Catching a movie

RESEARCH IMPROVEMENTS - Research is a profession that should be carried out by experts. The biggest threat to quick and cost-efficient research is that the quality is almost always suffering. easy2survey wants research to remain good. Even when it is quick and against low cost. For this reason, we regularly share examples of mistakes and best practises in the market. We share our thoughts and possible solutions to improve research. By following these tips, we can make research better. This time the honour belonged to Research Expert Matthew Lewis.

Online questionnaires and surveys are still at the forefront of market research for many companies, as it opens up a vast number of possibilities. However, simple mistakes within questionnaires can tarnish the company conducting the research, but also the client they represent.

As a researcher, I often fill out online surveys. Firstly, to improve our own and find new solutions to problems, but it also helps us think about avoiding simple mistakes, which could cause issues when coming to analyse the data.  Whilst filling out a questionnaire, I came across a seemingly obvious mistake, when you take that second glance, but not so obvious when writing your own questionnaire.

For those who didn’t notice it straight away, the ordering of the scale is incorrect in a couple of places.  Firstly, the more obvious “Never” being at the top of the scale when the lowest amount is at the bottom. Secondly, the more entwined “2-3 times per month” being considered as a lower amount than “Once a month”. Mistakes in questionnaires, such as the example above, can lead to a decrease in validity of the survey, as they in-turn make respondents misread the question in front of them.

To help avoid mistakes, pre-testing or pilot-testing surveys internally or even externally have proven effective tools for secure questionnaire design.  Simply asking colleagues to fill out the survey can help avoid mistakes within a questionnaire, as they are looking for any errors within, but they can also provide new information and ideas you may have not thought of yet.  This method can help weed out any faults, as the designer is usually considered too close to the study, making them unable to see the wood for the trees.