1. Ask more closed-ended questions instead than open-ended questions
Closed ended questions create responses that are easy to gather data from and analyse. Open ended questions generate quantitative data - which takes more effort to analyse. In general, you should avoid asking more than two open ended questions when surveying.
2. Ensure your survey questions are neutral
Asking a leading question can skew data wether intentionally or not.
3. Keep a balanced set of answer choices
Having biased answers can also skew data, as people who disagree do not get the full opportunity to express it.
4. Don’t ask for two things at once
Confusing survey questions can cause responses that do not reflect the true beliefs of the person partaking in the survey.
5. Keep your questions different from each other
It’s a waste of time creating surveys that essentially ask the same question multiple times. Instead, use the precious time of those partaking to gather as much data as possible.
6. Let most of your questions be optional to answer
Forcing respondents to answer all questions makes them more likely to quit your survey.
7**. Set your objectives**
It is most important to have clear objectives for carrying out a survey, as this will drive the quality of the questions being asked.
I want to create a survey that asks 16-25 year olds about their spending habits and what they look for when it comes to banking. I’d like to gather some basic information about what bank they currently use, how they manage finances big and small, methods of payment and worries they have when it comes to finances. I’d like to keep to a limit of 10 questions and a minimum of 7. I’d like to create graphs based on this data to inform my research to contribute to creating a banking app.