Interview Questions Assignment | Homework Help Websites

20 TOP TIPS TO WRITING EFFECTIVE SURVEYS *
Writing surveys is easy; or is it? The truth is that writing surveys is easy but writing effective
surveys is more difficult. The following are twenty tips that, if followed, will help you write more
effective surveys
1. What is the purpose of the survey? Surveys are conducted for many reasons. By phrasing
the questions and structuring the answers, surveys can be used in a multitude of ways and for
a variety of reasons. When compiling a survey don’t loose sight of its purpose.
2. Title the survey. The survey title is a golden opportunity to instantly summarize a survey’s
objective and grab the attention of invited respondents. Respondents are going to invest time
in completing the survey so make them feel that their investment is worthwhile.
3. Do not make the survey any longer than it needs to be. Every question that is asked
should 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, maintain consistency and don’t ask
questions that may result in ambiguous answers. Care must be taken in wording a question. If
a question is not clear then there is every chance that respondents may interpret the question
differently to that intended by the publisher making any analysis of the data meaningless or at
the very least misleading.
5. Avoid long questions. Try to use short sentences wherever possible. Long questions tend
to cause respondents discomfort and can lead to a higher level of incidents where respondents
abandon a survey.
6. Ask one question at a time. Avoid confusing the respondent with a question like ‘Do you
like football and tennis?’

7. Avoid influencing the answer. It is important not to load the question. ‘Should irresponsible
shop keepers who sell tobacco to children be prosecuted?’ is unlikely to have any value.
8. Ensure that the answer 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 a “Don’t know”, “Can’t
say” or similar response option.
9. At the same time that you compile the survey, consider how the compiled data is
going be analyzed when the survey is complete. If a question is asked that allows a free
text open ended response, appreciate that such information is likely to be difficult to score
and/or summarized. Consider grouping type 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 questionnaire flows. When asking questions group the questions into
clear categories as this makes the task of completing the survey easier for the participants.
11. Target your respondents. In some cases, you will want to target a specific group, in
others a cross section. If you can’t easily control the respondents consider including questions
and answers that will allow you to filter out respondents who don’t fit your target profile.
12. Allow the respondent to expand or make comments. Allowing the respondent to make
additional comments will increase their satisfaction level and will also give valuable feedback
on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember though for a large sample
collection it may be difficult to analyze free text open-ended responses.
13. If the survey you are conducting is to be confidential ensure that your pledge is
upheld. If you have assured the respondents that the survey is confidential ensure that the
individual data is not to be shared with anyone and the information is not going to be used for
any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times, and any identifying
information should be destroyed after the survey is complete.
14. Weigh up the benefits of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable. If
your respondents are to be anonymous then appreciate that you will be unable to follow up or
match “pre” or “post” surveys. However, in some cases allowing people to remain anonymous
will allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.
15. Give careful consideration to the best response format. It is good practice to maintain a
consistency in the format used for responses. Keep in mind that when analyzing the data radio
buttons* are easier to analyze than check boxes that offer the respondent multiple responses.
Do not use a check box if a radio response would do.
*Radio Button questions…ask your respondents to choose a single option from a short list.
Radio Button questions [are generally] used with on-line surveys and when asking yes or no
questions. (Source: https://help.surveygizmo.com/help/radio-buttons
Radio Button Example:
16. Give the respondent an idea of how much time the survey will take. Respondent drop
out can occur if the survey appears to be a stream of never ending questions. It is good
practice to give 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 end date. Encourage respondents to complete the
survey as soon as possible but advice respondents as to the surveys end date so that they
have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.
18. Pilot the survey. Before publishing a live survey publish a small pilot survey to check for
questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the survey is aesthetically
pleasing.
19. Before 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 survey before you publish, if no one else is available then take a break before
checking again.
20. Remember to say thank you. To complete surveys, respondents need to invest their time
and should be thanked either in a covering letter, at the end of completing the survey or in a
follow up letter. You may even want to consider incentives such as a prize draw or reward.
* Source unknown