We continue on with our blog series. As mentioned, in this 12-part blog series, we discuss the 12 key questions you should ask yourself when evaluating your company’s survey software solutions needs, and provide the advice you need to compare all available survey software solutions on the market today.  

Question 2: How many questions will appear in your survey?

If your plan is to develop a very brief survey of say 5-10 questions, then it is doubtful that you could go wrong with acquiring any type of survey software solution on the market. Many survey poll software or online poll services are simple to use, and often times can be used for free for a simple one-question survey or just a short questionnaire. Although tempting, often times these offerings are limited in terms of their application and capabilities, but they can be very useful when evaluating the usability and effectiveness of websites. Many organizations administer extensive research programs using one-question survey polls strategically placed throughout their website to collect meaningful site usage data. 

In general, the more questions you ask in your survey, the more complex the process. If it takes a respondent too long to complete your survey, you run the risk of respondents dropping out of the survey before it is complete. Respondents may become displeased if the survey takes too long to complete, and will certainly be very unhappy if they’ve been told it will only take 5 minutes to complete the questionnaire when it actually lasts 20 minutes. Keep your questionnaires as short as possible. If a long survey is necessary in order to reach your research objectives, consider conducting a second follow-up survey at a later date to capture additional data. 

It is strongly recommended to avoid questionnaire design “by committee.” There will always be a demand to satisfy the needs of a larger group. But, lengthy surveys and long data results lose focus. Decide on the specific purpose of your survey research at the very beginning of the planning stages, and stick to it. 

Next blog post: 

Stay tuned for part 3 of this 12 part blog series. Finding the Best Survey Software Solution, Question 3: What is your experience level with survey software? 

Missed the first blog post in the series? Find the Best Survey Software Solution, Part 1 of 12, Question 1: How many surveys do you intend to develop?