{"id":3432,"date":"2017-06-15T14:03:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T18:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=3432"},"modified":"2022-12-05T03:19:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T08:19:32","slug":"goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Goldilocks and a survey that\u2019s juuuuust right."},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know the story – chairs that are too big, porridge that\u2019s too hot or too cold, messy beds and three upset bears. \u00a0But Goldilocks was on to something. She wanted the \u201cjust right\u201d experience, with no substitutions. Can\u2019t we all relate to that?<\/span><\/p>\n

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When it comes to surveys, finding the right length is a lot like the story of Goldilocks. A survey that\u2019s too short might not give you all the information you need and a survey that\u2019s too long could frustrate your participants and lead to low response rates.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Here are five tips to follow when designing your next survey.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ask only the questions you need<\/b>
\nFocus on information that helps you make a decision and leave out everything else. It\u2019s common to fill up a survey with questions that yield \u201cnice to know\u201d or \u201cinteresting\u201d data, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with asking those questions. Just make sure these filler questions aren\u2019t added at the expense of participation. 80% of survey respondents will abandon partway through a survey they feel is too long. For every question you include in the survey, ask yourself, \u201cHow will knowing the answer help me make a decision?\u201d If you don\u2019t have a good response, leave it out.<\/p>\n

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Consider sending more than one survey<\/b>
\nDo you need the same information from everyone? Depending on the number and nature of the questions you ask, you might consider whether it makes more sense to run separate surveys. You can start by asking the same handful of base questions but then distribute secondary questions across other versions. This is helpful when you want a snapshot of the relationship between different sets of data.<\/p>\n

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Pre-populate the survey with data you already have<\/b>
\nAnother way to minimize the number of questions you ask respondents is to use the data you already have collected about them. When you already know a person\u2019s answer, don\u2019t ask them to re-enter it. <\/span>Pre-populating a survey<\/span><\/a> will save time and increase participation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Skip questions that aren\u2019t relevant<\/b>
\nUse <\/span>branching<\/span><\/a> and skip logic to hide questions that don\u2019t apply to a given respondent. For example, you can ask, \u201cHave you ever eaten porridge?\u201d; if the answer is \u201cNo,\u201d you can hide follow-up questions about temperature, preferred toppings, and cooking methods. These skip logic options make the survey visually shorter, which encourages respondents to stick around. There are other benefits too, such as ensuring that you collect the most useful information (Why collect porridge preferences from unqualified respondents?) and avoid wasting anyone\u2019s time.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Just ask – we\u2019re happy to help!<\/b>
\nRemember that we\u2019re always here to help. Sometimes you don\u2019t need to design a questionnaire from scratch. You might start with a sample survey from our <\/span>survey bank<\/span><\/a> or borrow a few choice questions. Just keep in mind that more questions might not always be better! And if you\u2019re looking for one-on-one help in <\/span>survey design<\/span><\/a>, that\u2019s a service we gladly offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Remember that participants usually want to give you their feedback, but they don\u2019t want to be scared away by a never-ending survey. In the end, Goldilocks was frightened off by the three bears and never returned — probably not your ideal participant reaction. Create a survey that\u2019s juuust right and your respondents will gladly participate!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know the story – chairs that are too big, porridge that\u2019s too hot or too cold, messy beds and three upset bears. \u00a0But Goldilocks was on to something. She wanted the \u201cjust right\u201d experience, with no substitutions. Can\u2019t we all relate to that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":5050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[60,63,112],"yoast_head":"\nGoldilocks and a survey that\u2019s juuuuust right. - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We all know the story - chairs that are too big, porridge that\u2019s too hot or too cold, messy beds and three upset bears. \u00a0But Goldilocks was on to\" \/>\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\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goldilocks and a survey that\u2019s juuuuust right. - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all know the story - chairs that are too big, porridge that\u2019s too hot or too cold, messy beds and three upset bears. \u00a0But Goldilocks was on to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-15T18:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-05T08:19:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/window.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=\"Lauren Franco\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/\",\"name\":\"Goldilocks and a survey that\u2019s juuuuust right. - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-15T18:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-05T08:19:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/833abfafb9f81f7605cfed5119ef4f28\"},\"description\":\"We all know the story - chairs that are too big, porridge that\u2019s too hot or too cold, messy beds and three upset bears. \u00a0But Goldilocks was on to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/goldilocks-and-a-survey-thats-juuuuust-right\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Goldilocks and a survey that\u2019s juuuuust right.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Sogolytics Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/833abfafb9f81f7605cfed5119ef4f28\",\"name\":\"Lauren Franco\",\"description\":\"Famous for saying, \\\"I have an idea\\\", Lauren loves dreaming up new and exciting marketing campaigns. 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