CREATING A
RELIABLE SURVEY
QUESTIONNAIRE
WHAT IS A QUESTIONNAIRE?
• Definition: A questionnaire is a convenient way to collect
feedback. A questionnaire can be used to measure customer
satisfaction, capture employee feedback, or even conduct
product research. Responses can be collected via email, web
link, QR code, or using a survey panel.
TYPES OF SURVEY QUESTIONS
Here are the types of survey questions you should be using to get more
survey responses:
1. Open-ended questions
2. Closed-ended questions
3. Rating questions
4. Likert scale questions
5. Multiple choice questions
6. Demographic questions
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
• Open up a conversation with this question. These are good survey questions to get
more meaningful answers from as people have the opportunity to give you more
feedback through a text box. If you’re looking for a yes/no answer—you’ll need to
use a closed-end question.
• Open-ended question examples:
• What are you wearing today?
• How did you meet your best friend?
• What is it like to live in Barcelona?
When to use open-ended questions
Disadvantages
• initial product research
• cannot be used in all situations. There
are a few disadvantages. People are more
likely to skip open-ended questions
because they take more effort to answer.
• when you don’t have any benchmark
data.
• survey software cannot analyze data
from open-ended questions
automatically. When you have many
respondents, the entire process can be
time-consuming.
CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS
Some questions just need a one-word answer.
Like yes. Or no.You can use them for finding out
some quick tit-bits of information—then go on
to segment your survey-filler-inners accordingly.
• Closed-ended questions examples:
• Did you order the chicken?
• Do you like learning German?
• Are you living in Australia?
When to use close ended questions:
Limitation
• When you want to confirm a hypothesis
• When you want to understand the
reasons behind an answer.
• When it’s important to be able to
quickly analyze survey results.
• If you want to ease into a survey
• In the initial research stages when a
hypothesis is lacking
RATING QUESTIONS
Reach for the stars. Or the hearts. Or smiles. Send a
rating question and find out how your survey-takers
would rate something. It’s a super useful question to
ask, as you can gauge peoples’ opinions across the
board.
• Rating questions examples:
• How would you rate our service out of 5?
• How many stars would you give our film?
• Please, rate how valuable our training was today.
When to use rating scale questions
• Rating scales have a wide range of applications
such as gauging satisfaction, loyalty, and even
likelihood to purchase. They allow you to assign
a numerical value to answers and get more
nuanced than a simple yes/no question.
• You can also compare the results from the same
survey over time and determine if you’re
improving or not. This is especially powerful
when tracking Net Promoter Score® or
customer satisfaction.
LIKERT SCALE QUESTIONS
Likert scale questions are good survey questions for finding out
what people think about certain things. Generally, they come in
5, 7, or 9-point scales and you’ve probably filled one out before.
Likert scale questions examples:
• Do you agree that channel 5 offers more comedy than
channel 6?
• How satisfied are you today with our customer service?
• Do you feel affected by the recent changes in the office?
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Multiple choice questions is when you can give a few answers and
hide the real answer. Also, if you want to find out time periods, or
dates for an event—multiple-choice questions are the one. Plus,
you can bundle them up nice and neatly in a dropdown menu.
Multiple choice questions examples:
• Facebook was launched in… 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006
• How many of our restaurants have you visited? 1 | 2 | 3 | 4+
• What is the capital of Scotland? Perth | Glasgow | Aberdeen |
Edinburgh
When to use multiple-choice questions
• You want to determine the groups in
your audience and the relationship
between different variables (this is
known as cross-tabulation).
DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS
Demographic survey questions are a mix of different forms
of questions. It’s up to you whether you want to use a
dropdown here or an open-ended question with them.
They all talk about things which can be seen as a bit touchy,
so take heed.
Multiple choice questions examples:
• How old are you?
• What’s your gender?
• Which industry do you work in?
INTRODUCTION TO INDEPENDANT VARIABLE AND
DEPENDANT VARIABLE
WHAT IS IV AND DV?
Researchers often manipulate or measure independent and dependent variables in studies
to test cause-and-effect relationships.
• The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables in
your study.
• The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the
independent variable.
Example: you design a study to test whether changes in room
temperature have an effect on math test scores.
• Your independent variable is the temperature of the room.You vary the room
temperature by making it cooler for half the participants, and warmer for the other half.
• Your dependent variable is math test scores.You measure the math skills of all
participants using a standardized test and check whether they differ based on room
temperature.
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY IV AND DV IN A
RESEARCH QUESTION?
The easiest way to identify which
variable in your experiment is the
Independent Variable (IV) and which
one is the Dependent Variable (DV)
is by putting both variables in the
sentence below in a way that makes
sense. “The IV causes a change in
the DV. It is not possible that DV
could cause any change in IV.”
DO QUESTIONNAIRES HAVE IV AND DV?
Your questionnaire must capture both the dependent variable and the
independent variables
QUIZ TIME!
QUIZ TIME!
QUIZ TIME!
QUIZ TIME!
QUIZ TIME!
WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO CREATE A RELIABLE
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE?
• Define your goals
• Choose your questions
• Design your layout
• Test your survey
• Distribute your survey
• Analyze your data
1. DEFINE YOUR GOALS
• What are you trying to learn from your survey?
• Who are you targeting?
• How will you use the results?
These questions will help you narrow down your research problem and formulate clear and
specific research questions and hypotheses.
Your goals will also guide your choice of survey design, format, and distribution method.
2. CHOOSE YOUR QUESTIONS
• questions should be relevant, clear, and unbiased.
• align with your research questions and hypotheses.
• You can use different types of questions, such as closed-ended, open-ended, rating scales,
or multiple choice, depending on your goals and the type of data you want to collect.
3. DESIGN YOUR LAYOUT
• should be attractive, consistent, and easy to follow.
• use a logical order and grouping of your questions
• use visual elements, such as colors, fonts, and images, to enhance the readability and
appeal of your survey.
4.TEST YOUR SURVEY
• to identify and fix any errors, ambiguities, or biases in your questions, layout, or logic.
• You can test your survey by conducting a pilot study with a small sample
• analyze the feedback and make the necessary adjustments to improve your survey.
5. DISTRIBUTE YOUR SURVEY
• Your distribution method should match your goals, budget, and target population.
• Multiple channels can be used:
• email
• social media
• Website
• mobile app
6. ANALYZE YOUR DATA
• Data analysis should answer your research questions and hypotheses
• Provide meaningful and actionable insights for your further decisions.
• Tools to interpret data:
• Spreadsheets
• Software
• Online platforms,
• Check the validity and reliability of your data and report the results in a
clear and concise manner.
PILOT STUDY
PILOT STUDY IN RESEARCH: DEFINITION &
EXAMPLES
What is a Pilot Study?
• You can determine the feasibility of your research design, with a pilot
study before you start.
• This is a preliminary, small-scale “rehearsal” in which you test the methods
you plan to use for your research project.
• You will use the results to guide the methodology of your large-scale
investigation.
COMPONENT OF PILOT STUDY
• Sample size and selection. Your data needs to be representative of the target study population.
You should use statistical methods to estimate the feasibility of your sample size.
• Determine the criteria for a successful pilot study based on the objectives of your study. How
will your pilot study address these criteria?
• When recruiting subjects or collecting samples ensure that the process is practical and
manageable.
• Always test the measurement instrument. This could be a questionnaire, equipment, or
methods used. Is it realistic and workable? How can it be improved?
• Data entry and analysis. Run the trial data through your proposed statistical analysis to see
whether your proposed analysis is appropriate for your data set.
• Create a flow chart of the process.
•
IMPORTANCE OF PILOT STUDY IN RESEARCH
• Help define the research question
• Test the proposed study design and process. This could alert you to issues which may
negatively affect your project.
• Educate yourself on different techniques related to your study.
• Test the safety of the medical treatment in preclinical trials on a small number of
participants. This is an essential step in clinical trials.
• Determine the feasibility of your study, so you don’t waste resources and time.
• Provide preliminary data that you can use to improve your chances for funding and
convince stakeholders that you have the necessary skills and expertise to successfully
carry out the research.
IMPORTANCE OF PILOT STUDY IN RESEARCH
(CONT)
• Check that respondents understand the terminology used in the questionnaire.
• Check that emotive questions are not used, as they make people defensive and could
invalidate their answers.
• Check that leading questions have not been used as they could bias the respondent’s
answer.
• Ensure that the questionnaire can be completed in a reasonable amount of time. If it’s too
long, respondents may lose interest or not have enough time to complete it, which could
affect the response rate and the data quality.
ARE PILOT STUDIES ALWAYS NECESSARY?
• Pilot studies is recommended for all research.
• Scientific research does not always go as planned; therefore, you should optimize the
process to minimize unforeseen events. Why risk disastrous and expensive mistakes that
could have been discovered and corrected in a pilot study?
SUMMARY
• A well designed questionnaire is essential to a successful survey. However, the researcher
must develop his/her own intuition with respect to what constitutes 'good design' since there
is no theory of questionnaires to guide him/her.
• A good questionnaire is one which help directly achieve the research objectives, provides
complete and accurate information; is easy for both interviewers and respondents to
complete, is so designed as to make sound analysis and interpretation possible and is brief.
• There are at least nine distinct steps: decide on the information required; define the target
respondents, select the method(s) of reaching the respondents; determine question content;
word the questions; sequence the questions; check questionnaire length; pre-test the
questionnaire and develop the final questionnaire.
THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!