• define clear objective
    • communicate why the survey is made and what data is collected
  • understand your audience
    • identify who your respondents are
    • tailor to level of understanding
  • choose the right type of question
    • open-ended questions for qualitative insights
    • closed-ended questions from quantitative analysis
  • questionnaire design
    • keep questions clear, concise and unbiased, logical flow
    • narrow your questions down to keep it short
      • web 20min (rather 10min)
      • phone 30min
      • face2face 90min
      • typically 4 responses per minute
  • consider your sample
    • define your target population
  • survey distribution
    • online, printed, in-person, etc
  • ethical considerations
  • test your survey
    • grandma, friends, parents, etc

Construction of Questions

  • easily understandable
  • easy to answer
    • understand question
    • search relevant information (e.g. memory)
    • judgement
    • transfer of judgement onto the scale
    • adapting of the response according to social desirability
      • uncomfortable answers are often not given
      • participants need to be comfortable giving the hard answer
        • e.g. answer 2 questions with the same point
        • how do you like the weather OR how depressed are you in one number
  • context of question relevant
  • start with an easy “ice breaker” question
  • socio-demographic question in the end