How to Write a Survey
Questionnaire
President; L.B.C. Consulting Services;
Marketing Research
Lecturer in Marketing Research &
Statistics; McGill University,
Montreal,Canada
Steve Letovsky is a market researcher.
He has been teaching marketing
research in the evenings for 30years
at McGill University, Montreal,
Canada. He owns and operates LBC
International Consulting Services, a
management consulting company
specializing in marketing research. He
has a bachelor of science and a master
of business association degrees, both
earnedatMcGill.
Business Expert Press
Steven A. Letovsky
Abstract: It is easy to buy software or use rental software
designed to program an online survey questionnaire, but
nowhere are there instructions as to how to correctly
prepare a survey questionnaire. This article takes you
through a step-by-step process of how to design both the
questions and their possible answers of an online survey
questionnaire. The article describes how to create a flow
such that the survey runs smooth and minimizes the
respondent dropout rate, and it ends up with 10 steps
that must be reviewed every time an online survey has
been prepared.
Key words: Marketing research, Quantitative data collection,
Questionnaire design, Survey design
Introduction
Designing a questionnaire for a survey seems so simple,
but it is not so. Still, once you do it a few times, you get
the hang of it, and it will become much easier. Even expe-
rienced marketing researchers will admit that designing a
questionnaire takes time and needs careful consideration.
The software companies who have developed ways to
help people program online surveys have made the pro-
gramming easier but have complicated some of the basic
design elements.
Must Have
A questionnaire must be like a conversation, and it must
flow smoothly from question to question and from topic
to topic and must have a proper beginning and a proper
ending.
The success of an online survey depends upon three
elements:
1. It should be short.
2. The topic should be of interest to the qualified
respondents.
3. It is better if an incentive is offered.
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 How to Write a Survey Questionnaire
1. Short means the duration should
be 58 minutes. The rate of respondents
dropping out increases exponentially
with a questionnaire that is longer than
8 minutes. A 5-minute questionnaire can
have as many as 30 questions. The key
is to keep the number of open-ended
questions to a minimum. One open-
ended question equals to five closed-
ended questions. Short questionnaire
also means it should include only ques-
tions related to the marketing research
objectives. Asking extra questions just be-
cause it might be of interest will cost you
completed surveys!
2. The people you are surveying should
be interested in the subject matter. This
means using key words in the introduc-
tion that gets the prospective respondent
interested.
Examples:
If you are asking questions about eye
glasses, introduce the survey as a survey
about fashion accessories.
A survey on elementary school educa-
tion should be introduced as questions
about education for your children.
3. An incentive means, for the respon-
dents time, they are entitled to get some-
thing. It does not have to be a financial
return, but at least something to show ap-
preciation. The incentive can be as little
as, By answering this online survey, you
are helping a student fulfill his or her re-
quirement in a marketing course or By
answering this survey, you can win 1 of
10 prizes worth $50 each. Do not offer
a chance to win something that does not
make sense, such as a free cruise for two
people. An incentive that always works is
offering a donation to a well-known char-
ity, such as UNICEF for each completed
survey received.
Objectives
The most important issue is to under-
stand the objectives or marketing research
problem. This is the reason why the sur-
vey is being done. Usually there are many
2 Business Expert Press Expert Insights
objectives, one primary objective and pos-
sibly a series of secondary objectives. The
definition of a marketing research objec-
tive is something that can be ascertained
by asking one or a few questions.
Key Facts
Will the sponsor be identified or not? Per-
haps the sponsor will be identified only af-
ter some critical information is collected.
Sometimes it is important to identify the
sponsor immediately.
Who is the qualified respondent? What
characteristics does the person answering
the surveys need to have?
If you have the following, you can now
begin:
Definition of who is the qualified respondent;
Identified sponsor in the introduction or
not; if not, when or not at all;
List of marketing research objectives;
Incentive.
Survey Introduction
Introduction must be clear and to the point.
Keep in mind that people do not read. They
can read but are always in a hurry and of-
ten just scan the material. In the introduc-
tion, you must do the following:
Introduce yourself and allow for a response
in a language of choice, if necessary.
Be clear as to the purpose of the survey.
Tell the respondents how long the ques-
tionnaire is (the number of questions)
and how long will it take for someone to
complete the survey.
Describe the incentive.
A promise not to use the respondents
name or e-mail address for any other pur-
pose is also often a good idea.
Some examples of introductions are as
follows:
Please select your preferred language to
continue. Veuillez slectionner une langue
avant de poursuivre.
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 How to Write a Survey Questionnaire
1. Airline companies frequently monitor the
needs and requirements of passengers in
order to provide the best service possible.
For your time and effort in completing
the following short survey, you will re-
ceive one round-trip flight between City
1 and City 2, which is completely free.
This free flight can be used by you or
anyone you designate up until June 30,
20XX. You are answering this question-
naire because you identified yourself
as a person who has flown with XXXX
between City 1 and City 2 at least once
since January 20XX (this calendar year).
Please type in the four-digit code that
was sent to you by e-mail to initialize the
survey. The survey will take less than 5
minutes. Thank you for your cooperation.
2. Good day! We have been commissioned
by The Language Association of XXXX
to conduct a study with companies who
provide products and services in more
than one language. This is an online sur-
vey and includes only four questions.
Please take 2 minutes and help us out!
3. We need your help and are willing to
pay for your time. We are giving away
fifty, $50 gift certificates redeemable at
a national electronics store in your area.
All you must do to qualify to win one
of these prizes is to complete the short
(less than 5 minutes) questionnaire. All
entries must be received by February 8,
20XX, to qualify. Good luck!
4. XXXX Airlines frequently monitors the
needs and requirements of its passen-
gers to provide the best service possible.
Please help us to help you! For your time
and effort in completing the following
short survey, your XXX Airline Prefer-
ence account will be credited with 150
points. The points earned by completing
this survey will be awarded by January
31, 20XX. The answers provided will be
kept strictly confidential and will only
be used for this study. Your preference
number was referenced in the e-mail in-
vitation to participate in this survey for
your convenience. Thank you.
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5. By completing this short survey, you will
help us better understand the choices you
have made or will make regarding your
childrens education. As an incentive, we
are giving away ten, $50 gift certificates
from an electronics store in your area that
can be used in person or online. All you
must do to qualify to win one of these
prizes is to complete the following short
(less than 5 minutes) questionnaire. All
entries must be received by March 31,
20XX, to qualify. Good luck! Please be
assured that your answers will only be
used in combination with those of other
respondents to produce a report and will
not be used for any other purpose.
Confidentiality
Often it is a good idea to tell the respondent
that these data are collected for marketing
research purposes only.
Example:
The respondent will not be called or so-
licited in any way. The e-mail addresses
will not be linked to the information pro-
vided. These addresses are used to collect
the data only.
Your answers to the survey questions
will remain anonymous. Additionally,
your name and any e-mail address will not
be linked to your responses to preserve
confidentiality.
Qualified Respondent
It is important to make sure that the survey
is answered by the right person, the quali-
fied respondent. After an introduction, the
next step is to ensure that the respondent
is a qualified respondent. To do this, it is
necessary to set up what researchers refer
to as the screener. A qualified respondent
is anyone who can respond to the survey
as per specific information detailed in the
objectives of the study.
If it is a study involving food products,
perhaps the client would like to talk to
the person responsible for the weekly
food shopping; or
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