There’s so much jargon in the world of survey that it’s easy to get lost in the sea of survey-related terms.

Here’s a brief rundown on some commonly-used survey terms:

1. Verbatim Response
Verbatim response is just another name for open-ended response option.

2. Nominal Scale
A scale that classifies answer choices into mutually-exclusive categories of quantitative values is called a nominal scale/label.
Example for Nominal Scale:

What is your gender?
• Male
• Female

3. Social Desirability Bias
This is a common tendency projected by survey participants to provide socially-acceptable, however, inaccurate answers.

4. Funneling Questions
Funneling Questions involve a series of generic questions that gradually lead to a specific question. They are used to gain participants’ interest or increase their confidence. On the other hand, Inverted Funneling Questions begin with specific questions and move on to more generic ones.

5. Participatory Pilot Survey
A survey sent to inform participants that they are a part of a pre-test phase is known as a participatory pilot. It also collects the participants’ thoughts on the questionnaire.