Question wording influences responses and analysis
Analysing your customer survey naturally comes after conducting the survey, but it must be considered during the planning stage. The following cycle applies: your objective influences your questions, which in turn influence your answer options and therefore your analysis. However, you can actively shape this process. A survey tool allows most questions to be presented in different ways.
Example 1 – multiple-choice question versus rating question
With both a multiple-choice question and a rating question, the customer (the participant) can select one of several options. With a multiple-choice question, however, the results show how often each option was selected. With a rating question, these frequencies are also assigned numerical ratings, allowing you to view the result immediately, for example as an average score.
Example 2 – open-text questions versus multiple choice with a text field
Open-text questions are useful and important. They allow customers to formulate their own answers freely, without the risk of unsuitable answer options. However, large numbers of open-text responses cannot be analysed automatically. In most cases, predefined multiple-choice options plus an additional text field for any other responses are more practical.
Example 3 – ranking question versus open text versus multiple choice
You want participants to assess various aspects. A ranking question lets them order these aspects by importance. An open-text question can ask them to allocate points (for example, “Allocate 10 points among the following aspects according to their importance.”). A multiple-choice question can ask them to select the most important aspects. All these questions may serve the same objective, but they are analysed differently and answered by participants in different ways.
Tip: when planning the survey, consider how you want to analyse the results. Also consider how the wording of a question can affect not only the response, but also the results and their analysis.
