Questions. Leave it after my speech (:

Yo geeks.

A questionnaire is very useful because it is simple to administer. Anyone can create a questionnaire. Besides that, they are very simple for respondents to complete. Just a few ticks which takes up maybe less than 1 minute: you have a questionnaire done. Simple as that. Also, some respondents may not be very comfortable around perky interviewers, so questionnaires can definitely substitute those irritating interviewers. Not just that, as respondents are not required to give in their replies immediately, those who want to have a think over the questions may do so, before submitting their replies. Questionnaires are very versatile, and it suits people of all ages, anywhere, anytime. 

Top Tips on creating an awesome questionnaire

1. Have a good introduction

This is very important because your introduction in your questionnaire tells people your objective of having their views and what are you going to use it for. A good introduction should also be attention grabbing, maybe as attention grabbing as this:

so that your respondents will be like this: 

and thus you can achieve maximum results with your questionnaires.

2. Put your questions in the order of importance

In online surveys, there are huge chances that your questionnaires are too redundant and seem very unimportant so respondents decide to well, abandon it. To avoid this, put the most important question as the 1st question in your survey and leave those demographic/ unimportant-but-required questions at the very end of your survey.

3. Use easy words

In a questionnaire, you do not need to show off your language, just like how peacocks struts and shows their beautiful feathers. (Males, I repeat, only MALE PEACOCKS do that.) Keep it simple and plain and do not use jargons. Respondents might feel that you are trying to show off or trying to imply that they are stupid not as smart as you- and feel offended and abandon your survey. Again, keep it short and to the point and simple. 

4. Randomize the responses

Whenever possible, change the order of the responses in your questionnaire in order to avoid 'order bias'. Some random kids might be clicking away random on your survey, so in order to avoid that, randomize your responses.

5. No graphics, please and thank you

Imagine yourself having a hard day at school. And Bob, your best friend, asks you to do a survey for him. Being your best friend, you can't possibly say no. You access your mail- and mind you, the internet is horrendously slow. You open your friend's message, which takes you 5 minutes. You click on the link, which takes you another 10 minutes. You hate the internet and you're very frustrated. When the page finally loads, you find yourself staring at the left hand corner of the screen, saying 'loading 1 of 100 pictures'. Damn it, you close your laptop. 

You see how frustrating it is to do a survey which takes a VERY VERY long time to load because of the useless pictures and graphics? Keep it clean, and graphics-free.

6. Thank you very much

Yes, the words behind the golden rule: thank you. Remember to thank them for their time and willingness to do your survey. After all, they are nice people who took the trouble to complete your survey.

Nicole X