• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
QuestionPro

QuestionPro

questionpro logo
  • Products
    survey software iconSurvey softwareEasy to use and accessible for everyone. Design, send and analyze online surveys.research edition iconResearch SuiteA suite of enterprise-grade research tools for market research professionals.CX iconCustomer ExperienceExperiences change the world. Deliver the best with our CX management software.WF iconEmployee ExperienceCreate the best employee experience and act on real-time data from end to end.
  • Solutions
    IndustriesGamingAutomotiveSports and eventsEducationGovernment
    Travel & HospitalityFinancial ServicesHealthcareCannabisTechnology
    Use CaseAskWhyCommunitiesAudienceContactless surveysMobile
    LivePollsMember ExperienceGDPRPositive People Science360 Feedback Surveys
  • Resources
    BlogeBooksSurvey TemplatesCase StudiesTrainingHelp center
  • Features
  • Pricing
Language
  • English
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Português (Portuguese (Brazil))
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Hebrew IL (Hebrew)
  • ไทย (Thai)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • Portuguese de Portugal (Portuguese (Portugal))
Call Us
+1 800 531 0228 +1 (647) 956-1242 +52 999 402 4079 +49 301 663 5782 +44 20 3650 3166 +81-3-6869-1954 +61 2 8074 5080 +971 529 852 540
Log In Log In
SIGN UP FREE

Home Uncategorized

How to Improve The Quality of Your Data and the Honesty of Your Respondents

My father-in-law likes to say “The brain is smart” whenever we do or say something truly obvious.  Think of that phrase as a sort of alternative to “Duh”!  Actually, the human brain is a rather tricky thing.  And if you want to get into exactly how our brains trick us — you really aught to read Dan Ariely’s latest book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty.

I read Dana Stanley’s interview with Dan Ariely on the Research Access blog and thought I’d share some ideas I got from his article with you.

The entire discussion was on making it easy for respondents to tell the “truth” — that is respond honestly.  In the article, they go through several circumstances where people will want to lie — not because they are bad people, but because they just don’t want to share the information with you.

Most often in the case of online surveys, people don’t respond honestly because they just don’t want to take the time to actually read the instructions or stop and think about their answers.  This is what interested me most because (I will be honest here) I’ve done that more times than I can remember for online surveys.  I mean the questions seem unending, the rating scales, the directions — who has time for 40 questions?!  So I just blow right through them – click on the neutral rating or skipping over the open ended questions.  There – I’ve said it.

How to increase respondent participation and honesty

Here are a few recommendations that Dan gave that will help you increase your respondent’s participation and honesty –

  1. Introduce them to the researchers. This is highly unusual, but I can see why it would be effective.  You can insert pictures of the researchers into your introduction to the survey and then fully explain — in practical terms that matter to the respondent — why the research is important and what impact their answers will have.To insert a picture inside your QuestionPro online survey – simply click on the “Intro Text” when you start your survey and then use basic HTML code to insert your picture.  imageIf you’re like me and don’t have a CLUE about how to write HTML – you can cheat by going into your WordPress blog and writing out your question as well as inserting a picture in the Visual Editor and then simply click on HTML and you’ll see that text converted into HTML – you can then copy that code into the QuestionPro Intro Text box.
  2. Have them “sign” or mark a promise for honesty.  Another terrific suggestion is to have the respondents read and sign an honesty pledge.  They don’t need to literally sign in — they just need to click on the box that says that they have read and understand that this is important research and that they will be open, honest and truthful.
  3. Tap into social proof.  In other words, tell them what others people in their same demographic have done.  Whenever people aren’t sure what to do or which way to go — they will simply do what everyone else is doing.  If you give them statistic of how long it took other people to fill out the survey or tell them that other people have done a particular task, they will see this as socially acceptable and follow suit.

As you can see from this example, increasing the quality of your data isn’t just about how you structure your questions or the length of your survey — you can have a big impact on the quality of your data by simply make a few small, but powerful adjustments to the introduction of your survey.

Have you tried any of these methods before?  What’s been your outcome?

SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

About the author
Ivana Taylor
Ivana Taylor provides DIY Marketing advice, marketing trends and marketing how-to tips and strategies for small business owners and CEOs.
View all posts by Ivana Taylor

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. CRM Update – Jul 16 : 3:14 pm says:
    Jul 16, 2012 at 8:28 am

    […] How to Improve The Quality of Your Data and the Honesty of Your Respondents- http://blog.questionpro.com My father-in-law likes to say “The brain is smart” whenever we do or say something truly obvious.  Think of that phrase as a sort of alternative to “Duh”!  Actually, the human brain is a rather tricky thing.  And if you want to get into exactly how our brains trick us — you really aught to read Dan Ariely’s latest book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty. I read Dana Stanley’s interview with Dan Ariely on the Research Access blog and thought I’d share some ideas I got from his article with you… […]

  2. My Homepage says:
    Apr 8, 2024 at 11:38 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  3. Kimber Guns says:
    Jul 18, 2024 at 4:35 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  4. ทัวร์ลาวใต้ says:
    Jul 22, 2024 at 4:10 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  5. เว็บปั้มไลค์ says:
    Aug 4, 2024 at 3:54 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Info here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  6. แทงหวย lsm99 says:
    Aug 11, 2024 at 3:48 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Information here on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  7. บริษัทรับทำเว็บไซต์ says:
    Aug 24, 2024 at 3:06 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More here on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  8. EChome.sg says:
    Aug 24, 2024 at 7:44 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  9. พลาสติกใส says:
    Aug 28, 2024 at 4:41 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  10. แทงบอล ง่ายๆ กับ LSM99 says:
    Sep 10, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Information here on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  11. One day Phi Phi islands Trip from Phuket says:
    Sep 14, 2024 at 5:51 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  12. dk7 says:
    Sep 14, 2024 at 6:25 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  13. https://stealthex.io says:
    Sep 15, 2024 at 10:28 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Information here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  14. nemo168 says:
    Sep 19, 2024 at 4:05 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you will find 34442 more Information to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  15. เค้กสตอเบอรี่ says:
    Sep 27, 2024 at 6:28 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 26486 more Information to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  16. เรียนต่อจีน says:
    Oct 16, 2024 at 4:52 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you will find 24367 more Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  17. pk789 says:
    Nov 12, 2024 at 10:58 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More here on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  18. dark168 says:
    Nov 12, 2024 at 12:00 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  19. live bdsm cams says:
    Nov 13, 2024 at 1:10 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 93456 additional Information to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  20. Casino Days says:
    Nov 23, 2024 at 8:24 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  21. สอนสัก says:
    Dec 1, 2024 at 8:40 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  22. pgslot says:
    Dec 8, 2024 at 7:24 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  23. ufa888 ทางเข้า says:
    Dec 24, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  24. Доставка авто з США та Європи під ключ says:
    Jan 20, 2025 at 2:54 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you will find 22532 additional Information on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  25. สูตรหวยไทย 1 นาที says:
    Jan 22, 2025 at 6:17 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you will find 47644 additional Info on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  26. lottorich28 says:
    Jan 25, 2025 at 4:40 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  27. dark168 says:
    Jan 25, 2025 at 5:16 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 95425 additional Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  28. โคมโรงงาน says:
    Jan 27, 2025 at 8:44 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  29. โคมโรงงาน says:
    Jan 27, 2025 at 9:20 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  30. pakong188 says:
    Jan 30, 2025 at 8:15 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  31. โคมไฟ says:
    Feb 11, 2025 at 7:30 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Information here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  32. ลำโพง TOA says:
    Mar 1, 2025 at 1:26 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  33. กระดาษสติ๊กเกอร์ความร้อน says:
    Mar 13, 2025 at 7:21 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  34. หวยหุ้นประชาไลน์ says:
    Mar 16, 2025 at 5:22 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  35. Ricky Casino says:
    Mar 19, 2025 at 2:23 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Info here on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  36. Freshbet says:
    Mar 26, 2025 at 9:04 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Info here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  37. best cpu for gaming says:
    Mar 30, 2025 at 8:13 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  38. นวดหน้ายกกระชับ says:
    Mar 31, 2025 at 2:35 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 90422 additional Information on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  39. แม่น้ำหนึ่ง says:
    Apr 6, 2025 at 3:53 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  40. see this here says:
    Apr 10, 2025 at 9:59 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you can find 49015 more Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  41. ผู้ผลิต โบลเวอร์ says:
    Apr 17, 2025 at 3:26 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More here to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  42. film izle says:
    Apr 18, 2025 at 2:45 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  43. end of lease cleaning Melbourne says:
    Apr 19, 2025 at 10:11 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  44. slot ค่ายใหญ่ครบวงจร says:
    Apr 21, 2025 at 3:30 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  45. บาคาร่าเกาหลี says:
    Apr 21, 2025 at 3:52 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Info on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  46. สล็อตเกาหลี says:
    Apr 21, 2025 at 4:00 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Here you will find 81025 additional Info on that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  47. pg168 says:
    Apr 24, 2025 at 3:17 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you will find 58890 additional Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

  48. Professional Dog Training says:
    May 1, 2025 at 11:36 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Info to that Topic: questionpro.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-quality-of-your-data-and-the-honesty-of-your-respondents/ […]

Primary Sidebar

Gain insights with 80+ features for free

Create, Send and Analyze Your Online Survey in under 5 mins!

Create a Free Account

RELATED ARTICLES

HubSpot - QuestionPro Integration

A quick guide to getting from research data to dashboards within minutes with QuestionPro BI

Aug 05,2024

HubSpot - QuestionPro Integration

Post Purchase Survey: What It is + Best Practices

Aug 10,2022

HubSpot - QuestionPro Integration

Correlation Matrix: What is it, How It Works & Examples

May 08,2023

BROWSE BY CATEGORY

  • Academic
  • Academic Research
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Assessments
  • Audience
  • Brand Awareness
  • Business
  • Case Studies
  • Communities
  • Consumer Insights
  • Customer effort score
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Experience
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Research
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • CX
  • Employee Benefits
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Retention
  • Enterprise
  • Events
  • Forms
  • Friday Five
  • General Data Protection Regulation
  • Guest Post
  • Insights Hub
  • Life@QuestionPro
  • LivePolls
  • Market Research
  • Marketing
  • Mobile
  • Mobile App
  • Mobile diaries
  • Mobile Surveys
  • New Features
  • non-profit
  • NPS
  • Online Communities
  • Polls
  • Question Types
  • Questionnaire
  • QuestionPro
  • QuestionPro Products
  • Release Notes
  • Research Tools and Apps
  • Revenue at Risk
  • Startups
  • Survey Templates
  • Surveys
  • Tech News
  • Tips
  • Training
  • Training Tips
  • Trending
  • Tuesday CX Thoughts (TCXT)
  • Uncategorized
  • VOC
  • Webinar
  • Webinars
  • What’s Coming Up
  • Workforce
  • Workforce Intelligence

Footer

MORE LIKE THIS

albertsons-companies-nps-2025

Albertsons Companies NPS and Insights in 2025

May 23, 2025

data-augmentation

What is Data Augmentation? Methods & Uses in Research

May 22, 2025

livecast a new way to do research

Here’s how LiveCast can help you survive the great Stanley Cup debate of 2025

May 22, 2025

Credit-Unions-NPS-2025

Credit Unions NPS Leading in Loyalty in 2025

May 21, 2025

Other categories

  • Academic
  • Academic Research
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Assessments
  • Audience
  • Brand Awareness
  • Business
  • Case Studies
  • Communities
  • Consumer Insights
  • Customer effort score
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Experience
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Research
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • CX
  • Employee Benefits
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Retention
  • Enterprise
  • Events
  • Forms
  • Friday Five
  • General Data Protection Regulation
  • Guest Post
  • Insights Hub
  • Life@QuestionPro
  • LivePolls
  • Market Research
  • Marketing
  • Mobile
  • Mobile App
  • Mobile diaries
  • Mobile Surveys
  • New Features
  • non-profit
  • NPS
  • Online Communities
  • Polls
  • Question Types
  • Questionnaire
  • QuestionPro
  • QuestionPro Products
  • Release Notes
  • Research Tools and Apps
  • Revenue at Risk
  • Startups
  • Survey Templates
  • Surveys
  • Tech News
  • Tips
  • Training
  • Training Tips
  • Trending
  • Tuesday CX Thoughts (TCXT)
  • Uncategorized
  • VOC
  • Webinar
  • Webinars
  • What’s Coming Up
  • Workforce
  • Workforce Intelligence

questionpro-logo-nw
Help center Live Chat SIGN UP FREE
  • Sample questions
  • Sample reports
  • Survey logic
  • Branding
  • Integrations
  • Professional services
  • Security
  • Survey Software
  • Customer Experience
  • Workforce
  • Communities
  • Audience
  • Polls Explore the QuestionPro Poll Software - The World's leading Online Poll Maker & Creator. Create online polls, distribute them using email and multiple other options and start analyzing poll results.
  • Research Edition
  • LivePolls
  • InsightsHub
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • eBooks
  • Survey Templates
  • Case Studies
  • Training
  • Webinars
  • All Plans
  • Nonprofit
  • Academic
  • Qualtrics Alternative Explore the list of features that QuestionPro has compared to Qualtrics and learn how you can get more, for less.
  • SurveyMonkey Alternative
  • VisionCritical Alternative
  • Medallia Alternative
  • Likert Scale Complete Likert Scale Questions, Examples and Surveys for 5, 7 and 9 point scales. Learn everything about Likert Scale with corresponding example for each question and survey demonstrations.
  • Conjoint Analysis
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) Learn everything about Net Promoter Score (NPS) and the Net Promoter Question. Get a clear view on the universal Net Promoter Score Formula, how to undertake Net Promoter Score Calculation followed by a simple Net Promoter Score Example.
  • Offline Surveys
  • Customer Satisfaction Surveys
  • Employee Survey Software Employee survey software & tool to create, send and analyze employee surveys. Get real-time analysis for employee satisfaction, engagement, work culture and map your employee experience from onboarding to exit!
  • Market Research Survey Software Real-time, automated and advanced market research survey software & tool to create surveys, collect data and analyze results for actionable market insights.
  • GDPR & EU Compliance
  • Employee Experience
  • Customer Journey
  • Synthetic Data
  • About us
  • Executive Team
  • In the news
  • Testimonials
  • Advisory Board
  • Careers
  • Brand
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us

QuestionPro in your language

  • English
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Português (Portuguese (Brazil))
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Hebrew IL (Hebrew)
  • ไทย (Thai)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • Portuguese de Portugal (Portuguese (Portugal))

Awards & certificates

  • survey-leader-asia-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-asiapacific-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-enterprise-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-europe-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-latinamerica-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-middleeast-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-mid-market-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-small-business-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-unitedkingdom-leader-2023
  • survey-momentumleader-leader-2023
  • bbb-acredited
The Experience Journal

Find innovative ideas about Experience Management from the experts

  • © 2022 QuestionPro Survey Software | +1 (800) 531 0228
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Use