Guide
The structure and flow of topics, sequencing of questions, and the writing style are all tools that the researcher can use to make the questionnaire more friendly to the respondent.
Funnel Technique
Structure your Questionnaire using what is called the “funnel” technique. Start with broad general interest questions that are easy for the respondent to answer. These questions serve to warm up the respondent and get them involved in the survey. The most difficult questions are placed in the middle – those that take time to think about and those that are of less general interest. At the end, we again place general questions that are easier to answer and of broad interest and application. Typically, these last questions include demographic and other classification questions.
Ringer or Throw Away Questions
Questionnaires often include “ringer or throw away” questions to increase interest and willingness to respond to a survey. These questions are about hot topics of the day and often have little to do with the survey. While these questions will definitely spice up a boring survey, they require valuable space that could be devoted to the main topic of interest. Use this type of question with caution.
Keep your Questionnaire Short
Questionnaires should be kept short and to the point. Most long surveys are not completed. A quick look at a survey containing page after page of boring questions produces a response of “there is no way I’m going to complete this thing”. If a questionnaire is long, the person must either be very interested in the topic, a true bleeding heart, an employee, or paid for their time. Internet surveys have some advantage because the respondent will often not see all of the survey at once. However if your survey sends them page after page of questions, your response rate will drop off dramatically.
How long is too long? The general rule of thumb is to keep the survey short, typically less than five minutes. This translates into about 15 questions. The average respondent is able to complete about 3 multiple choice questions per minute. An open-ended text response question counts for about three multiple choice questions depending, of course, on the difficulty of the question. While only a rule of thumb, this formula will accurately predict the limits of your survey.
How long is too long? The general rule of thumb is to keep the survey short, typically less than five minutes. This translates into about 15 questions. The average respondent is able to complete about 3 multiple choice questions per minute. An open-ended text response question counts for about three multiple choice questions depending, of course, on the difficulty of the question. While only a rule of thumb, this formula will accurately predict the limits of your survey.
Writing Style
My research professor of many years ago continually pressured me to decrease the level of sophistication in my survey writing: “9-11th grade level” he used to say. Don’t use big words, use simple sentences and simple choices for the answers. Simplicity is still the best.