Good survey design does not focus just on the research topic but also meets the needs of its respondents.
Of course, questionnaire design must match the researcher’s subject and goals. However, you can expect high completion rates and valuable feedback only if you make a survey that is engaging, easy, and enjoyable to complete.
Whether you are interested in market research or conducting a scientific study, you need to ask clear and meaningful questions that each respondent or examinee will enjoy answering. Read our article and learn how to design a good questionnaire for your next research.
What is survey design?
The term survey design refers to the process of creating a survey. The main goal is to gain accurate data which will provide maximum insights into a specific topic. Even though there is a difference between surveys and questionnaires, the term is often interchanged with questionnaire design.
Survey design methodology distinguishes four main types of survey methods: online, email, telephone, and in-person surveys. Online surveys are the most used because they are easy to conduct, cost-efficient, and can reach the widest range of respondents.
You can create your own survey or use ready-made survey templates when conducting online research. Whichever option you choose, it is essential to follow some basic guidelines that will help you make the best survey design decisions possible.
Survey research design example: When do we use it?
There are numerous fields in which businesses can benefit from following good survey design practices. You can use it to pinpoint current market trends, measure customer satisfaction or employee engagement, and develop the best strategy for problem-solving and decision-making.
It can help you create a new marketing campaign, improve company culture, or decide on the features of a new product—all of which will enhance your business.
Online surveys can be used in education, healthcare, and the public sector, as well as in market and marketing research, for measuring employee satisfaction, and customer experience research.
Now that you know where you can use them, it’s time to learn how to design a survey questionnaire.
How to design a survey: Survey design best practices
When carrying out survey form design, you need to pay attention to both the research topic and respondents.
It needs to answer the core questions of your research and provide valuable insights from which to draw conclusions, while also engaging respondents in a way that is enjoyable and rewarding for them.
If you want to create an online survey form that fulfills all of these requirements, follow these simple steps:
- Define a clear purpose for your survey.
- Use a variety of questions and arrange them in a logical order.
- Create questions that are engaging and easy to understand.
- Make a visually appealing survey design.
- Test the survey before you send it.
- Analyze and draw conclusions.
- Make a report and take action.
Here’s how to design a survey in more detail.
Identify the goal of your research
Before taking any other steps in the process of making a survey questionnaire design, you first need to define the purpose of your research. You will do that by asking yourself: “What do I want to find out about my research topic?”
If you have a business, you may want to measure employee satisfaction, customer experience, your NET promoter score, or simply research the market. Whatever the purpose, make sure it is clear and refer back to it regularly while creating the survey.
Also, remember that your goal needs to be not only clear but also attainable. Don’t get caught up in broad research that covers too many different topics because you may end up with a bunch of data that won’t provide any important insights. Instead, focus on a narrower topic. If you have more things to cover, consider making multiple surveys.
Choose the right types of survey questions
Defining research goals is closely related to choosing and making survey questions. The goal of the survey will decide the type of questions needed, which will, in turn, affect results.
Use various closed-ended questions
Closed-ended questions give respondents pre-set answers to choose from. They will provide numerical or quantitative data that can be easily visualized through charts, graphs, and infographics.
There are many types of closed-ended questions, but the most commonly used are:
- Multiple-choice questions: Allow participants to choose only one response (single-select questions) or multiple responses (multi-select questions).
- Rating scale questions: Most popular are Likert scale (agree-disagree questions) and Net Promoter Score (which ask participants to rate their level of satisfaction or agreement).
- Ranking questions: Participants are asked to rank specific items based on preference or importance.
- Demographic questions: Information about the participants’ age, gender, ethnicity, education level, etc., These help segment and profile respondents during data analysis.
Don’t forget to include open-ended questions
Open-ended or free-response questions do not give participants pre-set answers to choose from. Instead, they are provided with a text box to type in their own answers freely, using their own words.
These types of questions are a great way to gain feedback by providing space for customers to share additional feedback not covered in the survey. However, keep in mind that they take longer to answer and are harder to analyze.
According to survey design best practices, it is advised to include both open-ended and closed-ended questions. However, try to balance them out and include fewer free-response questions, since they take more time to answer.
Also, make sure to ask qualifying questions first. This helps determine if respondents fit your target audience and if their feedback is relevant to your research.
Designing survey questions: How to write a good survey question
When designing survey questions, you should focus on language (the so-called question wording), as well as question order. Here are a few tips that will help you create a good survey question:
- Use simple and understandable language: Don’t use terms and jargon. Keep in mind that not all your respondents are familiar with the topic or have the same education level.
- Keep the questions short: The longer a survey question is, the more confusing it will be, which can lead to inaccurate data.
- Keep the survey short: A similar dynamic is at play regarding the length of the entire survey. Just as you keep questions short and to the point, don’t let surveys get too long because that can decrease the response rate.
- Ask one question at a time: Don’t ask for too much information at once because this, too, can confuse participants. Avoid double-barreled questions that will provide inaccurate feedback.
- Try not to ask leading questions: This means keeping the language natural and not including opinions in the wording of questions.
- Avoid absolutes: Don’t use terms like “always”, “never”, “all”, or “every” because these don’t provide room for a nuanced answer.
- Arrange questions in a logical order: Follow the nature of the topic, which will prevent people from getting confused and leaving the survey early.
- Start with general questions: These will explain the topic initially before continuing to more specific questions. End your surveys with demographic and open-ended questions.
Survey design examples: Numerous templates at SurveyPlanet
Still not sure which questions to include and how to word them? By creating a SurveyPalent account, you get access to unlimited types of questions and numerous pre-written survey questions.
You can also check out our survey design examples for inspiration. Browse our customer satisfaction surveys or find a suitable market research survey for your business. Start making exceptional questionnaires in no time!
Focus on your survey’s visual design
Although they are the most important part of your surveys and are the foundation of the feedback you will get, questions are not the only thing you need to care about. The design of your surveys needs to be appealing, engaging, and one that amplifies brand awareness.
With SurveyPlanet, you can easily accomplish all of this. Choose one of our many compelling themes, or make your own from scratch. Use our white-label survey feature and add your own colors, fonts, and logos to personalize surveys or increase your brand awareness and brand loyalty.
You can also add images and videos to both questions and answers. This makes them more dynamic while also being a great way to provide information without having to explain it with lengthy text.
Test your survey design
Now that we know how to design a questionnaire, it’s time to send it out, right?
But before presenting it to your target audience, it is wise to test it first. Share it with a small group of people who match your target audience to see if everything works and if all the questions are clear.
Pretesting surveys will save you from detecting possible problems before they have gone live, which will result in inaccurate data and a waste of resources.
Analyze the collected data
Once you’ve gathered all the feedback, you will need to analyze it. First, you need to export all the data into a preferred document file. Then do cross-tabulation and survey filtering to see how the responses differ between different respondent categories.
It is also important to look for irregularities in answers. People may choose random answers to finish the survey more quickly or skip too many questions. Finding these irregularities will help you preserve the accuracy of your findings.
Analyzing survey data is challenging, but using reliable survey software will make it much easier.
SurveyPlanet offers numerous features that can help you create outstanding surveys, analyze them, and come to valuable conclusions. Check out our pricing plans and choose the one that will answer your needs.
Create a report and take action
The last step to take is to make a report. In it, you should present your findings, summarize all your conclusions, and see if you’ve got the answer to the question you asked when first identifying your goal.
Remember that the report will likely be read by a person who did not participate in the research. Use clear language so they understand what you are trying to convey, and make the report engaging so they enjoy reading it.
Finally, create an action plan based on your findings. After all, the whole point of making an exceptional survey design was to improve your business, right?
Sign up to SurveyPlanet and create free online surveys that will help you achieve your goals and help your business excel!
Photo by Balázs Kétyi on Unsplash