What is an example of a good questionnaire? A well-written survey questionnaire must be engaging and easy to answer. Respondents should find it simple to complete while providing the researcher with valuable information.
One of the most common questions many beginner researchers ask themselves is how to make a good questionnaire for research.
The truth is, it’s nothing complicated. In fact, it is rather simple. But you will need to have some basic knowledge about the process of creating a survey questionnaire. Additionally, using the right survey software will be of great help.
If you’re looking for examples of good survey questionnaires, keep reading. This article will give you examples of good questionnaires and how to use them in your next survey!
Questionnaire versus survey: What is the difference?
People usually think a survey and a questionnaire are the same, but that’s not quite true. Questionnaires and surveys are closely linked, but there is an important difference.
The term “survey” refers to the whole research process and includes both collecting information and then analyzing the gathered data. A questionnaire, on the other hand, is the research instrument with which you collect the information for research.
So, questionnaires are integral parts of surveys. They are sets of questions that respondents need to answer.
Key characteristics of a good questionnaire
Designing a questionnaire isn’t just about listing questions — it’s about crafting a thoughtful instrument that delivers accurate, useful, and unbiased data. Whether you’re collecting feedback, conducting research, or assessing performance, these key characteristics separate a good questionnaire from a flawed one.
Clarity and simplicity - Every question should be written in plain, accessible language. Avoid industry jargon, vague terms, or complicated sentence structures that might confuse respondents. If your respondents need to re-read a question to understand it, it’s too complex.
Relevance to objectives - Every question should serve a clear purpose aligned with your overall research goal. Irrelevant questions waste time and dilute the value of your data. Ask yourself: “What will this question help me learn or measure?” If you can’t answer that, it probably doesn’t belong in the questionnaire.
Objectivity and neutral tone - To gather honest insights, your questions must remain unbiased. Avoid wording that nudges respondents toward a certain answer, especially on sensitive topics.
Concise and focused questions - Good questions are short, direct, and unambiguous. Respondents are more likely to complete your questionnaire when questions are brief and easy to process.
Logical flow and structure - Questionnaires should follow a natural, intuitive order. Start with general questions to warm up the respondent, then gradually move to more specific or sensitive topics.
Appropriate mix of question types - A good questionnaire uses both closed-ended questions and open-ended questions. Don’t overwhelm respondents with too many open-ended fields.
Balanced and exhaustive response options - Closed-ended questions must offer well-balanced and complete options. Always ensure all realistic answers are included, there’s no bias toward a particular choice, and options don’t overlap or create confusion.
How to make a good questionnaire?
A survey questionnaire is the key element of your survey research. It is a tool that allows the gathering of valuable information. If not used correctly, it can lead to errors in survey data that can greatly affect research results.
Before diving into survey templates, which provide example questions you can use, we first need to understand how a questionnaire should be made. In practice, you can find both good and bad questionnaire examples; the key is knowing how to differentiate between them. Once you know everything that is behind a survey questionnaire, you will be able to recognize the dos and don’ts when creating your own great templates.
To be considered an example of a good questionnaire, it should fulfill many criteria, from setting up a research objective to interpreting the gathered data. Here’s how to write a good questionnaire for research.
1. Define a clear research objective
Making what is an example of a good questionnaire starts by setting up a clear objective for your survey research.
There are many different kinds of surveys and questionnaires. Customer satisfaction surveys can gather information about both satisfaction with a brand’s customer service and the products themselves. Then there are market research surveys, brand awareness surveys, and many more.
Before you start conducting your survey—or even try to make a sample of a good questionnaire—you first need to determine the goal you want to achieve with your research. Only after determining your objective can you choose what survey sample you will be using, how you will ask your questions, and how you will analyze the data.
2. Choose appropriate questions for the target audience
Questions are the most important part of a survey, and each one is equally important. That’s why you will make an example of a good questionnaire for research only if you use the right questions.
Which question types to use depends on the type of research you have chosen. SurveyPlanet gives you access to numerous survey templates and pre-made questions to choose from. Our question library contains queries suitable for every survey type.
The two largest groups of survey questions are open-ended and closed-ended. Closed-ended questions are further divided into subtypes.
The most common closed-ended question types include:
- Yes or no questions.
- Multiple-choice questions.
- Likert scale questions.
- NPS questions or net promoter score questions.
Combine our pre-made questions with your own custom-made ones, or base your questionnaire entirely on our survey templates. Whichever method you choose, with our help you will make an example of a good questionnaire in no time! Sign up for a free SurveyPlanet account!
3. Select the right type of questions
A beginner in the survey-making world might think they need to decide between closed-ended and open-ended questions. However, using both is always recommended for the best results.
As we already mentioned, there are numerous types of questions you can use that fall under the closed-ended question category. The most common ones are multiple-choice, yes-or-no, and Likert scale. All of these questions offer respondents a set of pre-made answers they must choose from.
When you ask open-ended questions, respondents get the chance to answer in their own words. These questions can offer you access to valuable data and give you deeper insight into the field you are researching. However, because respondents answer with their own words, the data collected through open-ended questions are much harder to analyze.
If you want to get the most thorough feedback possible, always use a couple of different question types in your surveys. For example, Likert scale questions are great for rating customer experience with a particular product or customer service. Net promoter score questions, on the other hand, are great when measuring overall customer satisfaction with your entire brand.
But depending only on numbers and agree-disagree scales won’t give your research much depth. That’s why you need to use diverse multiple-choice questions, as well as open-ended questions, so respondents can freely express their opinions by answering each question in their own words.
Examples of good questionnaire questions
To help you get started, here are some well-crafted examples of both closed-ended and open-ended questions that you can adapt depending on your survey objective:
Closed-Ended Questions:
These are ideal for collecting structured, easy-to-analyze data.
Multiple Choice:
Which of the following features do you use most often?- Search bar
- Filters
- Wishlist
- Reviews
Yes/No Question:
Did our support team resolve your issue within 24 hours?- Yes
- No
Likert Scale (Rating):
How satisfied are you with the checkout process on our website?- Very dissatisfied
- Dissatisfied
- Neutral
- Satisfied
- Very satisfied
Net Promoter Score (NPS):
How likely are you to recommend our service to a friend or colleague?
0 (Not at all likely) — 10 (Extremely likely)
Open-Ended Questions:
These allow respondents to elaborate and provide deeper insights.
- What did you like most about your experience with us?
- Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve our service?
- What was your main reason for choosing our brand over competitors?
4. Use precise and neutral wording
When you’re putting together your survey questions, you need to pay attention to every little detail. The biggest difference between good and bad questionnaire examples is usually how their questions are worded.
First, you must make sure you use clear and unambiguous language. If your questions are poorly worded and can be interpreted in more than one way, you risk making errors that can lead to inaccurate results.
Besides using clear language, keep questions brief and to the point. Questions that are too long can cause confusion, are harder to answer, and more likely to be skipped, all of which risk creating the same errors previously mentioned.
5. Focus on the logical design of your questionnaire
Many aspects of a questionnaire affect a survey’s response rate, not just the way questions are worded.
For your survey to be a proper example of a good questionnaire, it needs to be engaging. Engaging surveys offer the best feedback. Apart from using captivating language in questions, you also need to pay attention to the visuals.
The way your survey looks is the other most important detail in engaging a customer and making them willing to share their feedback.
The best survey questionnaire design is one that is eye-catching and fun but not too overwhelming. If you are unsure of how to accomplish this, you can choose one of our beautiful pre-made templates. If you already have something in mind, use our custom theme feature to create your own survey theme!
6. Follow a proven questionnaire structure
Now that you’ve defined your objective, selected your questions, and prepared your design, it’s time to put everything into a clear, respondent-friendly format. A well-structured questionnaire isn’t just professional — it increases response rates, improves data quality, and reduces abandonment.
Here’s a tried-and-true structure you can follow:
Introduction - Start with a brief explanation of the purpose of the questionnaire. Let respondents know how long it will take, why their input matters, and whether their responses are anonymous or confidential.
Instructions - Provide clear guidelines on how to complete the questionnaire. Specify if respondents should choose one answer, rate on a scale, or write in their own words.
Question flow - Organize questions in a logical sequence. Start with general and non-sensitive questions, move to core topic areas, and end with more specific or personal questions.
Response options - Make sure every closed-ended question has clear, balanced, and exhaustive options.
Open-ended section - Include 1 or 2 open-ended questions at the end to collect richer insights.
Thank you note - End with a short thank you message to show appreciation for their time and feedback.
By using this format, you’ll build a good questionnaire that’s easy to follow, respectful of users, and effective in capturing valuable data.
7. Plan for data analysis and reporting
Your survey is not done after collecting all the data. To finalize the whole research project and ensure you’ve done a great job, you have to analyze the data effectively and present your findings in a comprehensible way.
With SurveyPlanet, you can analyze data in many different ways. Result filtering helps you focus on the answers of one particular group of respondents, while cross-tabulation helps you compare the answers of different subgroups. SurveyPlanet allows you to export results to different file formats so data can be analyzed more efficiently.
When you’ve analyzed the data, all that is left is to make a report that will accurately communicate your findings. To do so, start by providing the objective and the methodology of your research. When presenting the data, ensure it isn’t just plain and boring numbers. Instead, focus on the actual changes and improvements they imply.
Good and bad questionnaire examples
Whether you are conducting a market research survey, event planning questionnaire, or student survey, there are always examples of good and bad questionnaires and individual questions.
A well-written survey questionnaire has everything we’ve previously mentioned: a clear objective, appropriate and well-worded questions, and an excellent design. Bad questionnaire examples are the complete opposite—they are too long, poorly worded, incomprehensible, and contain many errors.
Real-world examples of good questionnaires
Real-world examples help bring theory to life. While it’s important to understand the principles of a well-designed questionnaire, seeing how they’re applied in specific contexts makes it easier to create effective surveys for your own needs. Whether you’re developing a product feedback form or gathering insights from students, adapting your questions to the target audience and purpose is key. Below are two practical examples that illustrate how to apply best practices when designing a questionnaire.
Product questionnaire examples
When creating surveys about products, first include a couple of questions about your brand to understand how customers relate to it. Do they recognize your brand, and are they familiar with its products? With answers to these questions, you then know if placing a product in a certain category makes sense.
Next, focus on the individual features of your product. You can research your market by sending out satisfaction surveys to evaluate the customer experience with your existing products. In these surveys, ask which features a customer values most or the features a new product should have.
Cover each category of features to gain insights into every detail. Then adjust new products to your customers’ needs and wishes.
Example of a good questionnaire for students
Student surveys are used to gain valuable feedback from students about their classroom experiences, such as how satisfied they are with their teachers, curricular and extracurricular activities, as well as the methods used for evaluating their knowledge.
The type of questions you use depends on the topic you want to explore. Student surveys are often used to get students’ thoughts on a particular area of education but can also be used to better understand students and their preferred learning methods.
If you are a principal at a school, you can ask students about the quality of education or their relationship with teachers. If you are a teacher, the most common questionnaire will be the course evaluation questionnaire. You can find more student survey templates on our site.
These are some basic tips to follow to create an adequate survey questionnaire. Knowing them will give you a great advantage, and it will be even easier to accomplish your goal with the help of our online tools.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for free and create your first survey questionnaire in no time.
Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash