How you create your survey determines the rate of participation. Most people say that people don’t like filling surveys but never bother to wonder whether they can be blamed for the low response rate. Since the more the participants, the more insightful the analysis will be, it would be nice to know how to make it happen. Creating more professional surveys increases participation hence something worth taking into consideration. This piece has tips that will guide you when creating surveys. It will help you create professional surveys and increase participation in the long run. Check it out!
- Ensure that the respondents have the information needed to answer the questions
Upon identifying your target for the survey, ensure that the questions you ask are things they can answer. After all, it may be impossible to answer questions without the relevant information necessary. For those who may answer eventually, the answers they give may be inaccurate and total guesswork.
Since people often have recall problems, ensure that your respondents don’t have to recall too much to answer your questions. Avoid complex questions and choose short time frames.
- Write understandable questions
When creating a professional survey, avoid ambiguity at all times. One way of doing so is avoiding jargon. Always choose clear, simple language over acronyms and other complex terms. Including the time frame often referred to as the reference period is equally important. It will ensure that every respondent understands it in a particular way.
Don’t assume that people behave in a certain way when formulating your questions. What happens if your assumption is wrong? How will the respondent proceed if the case doesn’t apply to them? That is a situation that could decrease participation, and that’s not good news at all. In addition to that, avoid asking two questions simultaneously.
Remember that double-negative means a positive. However, that’s not something many people remember, so you should avoid it when asking survey questions. Otherwise, people may participate but respond wrongly, which is probably worse than participating. It would be best if you avoided chances of misinterpretation at all times.
- Ask questions that respondents are comfortable answering honestly
When questions get too personal, many participants may withdraw their participation. They are afraid of what would happen if the information was shared with other people. What it could do to their reputation and image makes them shy away from answering such questions. If they go ahead and answer, they will submit false and inaccurate information. You surely don’t want that.
- Use more than one language
If you already know that your target audience is Germans, use English and German to create professional surveys. Give them the liberty to translate the questions to the language they are more comfortable with.
- Use Buttons
Buttons increase click rates, and that’s why you should use them to increase participation when creating surveys.
- Use a catchy subject line
It plays a significant role in determining whether people will participate or not. So, make it as compelling as possible to encourage participation.
- Make it short
Last but not least, never forget that time is often a luxury that many people can’t afford. A long survey may not be encouraging in most cases, no doubt.
Conclusion
It is evident that how you create your survey determines whether people participate and how they participate. Therefore, use these tips when creating professional surveys. If you do, you can rest assured that the participants will also increase.