A survey statement, also known as a survey item or survey question, is the fundamental unit of a survey. It's a piece of text, designed to gather information or opinions from respondents. As the building blocks of surveys, understanding survey statements is crucial for creating effective questionnaires.
Survey statements come in various forms, ranging from simple questions to complex scales, and they play a vital role in data collection. They can be used to collect categorical data (e.g., gender, marital status), ordinal data (e.g., level of agreement), or interval/ratio data (e.g., age, income).
Types of Survey Statements
Survey statements can be broadly categorized into two types based on their intent: closed-ended and open-ended.
Closed-ended survey statements require respondents to choose from predefined answer choices, making data collection and analysis easier. They are further classified as:
Dichotomous/Dichotomized
These statements offer two opposite or contrasting choices (e.g., Yes/No, True/False).
Example: Have you taken a survey before? (Yes/No)
Multiple Choice
Multiple choice questions provide three or more answer options to choose from.
Example: What is your gender? Male/Female/Prefer not to say
Constructing Open-Ended Survey Statements
Open-ended survey statements let respondents express their thoughts freely in their own words. These statements often start with "How," "What," "Why," "Describe," or "Comment on," and they are useful for gathering detailed, qualitative data.
However, data analysis can be more complex and time-consuming compared to closed-ended statements.
Repeating or Grid-style Open-Ended Questions
These open-ended statements are repeated for multiple items or displayed in a grid format to collect related information.
Example: How satisfied are you with each of the following services? (Please explain why) (with services listed below)
Piping and Branching in Survey Statements
Piping and branching allow survey statements to change dynamically based on previous responses. This improves data quality by making surveys more logical and intuitive.
Example: Based on your answer to the previous question, please explain further...
In crafting survey statements, it's essential to ensure they are clear, concise, and unbiased to avoid confusion or skewed results. Regularly reviewing and refining your survey statements can lead to more reliable and actionable data.
Remember, the power of a survey lies in its ability to transform responses into meaningful insights. Thus, investing time in crafting robust survey statements is not just important—it's pivotal for data-driven decision making.