{"id":2564,"date":"2015-06-08T18:22:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T22:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=2564"},"modified":"2023-06-28T09:36:01","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T13:36:01","slug":"5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-a-survey-questionnaire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-a-survey-questionnaire\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Survey Questionnaire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As researchers and business analysts, we&#8217;re constantly reaching out to our constituents to better understand them. We&#8217;re sending them surveys, <a href=\"\/make-online-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">polls<\/a>, <a href=\"\/online-forms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">online forms<\/a> as means to collect their thoughts.&nbsp;Many of us spend hours in writing the questionnaire in the hope of getting the right feedback. However, we have seen&nbsp;that a lot of us make a few mistakes again and again that can be easily avoided.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Avoid the following 5 mistakes when writing your next survey questionnaire to help create a concise and unambiguous&nbsp;survey.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<h3>1) Leading Questions<\/h3>\n<p>A leading question is one that guides the respondents&#8217; answers. Sometimes, we do it unknowingly and end up skewing the result. As a researcher, we avoid creating biases within a <a href=\"\/survey-templates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">survey questionnaire<\/a> to ensure a fair and objective study.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/zdm\/embed.aspx?val=QsQsSPTVsSWUsUUP&amp;key=VsWUYTsTWTsPsPsP\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<h3>2) Double-Negative Questions<\/h3>\n<p>Use of 2 negative words in a question can confuse the respondents, who may misinterpret your question. Make sure you phrase all your questions such that they are easy to understand and follow.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/zdm\/embed.aspx?val=QsQsSPUQsSVPsUUP&amp;key=VsWUYTsTWUsPsPsP\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<h3>3) Double-Barreled Questions<\/h3>\n<p>This is a common oversight and can confuse those participants who may fall in multiple categories.&nbsp;Make sure that the answer choices don&#8217;t overlap with one another.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/zdm\/embed.aspx?val=QsQsSPUSsTPPsUUP&amp;key=VsWUYTsTWVsPsPsP\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<h3>4) Hypothetical Questions<\/h3>\n<p>Ask hypothetical questions when absolutely necessary. They force respondents to imagine scenarios that they may be clueless about. If the hypothetical question is a bit too vague, try putting it out as an open ended question. This gives the respondents a wider canvas to express&nbsp;their thoughts rather than&nbsp;limit them to our own imagination.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/zdm\/embed.aspx?val=QsQsSPUUsSTPsUUP&amp;key=VsWUYTsTWWsPsPsP\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<h3>5) Restricted Answer Options<\/h3>\n<p>Make sure that the the answer options for a question are exhaustive and account for each respondent&#8217;s choices. In another words, don&#8217;t&nbsp;force a respondent to pick an answer option for lack of a&nbsp;right one. Providing, &#8220;Other&#8221; as an answer option and letting them type their response, always helps. How do you think someone who drives a Honda car, will answer this question?<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/zdm\/embed.aspx?val=QsQsSPTXsSYPsUUP&amp;key=VsWUYTsTWXsPsPsP\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"schedule-demo-container\">\n<p>Ready to get started? Learn more about Sogolytics today!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"javascript:openRequestDemoForm()\" class=\"green-button green-button-demo\">Schedule a Demo<\/a><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\"> \n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n  \"mainEntity\": {\n    \"@type\": \"Question\",\n    \"name\": \"what are the 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Survey Questionnaire?\",\n    \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n      \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n      \"text\": \"1) Leading Questions 2) Double-Negative Questions 3) Double-Barreled Questions 4) Hypothetical Questions 5) Restricted Answer Options\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n<\/script> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As researchers and business analysts, we&#8217;re constantly reaching out to our constituents to better understand them. We&#8217;re sending them surveys, polls, online forms as means to collect their thoughts.&nbsp;Many of us spend hours in writing the questionnaire in the hope of getting the right feedback. However, we have seen&nbsp;that a lot of us make a few mistakes again and again that can be easily avoided. Avoid the following 5 mistakes when writing your next survey questionnaire to help create a concise and unambiguous&nbsp;survey. 1) Leading Questions A leading question is one that guides the respondents&#8217; answers. Sometimes, we do it unknowingly and end up skewing the result. As a researcher, we avoid creating biases within a survey questionnaire to ensure a fair and objective study. 2) Double-Negative Questions Use of 2 negative words in a question can confuse the respondents, who may misinterpret your question. Make sure you phrase all your questions such that they are easy to understand and follow. 3) Double-Barreled Questions This is a common oversight and can confuse those participants who may fall in multiple categories.&nbsp;Make sure that the answer choices don&#8217;t overlap with one another. 4) Hypothetical Questions Ask hypothetical questions when absolutely necessary. They force respondents to imagine scenarios that they may be clueless about. If the hypothetical question is a bit too vague, try putting it out as an open ended question. This gives the respondents a wider canvas to express&nbsp;their thoughts rather than&nbsp;limit them to our own imagination. 5) Restricted Answer Options [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[234,235,128,60,233],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Survey Questionnaire - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As researchers and business analysts, we&#039;re constantly reaching out to our constituents to better understand them. We&#039;re sending them surveys, polls,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-a-survey-questionnaire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Survey Questionnaire - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As researchers and business analysts, we&#039;re constantly reaching out to our constituents to better understand them. We&#039;re sending them surveys, polls,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-a-survey-questionnaire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-08T22:22:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-28T13:36:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/woman-desk.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Haris Azmi\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-a-survey-questionnaire\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-building-a-survey-questionnaire\/\",\"name\":\"5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Survey Questionnaire - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-08T22:22:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-28T13:36:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/038cde04f7ac8d8e49c52807a161042b\"},\"description\":\"As researchers and business analysts, we're constantly reaching out to our constituents to better understand them. 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