Survey Best Practice

Surveys are becoming an almost daily experience. We are asked for feedback regularly when we come into contact with businesses. Providing your participants with an easy survey experience can help improve both participation rates, and the quality of the data gathered.

Recommendations

• Limit question types - When adding custom questions to your survey, use a consistent response format that allows people to focus on the question’s meaning, rather than learning what all the options are. Research shows that, for rating scales, 5-7 response options is optimal for reliability and validity.

  All AskYourTeam surveys use a 6 point scale (with an additional option for 'Don't Know'). Although we provide several different question types for custom questions, we would not recommend using too many question types as this may cause confusion and slow participants down.

• Group response types together - It is also good practice to group response types together, rather than switching between different response types. This facilitates smooth survey flow.

• Avoid using multiple question formats - The fewer the question types, the easier for the participant​ to complete the survey.

• Write great questions

  • Avoid grammatical negatives as much as possible (e.g., 'not', 'do not', 'un')

  • Avoid mixing positive and negative statements as this can cause confusion

  • Use simple language, so questions are clear and easy to understand

  • Avoid using extreme words (e.g. 'always', 'never', and 'best') unless it is appropriate to create a higher bar.

  • Steer clear of any 'jargon'.

  • Be succinct.

  • Beware of the tyranny of “incrementalism”, don’t keep adding questions because it would be 'nice to know'.

  • Avoid unnecessary words that may detract from clarity and simplicity.

  • Avoid double negatives. Questions should be phrased positively. E.g. 'I feel safe at work' vs.' I have not been bullied at work.'​

  • Each question should focus on a single point. Questions that include two or more points can cause confusion. People could agree with one part but disagree with the other e.g., 'I am happy and motivated at work.' This may make it difficult for participants to answer completely as they may feel happy but less motivated

  • Ensure that the wording of the question matches the question type

  • All Yes-No questions in a survey should be either always positive or always negative.

  • For 0-10 questions, a 10 should always represent the best/most positive.

  • If free-text comments are enabled for a question type, indicate what you would like to see in the free-text box, e.g. 'If not, please explain why this is.'

  • Focus on the present by using present tense, rather than asking about what has happened historically.

  • Avoid using emotive or subjective language.

• Ensure that questions are not leading -​ Ensure you’re not using emotive or subjective language to intentionally or unintentionally skew the  answers.
  

• Be consistent - All questions should be asked the same way in terms of framework i.e. AskYourTeam questions they are all positively framed - strongly agree means good​.

• End with a positive or open question - It is recommended to finish the survey with a question that may either allow participants to think of something positive or to allow them to have carte blanche to share anything that the questions may not have covered. E.g. 'What is it that you like most about working for our organisation?' or 'Please add any comments about anything else you wish to tell us'. This way, participants will feel that they have had an opportunity to have a voice.