After determining the overall purpose of the research, the next step is to put together a detailed plan.
A study can be designed to investigate multiple dimensions of the issue or investigate a single, specific point about the issue. The researcher desires to understand views of participants in a manner that allows the survey to flow smoothly and move carefully from question to question. Easier questions should be asked early in the survey with more challenging or personal questions asked later in the survey after rapport and trust has been a least somewhat developed.
A study can be designed in many ways. Some of the common sections are as follows. Match the titles with the definition below.
| Titles | Definition |
| 1. Demographic Information of the participants |
Answer: b |
| 2. Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception |
Answer: d |
| 3. Interest and Participation |
Answer: e |
| 4. Importance and Value |
Answer: c |
| 5. Attitudes or inner thoughts |
Answer: a |
Here are some sample questions from surveys about the topic of young people’s health. Place number one to five before the question as it corresponds to and displays the abovementioned five dimensions of surveys.
| 1. How old are you? | Answer: 1 |
| 2. Do you understand the meaning of the food pyramid? | Answer: 2 |
| 3. On a scale from one to 10 (with 10 being the highest) rate the priority you have to eating meals at specific times each day. | Answer: 4 |
| 4. Do you believe that exercising twice a week is enough to help people to keep fit? | Answer: 5 |
| 5. How many hours each week do you spend exercising? | Answer: 3 |
| 6. How many food calories do you typically eat each day? | Answer: 3 |
| 7. What is the year of your birth? | Answer: 1 |
| 8. How many servings of protein should be eaten daily? | Answer: 2 |
| 9. On a scale of 1-5 (1 means not important at all and 5 is very important) to what extent do you think the following is true: drinking 8 glasses of water is | Answer: 4 |
| 10. How important do you feel it is to eat breakfast every day? Feel strongly, unknown, do not feel strongly? | Answer: 5 |
Choose either true or false for each statement.
| Statements | True / False | |
| 1. | You should set expectations about survey length and estimate the time it will take someone to complete. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 2. | Opening questions should be challenging to answer, to weed out non-serious participants. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 3. | Questions are not relevant to the topic may be asked to participants, to get acquainted with them. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 4. | The opening should introduce the survey and explain why you are collecting the information. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 5. | The opening should share details about the actual uses and confidentiality of the information you are collecting. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 6. | It is not necessary for questions to follow a logical flow, with similar questions grouped together as random information is more natural. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 7. | Test your survey with a small group before launch to make improvements where necessary. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 8. | Make your survey as long as possible – more questions will deliver a higher response rate. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 9. | If you have sensitive questions, or questions requesting personal information, include them towards the end of the survey. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 10. | Thank your participants after they have completed the survey. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
Question design-certain principles should be kept in mind when designing questions for a survey
| Statements | True / False | |
| 1. | Keep questions short and easy to read because longer, complex questions can produce less accurate data. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 2. | Easy questions that are easy to answer, do not lead to good data. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 3. | Using a variety of rating scales in the questionnaire keeps the participant on their toes. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 4. | For rating scales, make sure your scale is balanced (e.g., provide an equal number of positive and negative response options). | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 5. | Label each point in a response scale to ensure clarity and equal weight to each response option. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 6. | Open-ended questions are the most effective and easiest data to mention. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 7. | For closed questions, include all possible answers, and make sure there is no overlap between answer options. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 8. | Each question may include more than one element so more information can be efficiently collected. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 9. | Use consistent word choices and definitions throughout the survey. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
| 10. | Avoid technical jargon and use language familiar to participants. | T / F ✔ ✘ |
There are a number of Common survey question types. There are examples following:
Questions with two or more answer options are useful for all types of feedback. Answers can be "yes/no" or a choice of multiple answers. Be careful not to leave out an answer option, or using answer options that are not mutually exclusive.
| Example 1: | Are you a University student? | Yes / No |
| Example 2: | Which is your favourite animal for a pet? Choose only one: a) dog, b) cat, c) rabbit, d) mouse, e) other |
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Questions where there are no specified answer choices. These are particularly helpful for collecting feedback from your participants about their attitudes or opinions. However, these questions may require extra time or can be challenging to answer. In addition, the analysis of open-ended questions can be difficult to record/analyze, and may require extra time or resources to review.
| Example 1: | What are two ways we could improve your experience with our company today? We take your feedback very seriously and review comments daily. |
| Example 2: | Do you plan to change to a new job or career in the future? If yes can you say why? |
Questions that require the ranking of answer choices by a specific characteristic are one type of scale questions. These questions can provide insight into how important something is to a participant.
| Example : | Rank from 1 to 3 (1 is the highest priority) which of the following media is most influential among young people. Music _________ Films __________ Video games ____________. |
These questions use a rating scale for responses. This type of question is useful for determining the representation of an attitude, opinion, knowledge or behavior. See example below.
Participants are asked whether they agree or disagree with a statement. Responses range from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree,” with five total answer options. Each option is given a score or weight (1 = strong disagree to 5 = strongly agree), and these scores can be used in survey response analysis. For scaled questions, it is important to include a “neutral” category (“Neither Agree nor Disagree” below).
1. Which is the better open-ended question?
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2. Which is the better multiple choice question?
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3. Which ranking scale question has the best chance of providing good, useable data?
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4. Which rating scale question has the best chance of providing good, useable data?
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