One of the basic tasks that most market analysts tend to carry out at some point in their career is writing questionnaires. To execute this activity it is necessary to start from a deep knowledge of the objectives of the research to be resolved. Based on the latter and the available resources, we can choose one technique or another to collect data and information.
At first it seems very simple to develop a questionnaire. However, if all the care is not taken in the wording and order of the questions, it is possible to fall into errors so serious that they lead us to repeat the field survey phase with the consequent cost overruns. It is for this reason that we share four best practices to create an effective form.
Write clearly and simply. Although each person has their own particular way of writing, when designing a questionnaire it is important to keep it brief and not open to interpretation. Otherwise, when the surveys are proposed to people, we can incur in a scenario where the meaning of the answers does not serve to solve the objectives of the study.
Avoid using examples. On some occasions we will feel tempted to use a case as a model so that people can better understand our approaches. When we engage in this practice we are predisposing the meaning of the response. We must always guarantee that our questions are the most objective and easy to understand for all people and in the greatest number of opportunities.
List the sufficient number of questions. When designing a questionnaire, more is not always better. This is so because the collaboration of people is not always unlimited in terms of time. In addition, the more items the data collection instrument has, the more chances there are of inducing biases such as «first response» or losing the concentration of the participants to collaborate with us.
Provide support material. Usually we appeal to spontaneous knowledge to deepen our studies. However, in some investigations it will be possible to offer recall stimuli to meet some objectives, since otherwise the samples would have to be larger. That is why it is also a relevant task to design cards with images or lists of correct pre-established answers.
In the elaboration of questions we can resort to previously elaborated questionnaires. However, it is always possible to review them with the help of experts in analysis and market research. It is always worth giving enough time and attention to this phase of projects. Wanting to save time or relying on previously used instruments leads us to make mistakes that are very difficult to correct.
Acertiva has experts who can help you write better questions and are ready to collaborate with you in gathering the answers. We have almost 20 years of experience in Latin America with this and other techniques. Write us today so that you can share your needs with us and in turn we will tell you how together we can write your next success story.
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