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Paid Surveys
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Tuesday, 16 June 2009 00:00 |
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Writing surveys is easy; isn't it? The truth is that writing surveys is easy but writing surveys that will be effective is a little bit more difficult. The following are twenty tips that if followed will help you write more effective surveys.
1. What is the survey’s purpose?
Surveys and questionnaires are conducted for many reasons. By correctly phrasing the questions and structuring the answers surveys can be used in a multitude of ways and for a variety of reasons. When designing a survey do not lose sight of its purpose.
2. Give the survey a good title
The survey title is a golden opportunity to instantly summarise a survey's objective and encourage respondents to participate. Respondents need to invest time in completing the survey so encourage them that the investment they make will be worthwhile.
3. Ensure that you do not make the survey any longer than it needs to be
Every question asked should be asked for a reason. Pay attention to the 'need to know' questions and minimise 'nice to know' information.
4. Use plain English, maintain consistency and avoid terminology, acronyms and asking questions that could result in ambiguous answers
Take care when wording a question. If a question is unclear then there is every chance that respondents may understand the question differently to that intended by the publisher making any analysis of the data worthless or at the very least suspect.
5. Avoid questions that are long
Where practical use concise sentences. Long questions tend to cause respondents discomfort and can lead to a higher level of incidents where respondents abandon a survey.
6. Ask one question at a time
Avoid confusing the respondent with a question like 'Do you like football and golf?'
7. Do not influence the answer
It is important not to load the question. 'Should irresponsible shop keepers who sell alcohol to children be prosecuted?' is unlikely to have any value.
8. Make sure that the answer format used allows the respondent to answer the question being asked
Ensure that the respondent is able to answer how they really feel or they may abandon the survey. As a last resort consider the benefit of including a "Can't say", "Don't know" or similar response option.
9. While you are compiling your survey consider how the compiled data is going be analysed when the survey is complete
If a question is asked that allows a free text open ended response appreciate that such information is likely to be difficult to score and/or summarised. Consider how the answers could be grouped. For example "How long have you worked here?" - 'less than 3 year', 'between 3 and 6 years' and 'more than 6'.
10. Try and ensure that the questionnaire flows
Group questions into clear categories as this will make it easier for the participants completing the survey.
11. Target your respondents
In some cases you will want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can't control who responds to your survey consider including questions/answers that will allow you to filter out respondents who don't fit your target profile.
12. Allow the respondent to expand or make comments
By allowing respondents to make additional comments you will increase their satisfaction level and the comments will also give valuable feedback on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember that for large sample collections it may be difficult to analyse free text open ended responses.
13. If you are conducting a confidential survey ensure that your pledge for confidentiality is honoured
If you have guaranteed the respondents that the survey is confidential ensure that the individual data is not to be shared with anyone and not used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and any identifying information destroyed after the survey is complete.
14. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable
If your respondents are to be anonymous then you will be unable to follow up or match "pre" or "post" surveys. Allowing people to remain anonymous will however allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.
15. Consideration carefully the best response format
Maintaining a consistency in the format used for responses is good practice. When designing your survey keep in mind that when analyzing the data single selection radio buttons are easier to analyze than multiple selection check boxes. If a radio response format can be used do not use a check box format.
16. Give the respondent an estimate as to how much time the survey will take to complete
Respondent drop out can increase if there is no end in sight to the survey questions. It is good practice to give an indication as to how long the survey is likely to take so that the participants can determine the best time to complete the survey.
17. Provide respondents with the survey end date
Encourage your invited respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible but advise the respondents of the survey’s end date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.
18. Test the survey
Before publishing a live survey publish the survey as a trial to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the survey is aesthetically pleasing.
19. Before publishing the survey check the survey carefully
Check and check again that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible ask a colleague to check the survey before you publish, if you are unable to do this then take a break before checking again.
20. Say 'Thank You'
To complete surveys respondents need to invest their time and they should be thanked at the end of completing the survey or in a follow up letter. You may even want to consider incentives such as a prize draw or reward.
For more information please visit Survey Galaxy |
