This guide will teach you more tips and tricks on how to make
a good survey into a great survey, so people will want to share
it with all of their friends.
Even if there's no such thing as a stupid question, some questions
are better than others. A bad survey question is hard to answer.
It might be unclear what you are looking for, it might ask too
much at once, or it might make no sense at all! There are a few
common tricks to making sure that your question is the best it
Ask one question at a time
Sometimes, concepts go together so well, it seems silly to
split it into two questions. Unfortunately, that's what you
have to do. Make sure you're only asking people about one thing
For example, don't ask "Would you rather walk or ride
your bike to school than drive?" Here, people can say
or "no," but what if they would rather ride their
bike, but not walk? What if they would rather walk, but not
ride their bike? It forces people to choose an answer that
isn't completely true. You want people to feel 100% confident
in their answers!
Use direct language
Have you ever had someone say, "Well, I don't not like
him." That's just a little confusing. You understand if
you think about it, but when you're writing survey questions,
why take that risk? Instead of asking "least easy," ask
"hardest." Instead of "not good," ask "bad." If
you have to ask a question using "not" or "least," consider
making that word bold, using all uppercase letters, and take
special care that your question is short and easy to understand.
Instead of asking, "Which is the least good?",
ask "Which is the worst?"
Avoid getting complicated
If you can say something using words that the average 10-year-old
can understand, then you're on the right track. If you're an
advanced reader or writer, that's fantastic, but a survey is
not the place to try out all your new vocabulary words! Someone
taking your test should not ever have to use the dictionary
to figure out how to answer a question. Also, try to use as
few words as possible while still making sense!
Instead of asking, "Were you allowed to ambulate to school
during the primary grades of K through 6?", ask "Were
you allowed to walk to elementary school?"
Don't be judgmental or biased
Be careful that your question doesn't give away the answer
that you are looking for or make it obvious what you want ot
hear. Your question shouldn't put any pressure on anyone to
respond a certain way. Use objective language that doesn't
give away your feelings.
For example, you don't want to say, "Don't you think
that swearing in public is disgusting?" It's pretty clear
how the person asking that question already feels. It might
make people with a different opinion feel too embarrassed to
be honest. Instead, phrase your question more like this: "Should
people be allowed to swear in public?"
Another example is to assume things about the people taking
your survey that might not be true. For example, "When
you were in elementary school a long time ago, who was your
favorite teacher?" Some of the people taking your survey
might still be in elementary school. This question could make
them feel uncomfortable, or they might not have a favorite
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You want to make it easy for people to choose just one answer
for each question. That's why many of the rules that apply
to writing good questions also apply to writing good options
for multiple choice questions. Here are some examples just
Give one option per response
If someone can't relate to all of an option, it won't feel
right to them.
For example, if your question was, "What's your favorite
dessert?" and one of the responses was "Cake and
but someone only likes ice cream and not cake, they won't feel
comfortable choosing that option. Instead, you would want to
list "cake" and "ice cream" separately.
Use simple, direct language
Just like with asking questions, if you confuse people, they
won't want to answer your question! Also, if you make really
elaborate responses for every single question, they might get
tired of reading. Consider this question and three responses:
Would you rather...
(a) Eat a cold pickle on a summer day on your back porch
while wearing a sundress and singing songs by Frank Sinatra
with your grandmother
(b) Circumnavigate the globe with a swashbuckler and a giant
mastiff by your side
(c) Not have to have no lack of socks on the foot that isn't
the right one only, and only on Sundays
It might be amusing for a single question, but that would
get old fast! They're confusing and tedious. Avoid long, run-on
sentences. Avoid jargon and advanced vocabulary when simpler
language will do. And don't beat around the bush! Get straight
to the point in as few words as possible. Here's a better revision
(although it's probably not a great question!):
Would you rather...
(a) Hang out with your family on the porch while eating
cold pickles and singing
(b) Travel the world with sailors and your pet dog
(c) Only be able to wear socks on your left foot on Sundays
Don't be judgmental or biased
Just like with asking questions, you don't want the responses
to give away your feelings. Even if you ask a question in an
objective way, like "Should be people be able to swear
If your responses are:
(a) Yes, of course! It's a free country and people should
be able to do what they want.
(b) Yes, I don't know why because I don't like to think
(c) No, because I don't believe in free speech.
When you do that sort of thing, you make only one option look
good -- but people might not agree with it! Someone might not
like swearing in public, but they don't agree with your reason.
One thing you can do to fix this is to let the answers speak
(b) I don't know
Another thing you can do, if you want to be creative, is to
try to make every answer sound as positive as possible:
(a) Yes, it's freedom of speech.
(b) I don't know, I'm undecided
(c) No, it might offend someone
Be careful with this last option because, again, someone might
not agree with your exact reasons!
Cover all your bases
You don't want to leave someone hanging. Make sure you provide
enough answers to cover all of your options. If that's going
to be impossible, consider adding an "other" response,
making the response a short answer or long answer instead of
multiple choice, or stepping out and making larger categories.
Here's an example of adding an "other" response:
Where's your favorite place to relax?
(a) At home
(c) At the store
Here's an example of making larger categories:
What's your favorite dessert?
(b) Ice cream
(a) Confections, like sugary hard candy, taffy, or licorice
(b) Baked desserts, like pie, cookies, or cake
(c) Milky desserts, like ice cream, pudding, or smoothies
There's more to look out for. When you're asking people to
rate something on a scale, like their feelings about something
or how often they do something, include all the options! If
you're asking people if they agree with something or not, use
(a) Strongly agree
(b) Somewhat agree
(c) Not sure
(d) Somewhat disagree
(e) Strongly disagree
And if you're asking them about frequency, such as, "How
often do you smoke?", make sure to include "Never" as
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