Survey Question

Evaluating Survey Questions
Name
Institution
Evaluating Survey Questions
The following evaluation is considered against the following four parameters:
Negative wording; complexity (note: good questions are simple and straightforward)
Double-barreled
Loaded
Grammatically incorrect
It is also important to note that most of the time, questions that are not simple and straightforward are also ‘loaded.’
Survey Question Evaluation
Question 1 – Please specify your gender
The first question of this survey has positive wording and is not loaded since it is simple, concise and straightforward. The question is also grammatically correct.
However, the question is double-barreled since it only gives the option for two genders, i.e., male and female yet there are people who are transgender or bisexual. It would be better if a third option ‘other’ would be added to cater for the transgender persons.
Question 2 – Which of the following age groups do you fit into? This question is well structured. It is simple, to the point and giving specific options without in-betweens that could confuse a person responding to the survey. The question is also grammatically correct and concise enough; therefore not loaded.
Question 3 – Where do you live? As much as this question passes the test for grammatical correctness, not being loaded and being simple, it has a double-barreled scope. The question is too open, and this might cause a person responding to the survey to wonder about what exactly is expected of their response.

Giving of examples, multiple choices or specifications guidelines would have helped frame the question in a better manner. Including a slot for address, city, and ZIP Code would have helped narrow down the question to a reasonable scope.
Question 4 – Which of the following best describes your employment status? This question gives choices that cover all the general relevant areas as needed by the survey. The question is also simple, straightforward, non-double barreled and grammatically correct.
It is important to develop good survey questions to:
Avoid frustrating respondents by not covering their angle of the survey subject accurately. For example, when you don’t include neutral or N/A in multiple choices.
Avoid bias. This happens when sensitive questions such as gender and age are asked at the start of a survey. This usually has an unconscious impact in the responses brought forward by the respondent; they may end up ‘cooking’ the responses rather than producing their accurate point of view (“How to Write Good Survey & Poll Questions | SurveyMonkey,” n.d.).
Avoid framing responses for respondents. Framing responses essentially re-confirms the propositions of the survey rather than investigate a subject.
Poorly written questions can bias results when respondents do not understand questions correctly, or when related questions follow one another respectively (“How to Write Good Survey & Poll Questions | SurveyMonkey,” n.d.). As the surveyor decodes the data, the details about demographic factors of the respondent could also inadvertently lead to bias from his/her side. Therefore, objectivity has to be maintained while doing a survey all the way from the start to the end (Zapier, n.d.).
References
How to Write Good Survey & Poll Questions | SurveyMonkey. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/writing-survey-questions/
Zapier. (n.d.). Surveys 101: A Simple Guide to Asking Effective Questions. Retrieved from https://zapier.com/learn/forms-surveys/writing-effective-survey/