SURVEY AND QUESTION DESIGN
Basics of Survey and Question Design
This is an introduction for federal government program managers on how to design surveys and survey questions to collect customer feedback.
Initial design considerations
Before you design your survey
Clearly articulate the goals of your survey. Why are you running a survey? What, specifically, will you do with the survey results? How will the information help you improve your customer's experience with your agency?
Make sure that each question will give you the right kind of feedback to achieve your survey goals.
When in doubt, contact a statistician or survey expert for help with survey and question design.
Survey design
The opening should introduce the survey, explain who is collecting the feedback and why. You should also include some reasons for participation, and share details about the confidentiality of the information you are collecting.
The introduction should set expectations about survey length and estimate the time it will take someone to complete.
Opening questions should be easy to answer, to increase participant trust and encourage them to continue answering questions.
Ensure questions are relevant to participants, to reduce abandonment.
To minimize confusion, questions should follow a logical flow, with similar questions grouped together.
Keep your survey short and to the point - fewer questions will deliver a higher response rate.
If you have sensitive questions, or questions requesting personal information, include them towards the end of the survey, after trust has been built.
Thank your participants after they've completed the survey.
Test your survey with a small group before launch. Have participants share what they are thinking as they fill out each question, and make improvements where necessary.
Question design
Keep questions short and easy to read. The longer and more complex the questions, the less accurate feedback you'll get. This is particularly true of phone surveys.
Keep
This is an introduction for federal government program managers on how to design surveys and survey questions to collect customer feedback.
Initial design considerations
Before you design your survey
Clearly articulate the goals of your survey. Why are you running a survey? What, specifically, will you do with the survey results? How will the information help you improve your customer's experience with your agency?
Make sure that each question will give you the right kind of feedback to achieve your survey goals.
When in doubt, contact a statistician or survey expert for help with survey and question design.
Survey design
The opening should introduce the survey, explain who is collecting the feedback and why. You should also include some reasons for participation, and share details about the confidentiality of the information you are collecting.
The introduction should set expectations about survey length and estimate the time it will take someone to complete.
Opening questions should be easy to answer, to increase participant trust and encourage them to continue answering questions.
Ensure questions are relevant to participants, to reduce abandonment.
To minimize confusion, questions should follow a logical flow, with similar questions grouped together.
Keep your survey short and to the point - fewer questions will deliver a higher response rate.
If you have sensitive questions, or questions requesting personal information, include them towards the end of the survey, after trust has been built.
Thank your participants after they've completed the survey.
Test your survey with a small group before launch. Have participants share what they are thinking as they fill out each question, and make improvements where necessary.
Question design
Keep questions short and easy to read. The longer and more complex the questions, the less accurate feedback you'll get. This is particularly true of phone surveys.
Keep