How to Create a Survey – Rules for Writing Great Questions

Building great surveys requires writing great questions.  This is an art, and like all arts requires a great amount of work, practice, and help from others.  The following points provide an overview of the common pitfalls we often see in "bad questionnaires". Avoid these pitfalls and you are well on your way to understanding how to create a great survey questionnaire.

1. Avoid loaded or leading words or questions.  Subtle wording differences can produce great differences in results.  “Could”, “should”, and “might” all sound about the same, but may produce a 20% difference in agreement to a question (The supreme court could.. should.. might.. change the limits on free speech in light of terrorist activities). 
   
   Strong words, such as “prohibit” may represent control or action and influence your results (Do you believe that congress should prohibit insurance companies from raising rates?)  
   
   Sometimes wording is just biased:  You wouldn't want to go to Rudolpho's Restaurant for the company's annual party would you? 
2. Misplaced questions.  Questions placed out of order or out of context should be avoided.  In general, a funnel approach is advised.  Broad and general questions at the beginning of the questionnaire as a warm-up (What kind of restaurants do you most often go to?).   Then more specific questions, followed by more general easy to answer questions (like demographics) at the end of the questionnaire. 
3. Mutually non-exclusive response categories. Multiple choice response categories should be mutually exclusive so that clear choices can be made.  Non-exclusive answers frustrate the respondent and make interpretation difficult at best.
4. Nonspecific questions.  Build questions that are clearly understood.
   Do you like orange juice?  This is very unclear...do I like what about orange juice?  Taste, texture, nutritional content, Vitamin C, cancer prevention properties, the current price, concentrate, or fresh squeezed?  Be specific in what you want to know.   Issues of meaning and frequency are particularly difficult to specify:  Do you watch TV regularly?  (What is regularly?  Does it matter what I watch… is a DVD the same as TV?).
5. Confusing or unfamiliar words.  Asking about caloric content, bits, bytes and other industry specific jargon and acronyms is confusing.  Make sure your audience understands your language level, terminology and above all… Do they understand what you are asking? 
6. Non-directed questions that give respondents excessive latitude. 
   What suggestions do you have for improving tomato juice?  The question may be intended to obtain suggestions about improving taste, but the respondent may offer suggestions about texture, the type of can or bottle, about mixing juices, or even suggestions relating to use of tomato juice as a mixer or in recipes.
7. Forcing respondents to answer.  Respondents may not want, or may not be able to provide the information requested.  Privacy is an important issue to most people.  Questions about income, occupation, finances, family life, personal hygiene and personal, political or religious beliefs can be too intrusive and rejected by the respondent.   Incentives and assurances of confidentiality do make it easier to obtain private information.
8. Non-exhaustive listings.  Do you have all of the options covered?  If you are unsure, conduct a pretest using ”Other (please specify)" as an option.  When building multiple choice survey questions, make sure to cover at least 90% of the respondent answers.
9. Unbalanced listings.  Unbalanced scales may be appropriate for some situations and biased in others.   When measuring alcohol consumption patterns, one study used a quantity scale that made the heavy drinker appear in the middle of the scale with the polar ends reflecting no consumption and an impossible amount to consume.  Similarly, we expect all hotels to offer good care and may use a scale of excellent, very good, good, and fair.  We do not expect poor care. 
10. Double barreled questions.  What is the fastest and most economical Internet service for you? The fastest is certainly not the most economical.  Two questions should be not asked simultaneously.
11. Dichotomous questions.  When building a survey, answers should always be independent.  The question "Do you think basketball players as being independent agents or as employees of their team?"  is not dichotomous… Many believe that basketball players are both. 
12. Long questions .  Multiple choice questions are the longest and most complex.  Free text answers are the shortest and easiest to answer.  When you Increase the length of questions and surveys, you decrease the chance of receiving a completed response.
13. Questions on future intentions.  Yogi Berra (Famous New York Yankees Baseball Player) once said that making predictions is difficult, especially when they are about the future.  Predictions are rarely accurate more than a few weeks or in some case months ahead.  The predictive accuracy of future intentions varies with the behavior, the frequency with which it is performed, the cost, behavior situation or occasion, and type product or service.