Conducting an anonymous survey is one of the best practices you can use in research. First, if you make your survey confidential, potential respondents are more likely to participate and share their honest opinions. Secondly, you ensure that your research results can be analyzed without bias.
However, to do that, you need to become familiar with the best practices for conducting surveys. For example, although there are numerous circumstances when it is crucial to create an anonymous survey, there are also instances when it is not recommended.
Additionally, you need to know how to find the right anonymous survey tool to use.
Continue reading to find out how to make the best anonymous online survey by following some straightforward steps, as well as how to protect your respondents’ identities when a purely anonymous survey is not an option.
What is an anonymous survey? And why should you use one?
Simply put, the survey is anonymous if the personal information of respondents remains confidential (i.e., unknown to any of the researchers). This means that an anonymous questionnaire shouldn’t collect identifying information, such as name, date of birth, or address. This way, researchers can’t link survey responses to individual participants.
Certain questionnaires require demographic survey questions because such data is crucial for obtaining accurate research results. However, many people are reluctant to provide feedback about their ethnic background, educational status, or income level.
Making your survey anonymous can help you collect all necessary feedback while also protecting sensitive information. Anonymous surveys provide the following benefits:
- An increased response rate: Respondents are more likely to participate when they know their personal information remains confidential.
- More honest feedback: This will result in more accurate data, with anonymity also increasing participants’ willingness to be honest.
- An unbiased analysis of the collected data: This is especially true in cases where knowing the identity of your participants could affect your analysis.
Bear in mind that there are also additional data that should be excluded from questionnaires for them to be truly anonymous. This includes IP address and contact information (such as an email address).
When should you make an anonymous survey?
Before explaining how to create an anonymous survey, we should first cover the reasons for using one in the first place. We will do this by listing some situations in which this type of survey is most beneficial.
An anonymous questionnaire is highly useful in circumstances where revealing the identity of respondents can be problematic, either for respondents personally or for the results of your research. Here are some examples:
- When your survey covers a sensitive topic, respondents will feel more comfortable expressing their honest opinion if they remain anonymous.
- Knowing the identity of the respondents, or their specific personal information, can lead to bias when analyzing responses.
- When there is a possibility of retaliation against the respondents (for example, when reporting abuse in school or the workplace).
Are there any cases when you can’t use anonymous surveys?
When conducting a follow-up survey, you can’t have participants remain anonymous, as you need to know which individuals to contact afterward.
So, how can you avoid knowing their identities and still be able to follow up?
By using a free anonymous survey tool to create a questionnaire and then sharing it with your participants via your newsletter. One of the many features of our free anonymous survey creator is survey embedding, which makes it easy for you to share pre-made survey templates via email.
Using this tool, you can send a follow-up survey to all email addresses without having to know which participants completed the survey. When doing so, keep in mind that you need to turn off all conversion trackers to ensure the recipients’ anonymity.
However, there are certain circumstances when sending out general follow-up questions to all potential participants won’t be an option. Instead, you will need to contact specific respondents and request their feedback.
In that case, the best solution is to designate one party that will keep all personal information confidential and unknown to everyone participating in the research. When conducting an anonymous employee survey, this role can be undertaken by the company’s HR department or an external company.
Five tips on how to make the best anonymous surveys
Creating anonymous surveys is not complicated at all. Here are our top five tips that will help you create your next anonymous questionnaire with ease.
Underline the anonymity of the survey
Make sure your participants know their personal information is protected. Simply stating “This survey is anonymous” may not be enough for some participants to feel safe participating. Instead, explain in more detail how this is accomplished with the protocols you have put in place. It’s best to do this in your welcome message.
Provide extra information about the research
It is imperative to give your participants a chance to get familiar with your survey. People feel more comfortable participating when they know what the research is about. Explain its goals, who will analyze the feedback (and how), and the purposes for which it will be used.
Choose the right anonymous survey maker
When creating anonymous surveys, you need to make sure you are using the right tool. The best anonymous survey tool is one that can offer all the features you need while saving both money and time.
That’s why we created SurveyPlanet, a free anonymous survey maker with numerous features. Apart from many pre-made survey questions, themes, and survey templates available, our survey software offers important features such as anonymity, embedding, result exporting and filtering, white-label surveys, and more.
Use a large sample
The more people you include in your research, the more difficult it will be to identify participants through their responses (if you were to try to). That is why it is essential to use a large sample. If you start with a group of people you know, expand the sample as much as the research allows.
Pay attention to the questions you’re asking
This is not about different question types like Likert scale, NET promoter score, or open-ended survey questions. Instead, we are talking about the content of your questions and how these can unintentionally compromise respondents’ identities.
For example, when you create a survey that will be used in the workplace, make sure you don’t ask for employees’ departments or job positions. Don’t ask about specific experiences or relationships with others that can be unique to a particular respondent.
Lastly, remember that a series of questions and responses may reveal someone’s identity. To avoid this, keep the previous questions in mind when writing new ones, and make sure you don’t make too many personal inquiries.
Three research areas that benefit the most from creating anonymous surveys
Anonymous research surveys can be applied in various fields, including education, healthcare, the public sector, and many others. Here are some of the most important ones.
Workplace: Exploring employee engagement and satisfaction
Conducting surveys on company culture and other employee surveys is important because they provide valuable feedback about each employee’s work experience. However, not all surveys provide you with accurate data.
Employees are often reluctant to express their honest opinions, especially on sensitive subjects such as leadership and management, job satisfaction, or potential maltreatment. This is because they fear retaliation from their superiors or colleagues.
Creating an anonymous survey is essential if you want to know their honest opinions. Only then can you expect to gather data that will strengthen your research.
Market research: Testing new products and profiling your target audience
Making anonymous surveys is extremely beneficial in market research. However, many people skip this kind of survey, not because there is a possibility of retribution for stating their consumer habits, but because people are skeptical about providing their personal information.
Creating anonymous market research surveys will increase your survey response rate and provide you with more extensive and honest feedback. Such data can be used to build future business success.
Customer experience and customer satisfaction
Customers are the key point to every successful business. If you want to know how you’re doing on the market and grow your business, you need to understand their opinions and needs.
Different kinds of customer surveys measure customer experience with your products or the overall customer service you provide. In an anonymous customer satisfaction survey, customers can leave honest reviews without fearing retaliation or misusing personal information.
Common mistakes to avoid when creating anonymous surveys
Even minor oversights can compromise anonymity or discourage responses. Here are common pitfalls to avoid:
- Collecting unnecessary personal data – Asking for email addresses, phone numbers, or full demographics can compromise anonymity and erode trust.
- Requiring logins – If your survey tool asks participants to sign in with Google, Microsoft, or another account, it’s no longer truly anonymous. Always disable these requirements.
- Asking leading or biased questions – Respondents should not feel pressured to choose a certain answer. For example, instead of asking, “Don’t you agree our service is excellent?” ask: “How would you rate our service?”
- Making the survey too long – Lengthy surveys can cause frustration and higher dropout rates. Keep it focused and relevant.
- Failing to test your survey – Always do a test run to confirm anonymity settings are correct and that questions flow logically.
How to analyse results from anonymous surveys
Analysing anonymous survey results is slightly different from non-anonymous surveys because you don’t have personal data to segment responses. Here’s how to make the most of your results:
- Look for trends in multiple-choice and scale questions – percentages and averages are helpful when you don’t know who the respondents are. For example, if 70% of employees report low job satisfaction, that’s a strong signal even without names.
- Group open-ended responses by theme – even if you can’t tie comments to specific people, you can categorize them into themes like “communication issues,” “workload,” or “positive feedback.”
- Compare results over time - run the same anonymous survey periodically and compare changes. This helps track progress on issues such as workplace morale and customer satisfaction.
- Use visualization tools - charts, graphs, and word clouds to make it easier to spot patterns without needing demographic breakdowns.
- Take action and close the feedback loop - share aggregated results with participants (e.g., “85% of employees want more flexible work options”) and explain what actions will be taken. This builds trust and increases participation in future surveys.
FAQs about anonymous surveys
What if I need demographic data but want to stay anonymous?
- You can ask for general categories instead of specifics. For example, ask for “Age group: 18–24, 25–34, 35–44” instead of exact birthdates. This keeps responses useful but still anonymous.
How do I reassure participants that my survey is anonymous?
- Include a clear privacy statement at the start of the survey explaining that no identifying information is collected. Transparency is key.
Can I still follow up with respondents if it’s anonymous?
- Not directly. However, you can give participants an optional contact form at the end of the survey, separate from the responses, where they can share their details if they want further communication.
How many questions should an anonymous survey have?
- The ideal length depends on your goal, but most effective anonymous surveys include 5–15 focused questions. Too many questions can overwhelm participants and reduce completion rates, while too few might not give you enough insights. Keeping it short and to the point increases honesty and participation.
What type of questions work best in anonymous surveys?
- A mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions usually works best. Multiple-choice questions make results easy to analyze, while open-ended questions give respondents space to share detailed thoughts. Avoid overly personal or complex questions—stick to clear, neutral wording to encourage honest answers.
When using anonymous surveys, people feel more comfortable participating and sharing their honest opinions. That is the most significant advantage of this practice. If you want to improve your research, sign up for a free SurveyPlanet account and start creating anonymous surveys today.
Photo by Mikael Kristenson on Unsplash