have an actionable step-by-step process on how to create your survey form, including guiding principles to structure your questionnaire.  You’re on your way to producing a survey form that will deliver the quality data you need to make that outstanding research. But, perhaps you want to learn more about how to budget for your survey.

Check out this link on Overcoming Survey Budgeting Challenges

For more information on survey design or any aspect of mail survey management, contact us today! We provide outstanding Quantitative Data Collection Services and Paper Scanning Services!

How to Write Great Survey Questions

When starting a survey project, most people look forward to the fun, creative part of writing the questions. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that writing great survey questions is not as easy as it looks. Questionnaire design is more science than art – requiring critical attention be paid to question and answer order, structure and phrasing to ensure you get the reliable, quality feedback you are looking for.

A simple question, such as “How much did you enjoy the program?” could wreak havoc in your results, because it is inherently biased towards a positive response. “How did you feel about the program?” would be a more effective approach. Other pitfalls include asking multi-part questions, having overlapping answer choices, or asking the more difficult questions too early.

But have no fear. Outlined below are the basic principles of questionnaire design, along with some helpful tips, that will have you writing great, effective survey questions in no time:

Before You can Start Writing Great Survey Questions 

    • Know your objectives. Write down the purpose of your survey scanning, what information you need, and how you plan to use the data.
  • Work backwards. Make a list of the specific answers you need first, and then use that to drive your questionnaire.

Basic Guidelines for Writing Great Survey Questions

    • Keep questions focused. Make sure each question is designed for specific feedback. Avoid double-barrel questions like “How do you feel about our products and services?” as some respondents will focus on products and others on services. Instead, separate them into two questions.
    • Put easier questions first. This will increase participation and establish trust. By getting comfortable with the survey research by answering a few less complex questions first, your participants will be more likely to answer the more complex or sensitive questions later.
    • Organize by topic. Similar questions should be grouped together so the questionnaire flows naturally.
    • Keep it short and simple. Questions should be short, focused, and easy to answer. This will ensure a higher response rate and limit survey fatigue.
    • Be consistent. Use uniform rating scales, word choices and definitions throughout your survey. If you start with 1=low and 5=high, stick with that format.
    • Be precise. Avoid generic answer choices like “sometimes” and “rarely”. Use actual numbers instead (e.g, “more than 3 times per week”).
    • Be balanced. Provide an equal number of positive and negative response options.
    • Be complete. Include all possible answers, and make sure there is no overlap between answer options.
  • Eliminate bias. Try to construct the questions as objectively as possible. Avoid leading questions like, “Can you see why this product was voted best in customer satisfaction?” Instead, ask how they would describe their satisfaction level.

Common Question Types

Survey questions fall into two categories: Structured (fixed response) where they choose from a provided list of answer options and Non-structured (open-ended) where they can fill in their own text or numeric answer. Both are extremely useful, depending on the type of feedback you need.

Following are the most commonly used question types:

Multiple Choice

These are questions with two or more answer options. These are useful for collecting structured responses.

Single Response Style (select one answer)

Example 1: Do you smoke?     Y / N

Example 2:  If yes, how many cigarettes do you smoke per day?

use multiple choice to write great survey questions   

A common pitfall here is missing a possible response. Depending on your question, you may need to add a choice called “none”, or if you would like additional details, you could try an “other” option with space for a written response. You also want to make sure there is no overlap, such as using 10-20, 20-30, etc. in the previous example, which would clearly taint the results.  

Multiple Response Style (you may select more than one answer)

Example 1:  What is your race? (check all that apply)

use multiple response style to write great survey questions

Rating Scales

Rating scales ask respondents to rate how much they agree with a certain statement using a common scale (e.g, 1 to 5, where 1=low and 5=high). These are useful for gauging their opinions, attitudes and behaviors. When using rating scales, it is important to make sure you have a neutral option and a balanced, equal number of positive and negative responses. Scales most commonly use 5 or 7 options.

Example 1: The teacher was knowledgeable.

Example 2:  How would you describe your experience navigating the instruction manual.

use rating scale to write great survey questions (sample 2)

Common pitfalls here include being inconsistent with your scales (leading some respondents to answer incorrectly) and asking leading questions, such as, “We pride ourselves on our easy-to-use manuals. How easy was our manual to read?”

Ranking Scales

These ask respondents to rank a list of items in order (e.g, from favorite to least favorite, or most important to least important). It is recommended that you use these with caution. They are known to be reliable at determining first and last place, but not so much the fuzzy middle, as respondents often have to choose a pecking order for items that are essentially of equal value to them.

Example 1: Please rank the following customer service features in order of most to least important when contacting our agency by phone (1=most important, 5=least important)

use ranking scale to write great survey questions

Open-Ended Questions

These are questions with no provided answers options. Respondents answer by writing in their own text. These are great for eliciting responses about attitudes and opinions in a respondent’s own words, or having them provide a numeric answer without a suggested range. The downside is it requires extra time, can cause survey abandonment, and makes data collection and analysis more challenging.

Example: Name two ways we could have improved your customer experience today?

Questionnaire integrity is critical for getting quality data. By following these tips and guidelines, you will be well on your way to success. 

For more information on question and survey design or any aspect of survey mail management, contact us today!

By |2019-03-20T10:51:08+00:00December 6th, 2018|Survey Research Services|0 Comments