Perhaps you’re wondering, “What are good survey questions and how do I write them?”
Good survey questions are key to successful research. Whether in need of quality market or product research or simply wanting to find out more about what customers are thinking, surveys are the way to go.
For a survey question to be superior, it must provide the correct information about customers, products, or services. That is, provide the information—at a certain phase in your business’s growth arc—that will help improve products, customer relations, and overall business operations.
How to write good survey questions, including the correct amount of questions so the needed information is gathered while the survey isn’t too long that that it bores respondents?
We have some good news. That is exactly what we are going to cover in this article.
Before diving into methods and examples of good survey questions, it is important to first learn the underlying theory.
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What are the most common types of survey questions?
There are two main types of survey questions: closed-ended and open-ended.
Close-ended questions have predefined answers. They offer respondents a set of answers to choose from.
Open-ended questions gather the opinions, needs, and interests of customers or clients, with the way such surveys are constructed and questions asked of great importance.
This article will explain what makes a good survey question and introduce the do’s and don’ts of writing surveys. Last but not least, examples of well-written survey questions that serve their purpose and which can be used in your next round of research are provided.
What are good survey questions and how to write them?
Wondering which type of question is best? The answer is rather simple: both types have their advantages and disadvantages.
Closed-ended questions are easier to analyze but provide limited data. Since the answers are not actually written by respondents, there is the risk of not finding out what customers really think.
With open-ended questions, respondents have more opportunities to voice their opinions and answer in the way they want. Even though this data will be harder to analyze, it can give valuable insight into respondents’ true opinions and feelings.
To get the best results, it is important to have both question types in surveys. Lucky for you, SurveyPlanet offers the amazing feature of exporting survey results, which makes it easier to analyze the data gathered.
1. Demographic questions: Everything you need to know about the audience
This is the type of question most surveys begin with. There is a good reason behind this. Some very important data about respondents is collected, such as gender, age, race, education level, income, etc.
Why is this data important?
Because it provides valuable insights into the target audience. For example, understanding their backgrounds, interests, and habits can greatly impact how to approach them.
Demographic questions are definitely useful and should be used in surveys.
2. Dichotomous yes or no questions: Simple but of great importance
These are probably the most common survey questions. The logic behind them is very simple: the respondent is presented with a question or statement about a product or service and has a two-answer response to choose from: yes or no, true or false, or agree or disagree.
3. Multiple-choice questions: Give respondents more options
Even though dichotomous questions are technically multiple-choice questions, the term multiple-choice question is generally understood to mean questions that offer more than a two-answer option.
These questions are very helpful for making surveys more specific and in-depth.
Additionally, respondents can be directed to select only one answer (single-select question) or more than one answer (multi-select question).
4. Rating scale questions or ordinal scale questions
Now we’ve come to scale-type questions. They are also very popular in the survey-making community.
With these, respondents are asked to rate a certain product or service and disclose the likelihood of their recommending a product using a particular scale. The scale can have different ranges: 1 to 5, 1 to 10, 0 to 100, etc.
5. Likert scale questions/satisfaction scale questions
Though you may not have known what they’re called, you’ve seen these many times.
Likert scale questions present respondents with a scale measuring their satisfaction on a certain topic. This can be a product, a service, or a potential innovation. The answers from which to choose range from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” (or “very satisfied” to “very dissatisfied”).
The answers will show the degree of satisfaction with a particular subject. That’s why they are the best questions for customer satisfaction surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, or any other attempt to measure the degree of satisfaction or agreement.
6. Open-ended questions give respondents space to voice their opinion
These questions allow respondents to share their opinions freely, rather than choosing an answer prepared for them. Such questions provide the opportunity to ascertain respondents’ feelings and opinions, all phrased in their own words.
If you want to gather qualitative instead of just quantitative data, then be sure to ask open-ended questions.
Now that we’ve covered the most common types of survey questions, it’s time to get familiar with some good survey question examples.
How to write good survey questions
In order to come up with the best survey questions, first determine which type of survey to use (here are some survey examples to get started with).
After deciding what a survey is going to concentrate on—such as customer opinion regarding a product or service, employee satisfaction, event planning, or feedback from students—it is time to decide how the questions are going to be formulated.
Pay attention to every single question. Decide on the type of feedback desired and use questions that address major problems, while also exploring less obvious issues (since these can have a negative impact on a business as well).
To create the best survey questions, be aware of the problems that frequently crop up when formulating them. Here are some common problems:
Developing questions: The correct words are crucial
The wording of questions is important to the success of surveys. If respondents misunderstand questions, they might choose an answer that does not actually match their opinion. This will give false feedback, which can’t be used—or worse, will be used to your disadvantage.
Question order and how it can impact results
The usual practice is to ask demographic questions first, especially when these are needed to determine if the respondent is eligible to participate.
It is also important to pay attention to the order of questions. Namely, some research suggests that the way questions are arranged can impact how people answer them.
For example, it has been shown that questions asked early in a survey can impact how later ones are answered. This is the order effect. There can be a great difference in the answers because of their order (contrast effect) or they may be too similar (assimilation effect).
How to avoid mistakes when choosing survey questions
The basic advice is to keep questions short and easy to understand, while not being misleading. Use simple and straightforward language. Make questions neutral so they don’t lead respondents to choose a certain answer.
Additionally, when using a positive statement in a survey, give a countervailing negative statement later to create balance.
Ask mostly closed-ended questions, with just a few open-ended ones. Also, let answering be optional since respondents might not have an answer for every question. You don’t want to lose all the other valuable feedback just because a couple of questions are left blank.
And don’t ask for two things at the same time, while grouping questions by topic in a logical order. Keep surveys interesting and engaging, and don’t make them too long. Instead of asking too many questions, make the ones being asked more specific.
There are a couple of exciting tools we’ve developed for these purposes, one being the branching questions feature. With it, you can exclude unnecessary questions by selecting ones that will be shown to certain respondents based on how they answered previous questions.
It is also important that surveys are anonymous. Otherwise, there is a high chance that common survey errors like “yea-saying” bias, extreme responding, or social desirability bias.
Examples of good survey questions
We will now cover a few sample survey questions.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. To get access to free unlimited survey questions, make sure to try out our free features—and all the additional benefits they offer.
Let’s say you need to create a market research survey to see which products are most useful to consumers, the ones customers are most satisfied with, any improvements they would like to see in a certain product, and new features that are desired.
Here are some useful survey questions that meet those requirements:
1. Demographic survey questions
Here are some good demographic survey question examples:
- How old are you? / What’s your age? / Please select your age group.
- What is your date of birth?
- What is your gender? / What gender do you identify as? / Which gender do you identify most with?
- What is your ethnicity? / Please specify your ethnicity.
- What is your current relationship status? / What is your marital status?
- What is your level of education? / What is the highest level of education you have completed?
- What is your current employment status?
- What is your annual household income? / Which income group does your household fall under?
2. Questions about a product or a service
Here are some great survey questions you can ask about your product or service:
- How did you hear about our company/products/services?
- Have you ever used our products/services?
- How satisfied are you with our products/services?
- How satisfied were you with your customer service experience?
- How would you rate your experience with our product?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how well does our service meet your needs?
- Which of the following words would you use to describe our service?
- How likely are you to use our products/services in the future?
- How likely would you recommend this product to someone?
- How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or a colleague?
3. Open-ended questions
Here are some good open-ended question options you can use:
- What do you like the most about …
- Is there anything you dislike about …
- Is there anything you think we can improve about our product/services?
- Do you have any suggestions as to how we can improve …
- Do you have any suggestions for us?
- What other products would you like to see us offer?
- If you could change something about our products/services, what would it be?
- Which products would you like to see in the future? / What would you like to see improved in our services?
- Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
Some good survey question examples
Creating effective survey questions is crucial to gathering accurate and meaningful insights from respondents. Here are good survey question examples that can be adapted to various contexts.
- Job satisfaction
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with your current role?
- What aspects of your job do you find most satisfying?
- Are there any areas where you feel your job satisfaction could be improved?
- Work-life balance
- How well is your current workload balanced with your personal life?
- Are you able to maintain a healthy work-life balance?
- Communication
- How satisfied are you with the communication within your team/department?
- Do you feel well-informed about company updates and changes?
- Professional development
- Have you received opportunities for skill development and training in the past year?
- How satisfied are you with the professional growth opportunities provided by the company?
- Team collaboration
- How well does your team collaborate on projects and tasks?
- Are you able to effectively work with your colleagues to achieve team goals?
- Feedback and recognition
- Do you receive regular feedback on your performance from your manager?
- How often do you receive recognition for your contributions?
- Manager performance
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your manager’s effectiveness in supporting your work and growth?
- Does your manager provide clear direction and guidance?
- Company culture
- Do you feel that the company’s values align with your own?
- How well does the company foster a positive and inclusive work environment?
- Overall job experience
- How likely are you to recommend this organization as a place to work to a friend or colleague? (Net Promoter Score)
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with your overall job experience?
- Change management
- How well do you think the organization manages and communicates changes?
- Do you feel adequately prepared for changes that impact your role?
- Diversity and inclusion
- How inclusive do you perceive the work environment to be?
- Do you believe the organization values diversity and promotes inclusivity?
All of these questions can be used for various purposes. Good questions for a survey will vary from case to case, though it’s fairly simple to fit them to your needs.
For example, for a post-event question, swap out products for services. For a customer satisfaction question, ask about certain aspects of the company’s relationship with customers. For an employee satisfaction survey, focus on the relationship between employees, their assignments, the overall work atmosphere, etc.
What are five good survey questions?
Here are five good survey questions to ask that can be adapted to various contexts:
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with the overall quality of our products/services?
- (1 = Very Dissatisfied, 5 = Very Satisfied)
- How often do you feel that your opinions and feedback are valued by your immediate supervisor/manager?
- (Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always)
- What factors influenced your decision to choose our company for your recent purchase/use of services? (Select all that apply)
- Price
- Quality
- Brand reputation
- Customer reviews
- Recommendations from friends/family
- Other (please specify): ____________
- How satisfied are you with the frequency and quality of communication you receive from our company?
- (Very Dissatisfied, Dissatisfied, Neutral, Satisfied, Very Satisfied)
- Please share any suggestions or improvements you believe would enhance your experience with our organization:
- (Open-ended response)
These questions cover different aspects like product satisfaction, feedback value, decision-making factors, communication, and suggestions for improvement. Remember to tailor questions to suit specific goals and context.
Final thoughts on creating good survey questions
Crafting effective survey questions is a pivotal aspect of any data collection endeavor. Whether conducting market research, evaluating customer satisfaction, or gauging employee engagement, the art of formulating well-designed survey questions is key. Incorporating a mix of question types can yield richer insights.
For instance, Net Promoter Score (NPS) questions gauge customer loyalty by asking how likely respondents are to recommend a product or service and provide quantifiable data. Likert scale questions offer a structured way to measure opinions, allowing participants to rate their agreement on a predetermined scale.
Closed-ended questions with multiple-choice options enable easy data analysis, offering insights into specific preferences. Conversely, open-ended questions delve into qualitative nuances, offering participants the freedom to express their thoughts in their own words. The balance of quantitative and qualitative input strengthens the comprehensiveness of the survey.
Mastering the art of writing effective survey questions demands clear and concise language while avoiding biases or leading phrasing. By thoughtfully considering the mix of question types, survey writers can capture a comprehensive understanding of respondents’ perspectives, enriching the depth and breadth of insights garnered from the collected data.
Start writing good survey questions with SurveyPlanet
Creating superior survey questions is not simple. You have to calibrate the feedback desired while also being careful not to discourage and mislead respondents.
That is one of the most important aspects of creating a good survey—not boring respondents. If you do that, very little information will be gathered to analyze.
That’s why we encourage trying our pro features, which provide the opportunity to use custom themes, upload images, and other approaches that will engage respondents and make their survey-taking experience more entertaining.
With some practice, you’re bound to get the hang of developing good survey questions. But if assistance of any kind is needed, feel free to ask SurveyPlanet for help!
Photo by Christin Hume