10 Dos and Don'ts of Surveys - Pointerpro (2023)

Have you ever wondered if filling out a questionnaire is a viable option for your research?

There are numerous options that you can use for your search. In this article, we'll focus on what we know best: questionnaires.

As with any research method, there are pros and cons. We've rounded up the greatest treasures and traps to help you make the best decision possible.

Get ready to discover top 10 benefits like cost savings, scalability and fast results. But also disadvantages such as respondents with their own agenda and a possible lack of personalization.

We define aproveas a data collection tool in which a specific subject is almost always asked to respond to a series of oral or written questions.

So is it like a poll?

Well yes and no.

A questionnaire and a survey are not the same.

AOpinion pollIt is a data collection process that can involve a variety of data collection methods, including a questionnaire.

Basically, every poll is a poll, but not every poll is a poll.

But what makes questionnaires such a great tool for research and data collection?

There are many reasons for this, here are the top ten benefits.

First of all, questionnaires are one of the most commoncost-effective ways to collect quantitative data.

In particular, self-administered questionnaires, which do not require hiring researchers to conduct face-to-face interviews, are an inexpensive way to quickly collect large amounts of information from a large number of people in a relatively short amount of time. .

You can publish a questionnaire on your website or email it to your customers. These methods have little to no cost, although heavy targeting is necessary if you want thathighest possible response rateand get the most accurate results.

Still no matter whattype of questionnaireschoose, it is cheaper than outsourcing to a market research company.

it's fast andeasy to collect resultswith online and mobile tools. That means you can get insights in as little as 24 hours (or less!) depending on the scope and scope of your survey.

You don't have to wait for another company to give you the answers you need.

You give partnersI needed quality feedback fast. The South African consultancy needed a way to make informed decisions quickly. With the help of an online questionnaire, they were able to collect the required data in a very short time.

Questionnaires and surveys enable youCollect information from a large audience.

Online, you can literally broadcast your questions to anyone, anywhere in the world (as long as you have an internet connection). All you have to do is submit a link to your survey page. And you don't even have to do it manually. This could be done by aautomated emailin your customer onboarding or lead nurturing campaigns. Before you launch an automated email campaign, find the right email addresses for your leads. You can do this with oneEmail Search Tool. If you are facing the problem of finding leads on LinkedIn, you can benefit from thisSales NavigatorThis will be your assistant to get more leads.

This means you can drive to any city or country for relatively little money.

You can use multiple data collection points, for example throughmultiple tablets in kiosk mode.

Thanks to the Internet, geography no longer stands in the way of market research. But keep cultural differences between people and countries in mind when conducting surveys around the world. Thanks to PointerPro!multilingual feature, you can easily create oneunique questionnaire available in multiple languages.

Once the data have been quantified, they can be usedCompare and contrast other researchand can be used to measure changes. This makes monthly or annual surveys more valuable over time.

Improving comparability implies that translation errors must be minimized. When translating questionnaires for multinational, multicultural and multiregional surveys, the goal is to achieve some comparability between all local versions.

Most survey and questionnaire providers are quantitative in nature, allowing for easy analysis of the results. With built-in tools, it's easy to analyze your results without any statistical or scientific research experience. For example, photographers often use awedding photography testto understand customer needs as accurately as possible and ensure they are on the same page on details.

You may think that surveys aren't fun and that getting respondents to fill them out can be difficult. However, you can useinteractive formsthat provide visual data insights to plot expert user stories organized in dynamic timelines.

View the survey as a blank canvas.

The more data you collect, the brighter the painting will be. All of this information provides marketers with theAbility to create new strategies and follow trends in your audience. Data analysis and reporting can be used to generate predictions and even benchmark for follow-up questions or quizzes.

The best part?

You do not need any additional statistical software.

Online and email surveysAllow interlocutorkeep your anonymity.

Mailed surveys also allow for complete invisibility, maximizing respondent convenience. Even phone interviews aren't face-to-face, becoming a more private form of communication. This obfuscation reassures respondents and encourages them to answer truthfully; However, these phone interviews still have a human touch.

Digital questionnaires give the best feeling of anonymity and privacy. This type of survey is great for all types of businesses and topics, and will result in the most honest answers.

You can be sure that your results will be much more accurate if you have the option to fill them out anonymously.

When using surveys by mail, online or by email, there areWithout time limitand on the other end no one is waiting for an answer. Respondents can take their time to complete the questionnaire whenever they wish.

As a bonus, they often answer more openly, as research has shown that the presence of a researcher can result in less honest and more socially desirable answers.

One of the biggest advantages is the possibilityask as many questions as you like. Obviously, it's to the marketer's advantage to keep each and every survey short, as respondents might find a long survey frustrating. We recommend a limit of 10 questions for online surveys.

However, since they are efficient, profitable and have a simple way of delivery, there is no problem in creating multiple quizzes, each covering a subtopic of the main topic and complementing each other.

While quizzes have many positive aspects,Dishonesty can be a problem.

Respondents' answers may not be 100% accurate.

This can happen for a number of reasons, including being socially desirable and trying to do soprotect privacy. Stop dishonesty by assuring respondents that their privacy is valued and that the process avoids personal identification.

When using questionnaires, there is a possibility thatSome questions are ignored or left unanswered.

If questions are not required, there is always a risk that they will not be answered. Online quizzes offer a simple solution to this problem: Require the question to be answered.

Otherwise, keep your survey short and your questions straightforward, and you'll avoid skipping questions and get better response rates.

The problem with not asking users face-to-face questions is that anyone can have themdifferent interpretations of your questions.

Without someone to fully explain the questionnaire and ensure everyone has the same understanding, the results can be subjective.

Respondents may have difficulty understanding the meaning of some questions that seem clear to the creator.

This lack of communication can lead to skewed results. The best way to counteract this situation is to ask simple questions that are easy to answer.

A poll or questionnairecannot fully grasp emotional reactions or feelingsof the participants. Without using the questionnaire face-to-face, there is no way to observe facial expressions, reactions, or body language.

Without these subtleties, useful data can go unnoticed.

Don't get stuck trying to interpret emotion in the data, go to aLikert scale, the response scale typically used by arating scalefrom “strongly disagree” to “strongly disagree”. This allows for strength and assertiveness in answers rather than multiple choice.

Questionnaires produce a large amount of data. Multiple choice questions can be tabulated and graphed, but open-ended questions are different.

Open-ended questions allow for individualized answers that cannot be quantified and must be verified by a human.

Too many open-ended questions can create an avalanche of data that can take forever to analyze. Avoid this danger by choosing your question types carefully. If you have ten questions, you probably don't want more than one open-ended because there's no way to quantify them.

That's why it's important to choose the right question type, because a survey is only as effective as its questions.

Survey questions need to be evaluated quickly and provide actionable data.

If you ask questions that are too difficult or confusing to answer, you could end up with nonsensical data.

Choosing the wrong question type can also lead to incomplete results or data that is difficult to interpret.

The main types of questions areopen,Cerradoand semi-closed questions. Within these types, there are many ways to present your request, from ratings to yes/no questions.

Learnhow to choose the right types of survey questionsfor your needs in our Essential Guide.

As with any kind of investigationPolled bias can be an issue.

Your survey-takers might be interested in your product, idea, or service. Others may be encouraged to participate based on the subject of your survey. These biases can lead to inaccuracies in your data caused by an imbalance of respondents who are too positive or too negative about your topic.

Filter a hidden agenda with a previous screen. Ask some indirect questions that eliminate these result destroyers.

Personalization is the dominant marketing theme.

Any marketing material runs the risk of looking impersonal unless you take the time and care to personalize it.If you don't add personalization elements, some potential respondents may be turned off.and ignore it.

This can be especially difficult if the questionnaire or survey is voluntarily completed on a website, regardless of purchase or email.

Fix this by always sending emails that include respondents' names. Use dynamic content on websites and strive to use names, personal information and personalized content in all communications. TOUniform communication toolcan help you maintain personalized communication across all channels.

Every administrator expects conscientious answers, but there areIt is not possible to determine whether the respondent really understood the questionread it in full before replying.

Sometimes the answers are selected before reading the full question or possible answers. Sometimes respondents skip questions or make split-second decisions, affecting the validity of your data.

This disadvantage is difficult to overcome, but if you keep your research short and your questions simple, you're likely to get the most accurate answers.

No matter which shipping method is used,lack of accessibility is a threat. Surveys may be unsuitable for users with visual or hearing impairments or other disabilities such as illiteracy. This should be taken into account when deciding to use this type of survey.

Always choose a survey platform with built-in accessibility options.

We all get invites to surveys and trending companies.use customer feedbackPolls are on the rise. This means that a certain level oflooking for tirednessconsolidates with the respondents.

In general, we can identify two types of seeker fatigue:

Survey Response Fatigue - This occurs before the survey begins. Respondents who are overwhelmed by the growing number of surveys will be less willing to take your survey. As a result, you suffer from a low response rate.

Survey Response Fatigue: This type of participant fatigue occurs during the survey. It is the result of surveys that are perceived as too long and contain questions that are irrelevant to the respondent. One indicator of survey fatigue is a low completion rate.

It's up to you how much survey fatigue affects your survey. If you make it easy for respondents to respond and actually do something with the information, there will be less fatigue.

There are numerous advantages to using online surveys.

First, as mentioned, they can be shipped quickly and turnaround time can be relatively short. You can reach your audience in the moments that matter: as they browse your products, as they read your content, as soon as they make a purchase.

Online questionnaires give users time to think about the answers, a distinct advantage over in-person or telephone methods. In addition to these great benefits, online surveys cost little and the actionable elements gleaned from the data can generate a high return on investment.

There are additional benefits too.

User responses can be pre-coded, eliminating transmission errors. The data is already in an electronic format so it can be easily analyzed without the hassle of scanning.

Finally, guides and/or software are available through vendors like Pointerpro at an affordable cost and with a wide range of options to suit your brand and needs.

Questionnaires have a bad reputation, and in recent years many researchers have seen their response rates drop due to their unpopularity. So we've put together an extensive list of tips that can help you.increase your response rate.

The most obvious way to do this is to reward respondents for their time through gifts, credits, or payments. Pointerpro even offers fun reward tools like a digital scratch card or slot machine.

Rewarding a respondent is just one way to get responses. Respondents also want to ensure their privacy is protected, make it clear that responses are confidential and ensure the privacy policy is up to date. Emphasize how the data will be useful to user experience or to society. People like to feel like they are doing something good.

They also want to know if they can fill out their questionnaire without the hassle of phone calls over dinner. When you respect the interviewee's time, you clearly show that you value their participation.

Send reminders too – many people forget everything that comes to their mind.

Designing a questionnaire might seem easy until you sit down to write the questions. Planning,content creationmiGraphical designthey are all important. Not everyone has the time or professional design skills to create a survey.

This is why some software companies like Pointerpro offerTemplates to create questions in minutes.

Now that you know how useful and effective questionnaires and polls can be,Get a free Pointerpro account!