How to Write

Survey Questions
Good
Survey Questions
• Survey Design
• Set a goal
• Who to ask
• What to ask
• How to ask
• When to ask
Survey design entails a lot more than
asking questions, if you want to collect
meaningful results that you can act on.
It’s not just “what” to ask. You also
need to consider:

• Why you are asking.

• Who to ask.
• How to ask.
• When to ask.
 Survey Goal
1
One, if not the most important step you can
take in designing your survey, is to set a
goal.

Your goal explains why you

created the survey.
Define Your Goal:

11 What do you want to know?

2 Why do you want to know?

Seek stakeholder agreement on why
you need a survey.

• What is the purpose?

• What do you hope to achieve?
Involving stakeholders early on in the
design process will ensure:

• Your survey is a success.

• You have an actionable plan.
Collaborate to:

11 Set a survey goal.

2 Determine who to ask.

13 Create an action plan.

14 Get buy-in and sign-off.

Create an action plan before launching
your survey.
Get agreement from all stakeholders on
the course of action based on the results.
 Who To Ask
2
Define your target audience:

1 Gender or age group?

2 Existing customers?

3 Existing
Focuscustomers?
group?
Know your target audience.

• Your sample source should include

all segments of the target
population.

• Poor data quality results from a

poor sample source.
When crafting questions:

• Make sure that they are relevant

to your audience.

• Use the language that your

audience uses.
 What To Ask
3
What to ask:

1 Only ask questions that meet an objective.

Don’t ask if it strays from your goal.

22 Never stray from your goal.

3 Don’t ask if you are not going to act on it.

Introduce Your Survey:

• Start with an introduction that welcomes

respondents and explains the goal of the
survey.

• Set expectations as to how long the survey

will take and why their response is needed.
 How To Ask
4
Survey Question Type:

11 Quantitative Survey?
Or
2 Qualitative Survey?
Use Qualitative Surveys To:

1 Define a problem.

2 Explore nuances related to the problem.

Qualitative Surveys:

• Ask “Why”.
• Are open-ended.
• Require text analysis to interpret
results.
• Subject to interpretation bias.
Use Quantitative Surveys To:

1 Quantify a problem.

2 Understand how prevalent it is.

Quantitative Questions:

• Ask What and When.

• Are closed answer options.
• Reduce survey fatigue.
• Are easy to report on.
Keep your questions:

• Brief
• Relevant
• Simple
• Specific and direct
Avoid:
• Leading questions
• Loaded or suggestive questions
• Double-barrel questions
• Fatiguing question types – large tables, lots
of open-text questions
• Sensitive questions
• Highly technical language
Question Sequence:

• Logical flow – start broad and narrow

down.

• Consider the impact questions have on

proceeding questions. General

Specific
Use Survey Logic to:

• Keep questions relevant.

• Shorten survey.
• Improve data quality.
• Reduce survey fatigue.
• Increase survey completion rate.
 When To Ask

5
Know When to Survey:

Timing is key for collecting quality data.

Seek feedback shortly after:

• Customer service interactions

• Purchases
• Events
The longer you wait to seek feedback, the less
likely respondents will be able to recall the
experience.

• Follow up immediately for low-priced items and

interactions.

• Wait longer (days) before seeking feedback on

higher-priced purchases (car, appliances, etc.)
as it takes more time to experience these items.
Survey regularly and let your
respondents know that you are
taking action!

Their input:
• Improves your business.
• Builds trust and brand loyalty.
Great Survey Survey
Design Best Practices

Learn more about great

survey design by signing up
for one of our Ultimate
Training courses.

We host this course in

several locations.

RSVP
Ultimate Training