Please follow the following tips for writing a survey / questionnaire.
Start with naming your survey. Some people discard an electronic message based entirely on its subject or sender. You should consider other titles that will pique the interest of the recipients. Here are examples of survey names that might be successful in getting attention:
- ‘Memo from the Chief Executive Officer’
- ‘Valuation of services of the Benefits Office’
- ‘Your opinion about financial services’
- ‘Free T-shirt’
- ‘Win a trip to Paris’
- ‘Please respond by Friday’
- ‘Free subscription’
- ‘Win a notebook computer’
Next, write a cover memo or introduction. Once a recipient opens your survey, you may still need to motivate him or her to complete it. The cover memo or introduction offers and excellent place to provide the motivation. A good cover memo or introduction should be short and include:
- Purpose of the survey.
- Why it is important to hear from the correspondent.
- What may be done with the results and what possible impacts may occur with the results.
- Address identification.
- Person to contact for questions about the survey.
- Due date for response.
Top tips for writing a survey
These well-researched tips will help you create a successful survey / questionnaire.
1. SURVEY LENGTH:
- Write a short questionnaire as short surveys are easier to answer. People tend to get bored after answering too many questions.
- Don’t ask too few or too many questions.
2. QUESTIONS IN THE SURVEY:
- Ask only questions that are related to the research question. All questions should directly address the survey’s goals.
- Ask important questions first. Ask demographic questions at the end.
- Don’t ask intimate private questions.
- Avoid asking ambiguous and unrelated questions. Make sure that there is not space to receive unambiguous answers.
- Have a mix of closed-ended questions and open-ended questions.
- Avoid biased or leading questions that indicate the preferred answer.
- Don’t write leading questions. Leading questions demand a specific response. For example, the question ‘Which day of the month is best for the newly established company-wide monthly meeting?’ leads respondents to pick a date without first determining, if they even want another meeting.
3. SURVEY DESIGN:
- Make the survey visually appealing. Make surveys look pleasing to the eye.
- Make sure that your questions follow a logical sequence. You can organize your questions in logical groups.
- Make the questions quick and easy to complete. Avoid lengthy questions.
- Choose the appropriate question format such as single answer, multiple answer, open ended, etc.
- Start with interesting questions that are likely to sound interesting and attract the respondents’ attention.
- Balance rating scales. When the question requires respondents to use a rating scale, mediate the scale so that there is room for both extremes.
- At the end of your survey, provide a place for respondents to add comments and thank them for their assistance.
4. LANGUAGE OF THE SURVEY:
- Use simple and easy-to-understand language.
- Use simple words such as ‘How many times in the last 30 days have you driven to your parent’s home?’ instead of ‘What is the frequency of your automotive travel to your parents’ residency in the last 30 days?’.
- Assure a common understanding. Write questions that everyone will understand in the same way. Don’t assume that everyone has the same understanding of the facts or a common basis of knowledge. Avoid even commonly used abbreviations to be certain that everyone understands.
- Relax your grammar.
And finally, do not forget to pre-test your survey. Ideally, test your questions on a sample audience before sending it to the real targets.
