Do you know how to make a user want to take the survey? To turn your surveys from asked to answered, there are many things you need to recognize and take into consideration. Most importantly, you need to proceed with caution while framing the questions. If you want to get the best results from, include clear questions and valid answer options in the survey.
To help you, here are some tips that can be useful to you when you are creating your survey questions:
- Don’t ask gender biased questions
Always make sure to include gender-neutral questions in the survey. Consider all audience types when designing questions for your survey. Rather than specifying men or women in the questions, mention ‘you,’ ‘they,’ or even ‘human being’ in the survey when possible.
- Avoid jargon
Jargon can make your survey language credible and precise depending on the product, audience, industry and more. However, there are many times that customers are unable to relate to the survey and feel the survey is not suitable for them. Try to use direct and easy to understand questions in the survey when geared towards the general public.
- Clearly mention the survey’s goal
At the beginning of the survey, state the goal of your questionnaire. This helps customers understand what the survey is all about. They will also have a better idea of what you intend to ask them and what you expect to walk away with from their responses.
- Never force your respondents to respond
Many respondents avoid replying the questions that intrude the personal life, religious beliefs, and their family. Let the respondents decide if they want to answer a particular answer or not and respect their privacy. When you force a respondent to give an answer, it can affect your data with masked responses as real answers. Use opt-out questions if you ask something that they may not be truthful of.
- Avoid long and leading questions
If you want to keep your respondents engaged and prevent boredom or survey fatigue, avoid including long questions. You don’t want them to lose interest and leave the survey half-finished.
Leading questions try to direct the respondents to answer a particular way, and that can affect the survey results. Being more neutral will make sure you get the data you need to make decisions.
- Make personal questions optional
Intimate questions about the respondent’s gender, age, or income must be included carefully. Many people don’t feel comfortable sharing such personal information. It’s better to keep these survey questions optional. It’s not uncommon for those who are uncomfortable with responding to the personal question to disengage all together or start randomly answer questions. Consequently, you will not get the desired results and risk having negative impact on your response data.
By following these six best practices, you’ll be well on your way to create a great survey. If you need help creating your survey, choose an online survey tool. There are many survey tools available to enhance the survey experience for your customers and employees. Do a bit of research to find the best survey tool to easily run your own market research and begin to get instant feedback from people around you.