No one can argue that language is a powerful tool, and usually, people who get to master it are some of the greatest minds in the world.
Language is and has always been extremely important throughout the history of humanity. It comes as no surprise, then, that how questions are made can subtly guide your answers.
How you ask a question can significantly influence how people respond, sometimes without them even realizing it.
It’s important to craft questions carefully to get reliable, unbiased insights. So, how do survey questions shape responses, and what can we do about it? Let’s dive in.
The Power of Words in Surveys
Words can frame a situation, set the tone, evoke emotions, and do so much more.
When designing a survey, every word choice matters because, even if you want it or not, it will influence the way respondents interpret and answer questions.
You don’t need to have a malicious purpose to phrase a question in a certain way; sometimes, it is simply hard to hide our beliefs and education, even when we are being as neutral as possible.
A simple tweak in wording can change results dramatically.
Let’s look at some of the key ways question-wording impacts responses.
1. Leading Questions: Steering the Response
A leading question subtly prompts a respondent to answer in a particular way. These questions can create bias and lead to skewed data.
Example:
● Leading: “How amazing was your experience with our product?”;
● Neutral: “How would you rate your experience with our product?”.
The first question assumes the experience was amazing, but the second is neutral and allows for a range of honest responses.
2. Framing Effects: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
How a question is framed can significantly impact responses. This happens because people react differently to positive or negative phrasing, even if the meaning is essentially the same.
This applies not only to questions but also to any other human interaction, and experts in communications know it pretty well.
Example:
● “90% of customers love this product!” (Positive framing);
● “Only 10% of customers dislike this product.” (Negative framing).
While both sentences share the same information, the first sounds more encouraging just because it highlights the positive aspect of the same facts, and this may lead to higher ratings.
3. When It’s Anyone’s Guess: The Trouble with Vague Questions
If a question is too broad or unclear, respondents may interpret it differently, leading to unuseful data, and wasting your time and theirs.
Example:
● Vague: “Do you exercise regularly?”;
● Clearer: “How many times per week do you exercise, and how much time?”.
The second question is straightforward, ensuring more accurate responses.
How Can Choices Shape a Response?
It’s not just the question wording that matters—answer choices also play a huge role in shaping responses.
1. Response Scale Effects
The range and wording of answer choices can influence how people respond. For example:
● “How often do you use our app?”
○ Rarely;
○ Sometimes;
○ Often;
○ Very Often.
Compared to:
● “How often do you use our app?”
○ Once a year;
○ Once a month;
○ Once a week;
○ Daily.
The second set of choices provides a clearer scale and avoids vague terms like “sometimes.”
2. A Real Dilemma: Open or Closed Questions
You might face a tough choice here, so let your final decision depend on the goal of your survey. Multiple-choice questions make surveys easier to analyze, but open-ended questions can provide richer insights.
Which one should you choose?
Don’t forget that too many open-ended questions can lead to survey fatigue, and too many multiple choices can make your survey boring.
Best Practice: Mix multiple-choice and open-ended questions for balanced feedback.
Use Tools To Protect Your Data
Online surveys have taken the lead in recent years, probably because people are more concerned about the usage of paper and their carbon footprint.
It is about time to make a change and start using paper as minimum as possible. Approximately 26% of waste dumped in landfill sites is discarded paper or paperboard, a huge amount of waste that could be easily avoided.
However, there is a challenge to the online world; to trust online tools, people must be sure that their privacy is safe.
Here is some advice you can use yourself or add as a disclaimer for your surveys.
1. Using a VPN for Privacy
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) masks your IP address, helping you stay anonymous while using the internet. If you’re ever concerned about data privacy, make sure to check how virtual private networks work before using a VPN to see the difference it makes.
2. Treat Your Personal Information as if it Were Gold (Because it is)
Many tech experts claim that information is the new currency because it has been monetized in many ways. Companies need your information to know how to sell things to you. This said, you should:
● Avoid surveys that ask for unnecessary and unrelated details;
● Be suspicious if anyone asks for sensitive information and offers a reward in exchange;
● Always read the privacy policy before submitting responses. If the disclaimer is too long, you can even copy and paste the text and ask the AI to simplify it for you.
3. Opting for Reputable Survey Platforms
The platform processing your surveys will naturally have access to all this information. Make sure to use only reputable platforms that prioritize data security. Search for their data protection policies if needed.
How to Write Questions (As Neutral as Possible)
If you’re creating a survey, you surely will want accurate and meaningful results to get the best insights. Here’s a quick checklist to ensure good questions:
● Use neutral wording: Re-read your questions as many times as needed and avoid leading questions that push respondents in one direction;
● Be as specific as possible: Don’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt; be as straightforward as possible;
● Offer balanced answer choices: Make sure all possible responses are included in your range of answers;
● Test your survey: Run a pilot test and ask your friends to complete it. This could help you catch any wording issues before launching.
Conclusion
The way you use language can strongly affect people’s reactions, and online surveys are not the exception to this rule, even if we only use verbal language for them.
Understanding the psychology behind question-making could be useful not only for creators and participants but also for real-life situations.
Knowing how to answer a question and knowing when it is biased can help you keep your private data safe.