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Avoid abbreviations jargon technical terms and double negatives
Avoid using abbreviations, jargon, or highly technical terms. Example: Poor: Should we add a wiki to our website? Better: Should we give visitors the ability to add content to our website? Avoid using negative words and never ask a ...
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Use predefined categories for choices
When asking personal questions, allow respondents to place themselves within predefined categories rather than requiring them to enter a precise answer. Example: Poor: How old are you? Better: How old are you? ...
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Ask about actions instead of opinions and be exhaustive with the multiple choice options
Tying your question to an action rather than an opinion will improve the accuracy of the survey research results. Example: Poor: Do you find our website useful? Better: How often did you visit our website in the last month? When ...
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Avoid biased questions and harsh or judgmental language
Avoid biased questions that tend to lead respondents to a specific answer. Example: Biased: Do you like our state-of-the-art account management page? Better: Please rate the usability of the account management page? Avoid using harsh ...
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Use simple unambiguous words in your surveys
Use simple unambiguous words to phrase survey questions. Be concise, clear, and direct. Try to avoid words with double meaning or questions that can be interpreted in more than one way. Do not make the question span more than one line. Example: ...
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Include a catch all option to survey questions
Do not assume that a survey question applies to all respondents. Always include a catch all option such as “Other”, “Not applicable”, or “Don’t know”. Including such an option is especially important if the survey question requires the respondent ...
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Always include a progress bar in your survey
Always include a progress bar to show the respondent how close they are to completing the survey. Most online survey tools and web based survey software provide this functionality built in so make sure to enable it. When you have a choice ...
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The purpose of the survey should drive the survey content
Before you start defining questions to ask in details, take sufficient time to think through the purpose and objectives of the survey. The objectives should always drive the types and content of the questions. The objective also should lead to an ...
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Always include a brief introduction to the survey
When you create surveys , always include a brief introduction to the survey. Make sure to mention the following: The purpose of the survey How long it will take to complete the survey ...
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