Words speak louder than numbers.
Imagine this: You go furniture shopping with your friend Angela. “So,” Angela says, “what do you think of this lamp?” You shrug and reply, “2.”
Okay, let’s be honest, the above scenario is unlikely. First of all, you know better than to go shopping with Angela—she has terrible taste and is incredibly indecisive. Secondly, very few people actually answer opinion questions with numbers in real life. The only time we really do that is on questionnaires.
A questionnaire can be thought of as a conversation between the person asking the questions and the person answering them. We don’t talk in numbers, and we shouldn’t survey with them either. But coming up with a range of word labels to go along with the numbered responses on a survey question can be tricky.
For example, take the following question…
If you give someone a survey with the question to the right, odds are they’re not going to have a clue what you’re really asking, or how to respond. The answer will be more reliable for you, and less stressful for your respondent, if you include some descriptive words along with numbers.
The easiest place to start labeling your options is at the endpoints. Our question is about approachability, so a good label for “5” is “extremely approachable,” and a good label for “1” is “not at all approachable.” This is just one option; the important thing is that the endpoints are the extremes of your scale—there should be no higher/bigger/stronger description than what you use for 5, and no lower/smaller/weaker description than what you use for 1.
So now that leaves us just 2, 3, and 4 to label. The midpoint of the scale (in this case “3”) should be just that, a midpoint. It’s best to have it represent moderation, rather than neutrality or ambivalence. “2” and “4” should be a bit less and a bit more, respectively, than the midpoint—but less than the extremes.
Usually, if you have a 5-point scale (like we have here) the easiest fix is the following:
4 = “very <insert adjective here>”
3 = “moderately <insert adjective here>”
2 = “slightly <insert adjective here>”.
Unfortunately, these labels don’t always fit, so sometimes you’ll have to use your creativity. (Or use our Question Bank feature and let us do the heavy-lifting for you!) One more word of warning: Whatever adjective you use in your answer choices, (in our example the adjective is “approachable”) try to keep it consistent so people taking your questionnaire don’t get confused.
So, using these rules, this is the correct way to ask the question…
This format ensures that the people answering your survey know exactly what you’re asking. Even better, it helps you to make sense of the responses that you get back. An average response of “2” suddenly translates into the easily understandable label of “slightly approachable.” This can be a huge help if you’re using questions to generate performance feedback for colleagues.
Letting someone know in a performance review that they’re a 2 in approachability might not hit home. Telling someone that people think they’re only “slightly approachable” is more likely to make an impact.
Stumped on how to label the numbered answer choices to your particular question? Let us know in the comments section below!
Amar Sharma, Feb 3, 2012
love this exercise.
Hanna J, Feb 3, 2012
Thanks Amar! We love it too.
Ram Kumar, Feb 8, 2012
Absolutely right! We would get real answers only if the respondent understands the questions. Otherwise the survey will not be effective. Thanks a lot.
Hanna J, Feb 9, 2012
Exactly! Thanks Ram, we’re so glad you agree
mansi, Feb 10, 2012
great future ahead
Shafeeq MBA, Feb 10, 2012
Very good idea. Thanks
Eduard, Feb 13, 2012
Of course we would like the exactly responses, it will be clear
Eduard de la rosa, Feb 13, 2012
Its a really good exercise
Eduard de la rosa, Feb 13, 2012
I like this methodology its very helfull.
Eduard de la rosa, Feb 13, 2012
Thanks !! I love it
Eduard de la rosa, Feb 13, 2012
I would get real answer if the respondent understand the question.
Thanks
Nishant Jain, Feb 21, 2012
good one!
Ken Phillips, Feb 21, 2012
It seems to me that you certainly have the right idea with this notion of yours
Hanna J, Feb 22, 2012
Ken – Thanks for your support and for the feedback! We hope you have a great week.
Eric, Feb 22, 2012
Greatly positive!
Tara, Feb 22, 2012
I was just takling about this problem at work today. We had to find a ‘creative’ mid point description on a 5 point scale. What we ened up with was ok, but not as good as your ‘moderate’ suggestion. Will know how to deal with this next time. Thanks!
Hanna J, Feb 22, 2012
Tara – Great! So glad we could help. We’ll be blogging about more methodology tips and suggestions, so stay tuned!
EBELE NNAMDI N., Feb 22, 2012
Am in love with this site
Hanna J, Feb 22, 2012
Ebele – Thanks! We think you’re pretty great too. Have a great week!
Ruchi Sharma, Feb 22, 2012
This is a helpful note, I liked and understood more about choosing an option.
Hanna J, Feb 22, 2012
Ruchi – We’re so glad you liked our post! We’ll be featuring lots of methodology posts and tips in the future, so stay tuned for more. Thanks, and have a great week!
Yiannis, Feb 22, 2012
Excellent exercise. Instead of “Slightly approachable” I would have used “Only slightly approachable”. I feel this would differentiate more from the “Moderately approachable” option.
Hanna J, Apr 4, 2012
Hi Yiannis – Thanks for your feedback. Our survey methodologists and others have done quite a bit of research on the subject, and these labels are statistically proven to result in the most reliable (least biased) results. But of course, you are always free to label your survey however you think makes the most sense for your survey and audience. Thanks, and have a great day!
JULIUS NJETILE KIBONA, Feb 23, 2012
HOW CAN I WRITE SURVEY QUESTIONS?
Hanna J, Apr 4, 2012
Hi Julius – We offer a number of survey templates and Question Bank to help you come up with good, methodologist-approved questions. If you need help getting started with your survey, check out this video: http://blog.surveymonkey.com/blog/2011/10/11/video-demo-your-first-survey/
JULIUS NJETILE KIBONA, Feb 23, 2012
GOOD WORK OF SURVEYMONKEY?
THANKS.
Hanna J, Apr 4, 2012
Thank YOU Julius! We appreciate you
Adeniyi Matthew Bolakale, Mar 7, 2012
This sound interesting. How I which to receive more of this to widening my understanding.
Hanna J, Mar 7, 2012
Hi Adeniyi – We’ll continue to post about tips, suggestions, and components of a good survey. Check back in to our blog for more information, or create a free account to receive our newsletter. Thanks, and have a great day!
Ruben, Mar 16, 2012
Great article. I have never thought about this, as I actually thought that a number would be easier to decide a number than have to think about the content of a text.
Your examples are perfect though, I now understand how words can be more efficient. Thank you.
I am in the beginning of building a new website – http://www.7it.dk – is it possible to implement a survey from SurveyMonkey into our own website, and show live results?
Hanna J, Mar 20, 2012
Hi Ruben – Yes, there is! Just go to collect responses, click the “add a collector” button, and select “website.” This will generate html code which you can embed into your site. Then, click on the “change settings” button on the left, and under the green heading which says “display survey results,” click “yes.” Hope that helps! Let us know if you have any more questions!
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Hanna J, Feb 22, 2012
Yiannis – Great suggestion. Thanks!
Hanna J, Feb 23, 2012
Julius – No, thank you! Have a great day.
Hanna J, Feb 27, 2012
Julius – We offer professionally created templates and Question Bank to help you write questions that are methodologically sound. You can read more about it here: http://blog.surveymonkey.com/2011/07/question-bank/
Thanks!