So you've decided that you need a better understanding of the characteristics of people who visit your website, or of some other business-related question. Developing focused and effective survey questions will help you to efficiently and accurately pinpoint the information so that you can make more informed decisions.
Developing survey questions is as much an art as it is a science. And just as an artist has a variety of colors to choose from in the palette, you have a variety of question formats with which to paint an accurate picture of your customers and clients, and the issues that are important to them.
The dichotomous question is generally a "yes/no" question.
Example:
If you are seeking information only about product users, you may want to ask this type of question to "screen out" those who haven't purchased your products or services. Researchers use "screening" questions to ensure that only those people they are interested in participate in the survey.
You may also want to use dichotomous questions to separate respondents or branch into groups of those who "have purchased" and those who "have not yet purchased" your products or services. Once separated, different questions can be asked of each of these groups.
You may want to ask the "have purchased" group how satisfied they are with your products and services, and you may want to ask the "have not purchased" group what the primary reasons are for not purchasing. In essence, your survey questions branch to become two different sets of questions.
The multiple-choice question
consists of three or more exhaustive, mutually exclusive categories. Multiple choice questions can ask for single or multiple answers.
In the following example, the respondent will select exactly
one answer from the 7 possible options, exactly 3 of the 7, or as many of the 7 options (1, 2, 3, or up to 7 answers can be selected).
Example:
For this type of question, it is important to consider including an "other" category as there may be other avenues by which the person first heard about your site that you might have overlooked.
Rank order scaling questions allow a
certain set of brands or products to be ranked based upon a specific
attribute or characteristic. Perhaps we know that Toyota, Honda,
Mazda, and Ford are most likely to be purchased. You may request that
the options be ranked based upon a particular attribute. Ties may
or may not be allowed. If you allow ties, several options will have the
same scores.
Example:
A rating scale question requires a
person to rate a product or brand along a well-defined, evenly spaced continuum. Rating scales are often used to measure the direction and
intensity of attitudes.
Example:
The Semantic Differential Scale
The semantic differential
scale asks a person to rate a product, brand, or company based upon a
seven-point rating scale that has two bi-polar adjectives at each end. The
following is an example of a semantic differential scale
question.
Example:
Notice that unlike the rating scale, the semantic differential scale does not have a neutral or middle selection. A person must choose, to a certain extent, one or the other adjective.
The staple scale asks a person to rate a
brand, product, or service according to a certain characteristic on a
scale from +5 to -5, indicating how well the characteristic describes the
product or service.
Example:
A constant sum question permits
collection of "ratio" data, meaning that the data is able to express the
relative value or importance of the options (option A is twice as
important as option B)
Example:
This type of question is used when you are relatively sure of the reasons for purchase, or you want input on a limited number of reasons you feel are important. Questions must sum to 100 points and point totals are checked by javascript.
The open-ended question seeks to
explore the qualitative, in-depth aspects of a particular topic or issue.
It gives a person the chance to respond in detail. Although open-ended
questions are important, they are time-consuming and should not be
over-used.
Example:
(If the
respondent indicates they did not find what they were looking for...)
If you want to add an "Other" answer to a multiple choice question, you would use branching instructions to come to an open ended question to find out What Other....
Demographic questions are an integral part of any survey. They are used to identify characteristics such as age, gender, income, race, geographic place of residence, number of children, and so forth. For example demographic questions will help you to classify the difference between product users and non-users. Perhaps most of your customers come from the Northeast, are between the ages of 50 and 65, and have incomes between $50,000 and $75,000.
Demographic data helps you paint a more accurate picture of the group
of persons you are trying to understand. And by better understanding the
type of people who use or are likely to use your product, you can
allocate promotional resources to reach these people, in a more cost
effective manner.
Psycho-graphic or life style questions are also
included in the template files. These questions provide an in-depth
psychological profile and look at activities, interests and opinions of
respondents.
To effectively conduct an Online Survey the first you need to decide what the objectives of the study are. And also Review the basic objectives of the study.
'QuestionPro for dummies' is primarily intended for people who need to do research online or collect feedback of any kind but are unfamiliar with online surveying.
Smart surveys that present the respondent with questions and answers specifically tailored to each individual respondent improve response rates.
