The Composition of Survey Questions

1. Focus very precisely. Every item should zero in very directly on one specific issue or topic.
2. Keep each item brief. The longer the question, the greater the response task and the more error and bias.
3. Strive for clarity. Every respondent must know exactly what’s being asked.
4. Use “core” vocabulary. Use the same words as the least sophisticated respondents would use in common speech.
5. Use simple sentences. Two or more simple sentences are far preferable to one compound sentence.
6. Avoid specific sources of bias or error. Be sure items are free from the factors that create bias and error.
7. Use structured questions. Unstructured items ordinarily provide large quantities of poor quality data.
8. Classify answers carefully. Observe the three rules for an effective classification system.
9. Choose appropriate categories. Be certain they’re neither too broad nor narrow, too many nor too few.
10. Use scaling effectively. Refer to the following two chapters for guidance on numeric and verbal scales and to combine survey items into groups.