How to build a high-quality survey

Your research results largely depend on the survey's quality: the logic and coherence of the questions and answers. The results also depend on the language you use to communicate with your users.

Follow our tips to create a high-quality survey.

Estimate the number of respondents

Use statistical principles to calculate the number of respondents based on your population size and required accuracy. If you are not an expert in statistics, make a decision based on your task and budget.

A survey for up to 300 people. For example, if you've prepared a product design concept and want to make an early evaluation of whether it's worth the money, survey up to 300 people. It is not expensive to conduct this kind of survey and you can draw conclusions based on the collected data.

A survey for 1000 people. Let's say that your goal is to find out how well your brand is known in Russia. You need at least 1000 responses.

With Yandex Surveys, you can poll up to 2000 people. For more information, see Comparing Survey Builders.

Add a structure to your survey

Add an invitation. Explain to the respondent what the purpose of your survey is and why they should take it. Give them brief instructions on how to fill out the survey if needed. Clearly formulate the rules so that users can understand them straightaway.

Bad	Got it
Select the answers below.	We do our best to improve our service. Please choose the answers that most accurately describe our product.

Consider the order of questions. Arrange your questions from the simplest to the hardest to make it more likely that respondents will complete the survey.

Bad	Got it
Why did you choose our company? How often do you use our services? How old are you?	How old are you? How often do you use our services? Why did you choose our company?

Thank the user. Thank users for taking part in the survey. You can add a field for feedback and comments.

Bad	Got it
Thank you for choosing our company.	Thank you for participating in the survey. We would appreciate if you rate the survey.

Create high-quality questions

Come up with clear questions. Formulate your questions without any ambiguity, hidden meanings, or complex phrasing. Stick to the rule: one question — one topic.

Bad	Got it
Do you agree that the service in our restaurants is fast and the food is cooked well?	Do you like the service in our restaurants?
	Are you satisfied with the quality of our food and drink?

Use simple terminology. Avoid complex terminology requiring special knowledge from the user.

Bad	Got it
Do you use hints to understand how buttons work?	Each button has a hint: hover over a button and wait a moment. Have you seen these kinds of hints?

Use common sense. If your respondent has already told you they don't use the service, don't ask them how often they use it. To avoid logical errors, set up display criteria for your questions.

Bad	Got it
Have you been to our restaurant? Did you like the music? Have you seen our restaurant ads?	Have you been to our restaurant? If yes: Did you like the music? Have you seen our restaurant ads?

Ask questions in an objective way. Questions must not include any qualitative assessments or hint at the "correct answer". Don't put pressure on the respondent either explicitly or implicitly: give them a chance to share their own impressions.

Bad	Got it
What do you think about our friendly customer service representatives?	How quickly did you get a response from our company's customer service representative?
Would you like to get an app that teaches you French in just a year?	Do you need an app to learn French?

Come up with answers

Cover all possible options. Try to imagine every possible answer and classify them into options so that the user can easily choose the right one. This is particularly important if you don't give users an option to write their own response text.

Bad	Got it
When did you last use our app? Yesterday Two or three days ago A week ago Two weeks ago A month ago	When did you last use our app? Yesterday or today Three to seven days ago Several weeks ago More than a month ago

Come up with unique answers. Users get confused when answers are too similar. This is particularly important when there's only one response option. However, even if there are several options, try to make their meanings distinct.

Bad	Got it
Why do you usually attend our conferences? To communicate with colleagues To learn more about the industry To expand my horizons	Why do you usually attend our conferences? To socialize with colleagues To learn what's new in the industry To work: I am a speaker

Work on your style

Write simple and clear questions. Avoid being too formal. By using lively and natural language in your survey, you can better share your enthusiasm with the user.

Bad	Got it
What is the most frequent purpose of your visits to our site?	Why do you usually visit our website?

Avoid jargon, colloquialisms, and an overly official style.

Bad	Got it
An app crash has occurred	The app closed unexpectedly
Uh-huh	Yes
I identify myself as a software engineer	I'm a software engineer

Use second-person forms in questions and first-person forms in answers. When asking questions, all questions are addressed towards the respondent, so choose second-person forms of pronouns and verbs.

Exception: You can't do this if your questions are statements for the users to agree or disagree with. For answers, it's better to use a first-person or impersonal form, where possible.

Bad	Got it
I am happy with this app Correct Incorrect	Do you like the app? Yes No
Why do you most often visit our portal? You read articles You communicate with other users You watch videos	Why do you most often visit our portal? I read articles I communicate with other users I watch videos
	Why do you most often visit our portal? To read articles To communicate with other users To watch videos

Have a dialog with the user. In a well-designed survey, questions and answers form a natural dialog. Instead of asking the user to finish your phrase, it's better to ask them a question directly.

Bad	Got it
You prefer watching the news: On social media Via the mass media Other	Where do you read the news? On social media Via the mass media Other
	Select where you read the news: Social media Mass media Other

Use universal wording. If your respondents are both men and women, try to put your questions and answers in a gender-neutral manner.

Bad	Got it
Why are you unsatisfied with your call to technical support? I waited a long time for assistance, but nobody responded.	Why are you dissatisfied with our roadside assistance? I had to wait for a long time, but no one came.

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