How to Make a Survey Questionnaire

Conducting a survey can help companies know other people's opinions about their products or services, which is essential for them to run a successful business. Marketing surveys allow companies to operate their business in a scientific way. The accuracy of survey results are mainly influenced by the quality of survey questionnaires. This article shows you the basics on how to make a survey questionnaire.

Instructions

1. A survey questionnaire should start with standard survey questions, which will make your survey respondents more comfortable with participating in the survey. You can ask their ages, for example, "Which year were you born?" Don't ask questions which will make them feel uncomfortable. For example, don't ask their sexual orientation. You can also add questions for screening purposes, such as have they taken surveys on similar topics recently or whether they are work in an advertising agency.

2. The second part of a survey questionnaire contains the main survey questions you want to ask. You can show your product descriptions or service plans and ask survey respondents to give opinions on the price and design, for example.

3. A good survey questionnaire should also have survey questions for quality control purpose. You want to know whether your survey respondents gave you honest and thoughtful feedback. Basically, what you want to do is to ask the same question repetitively in different formats or with different wording. To get better results, you can randomly mix in some non-related survey questions to distract your survey respondents' attention. Another way to construct control questions is to ask them to do certain things. For instance, have them rate service from one for poor to five for excellent.

4. A survey questionnaire usually ends with questions for classification purposes. You want to classify your survey respondents into several groups, which will help your to interpret the survey results. You can ask their personal information, such as education level, house income, gender, the general location they live in and so on. Since they are almost done with the survey, they are more likely to answer questions with sensitive topics.

References

• "Survey Research Methods (Applied Social Research Methods)"; Floyd J. Fowler; September 2008
• "Designing and Conducting Survey Research: A Comprehensive Guide (Jossey Bass Public Administration Series)"; Louis M. Rae; September 2005
• "How to Conduct Surveys: A Step-by-Step Guide"; Arlene G. Fink; September 2008