How To Design and Carry Out a Survey: Part 4

Part 2 and Part 3 first.

Tips for Designing Your Survey

1. Start Simple. As mentioned above start with simple questions and work up to more complex ones.

2. Keep it short and keep them sweet. Gain the information you need in as few questions as possible. You want maximum responses for the broadest and most accurate results. Too many questions can be daunting. It’s also worth keeping your respondents sweet as you never know when you’ll need their assistance again.

3. Build trust and loyalty – After basic information do a few multiple choice questions and leave unstructured questions (descriptions, comment boxes etc.) until later on in the survey. Towards the end of the survey respondents will have had time to consider their views thoroughly and it’s at this point they will be most willing to share their thoughts and opinions.

4. Make it simple to respond – Whether your survey is paper based or online, make it as simple as you can to complete. If you are doing a supermarket based survey take plenty of pens and clipboards. Try and choose a spot next to a seat – weary shoppers will thank you for it. If your survey is being done via mail, provide stamped addressed envelopes. If your survey is based online then make sure the interface is easy to use and the instructions are clear – remember some sections of your target audience may struggle to complete even the simplest online survey. www.surveymonkey.com has an easy to use interface and you can create free surveys up to ten questions long.