Tips for writing good survey questions
• Each question should have only one single objective. ‘I volunteer at governmental elections and NGOs’ Note, what if the participant only volunteers in one institution!
• Adopt the same definitions or concepts throughout the survey. For instance, if your key term is university students, keep it like that, and do not alternate it with college students in different parts of the survey.
• Avoid leading items that imply a preferred way to answer.
For example:
‘I think that women make best teachers.’
1) Totally Disagree 2) Disagree 3) Undecided 4) Agree 5) Totally agree
• Avoid rating within the questions such as ‘I always attend student protests.’
1) Never 2) Rarely 3) Sometimes 4) Frequently 5)Always
Avoid loaded questions, especially during face-to-face interview survey, which may emotionally charge the respondent. For example: Do you have cancer?
• Use questions that are simple and easy to understand, and cause no misunderstanding.
• Avoid using technical jargon. It may discourage the individuals to continue with the survey.
• Avoid negative or double negative expressions such as ‘I do not like the politicians,’ or ‘I do not dislike politics.’
• Be precise, avoid estimations such as ‘Estimated how many students are there in your class?’ ask ‘What size is your class.’