Cvent Survey

Did you know there are five main types of survey questions? Each type can be used to attain different types of data, so make sure to be mindful about which type you choose. Here's a quick overview of the five survey question types:

1. Open-ended question. This question type is used to gain more insight into how the respondent feels. This type of question type requires a lot of attention when analyzing responses, so use it only when having the response in the respondent's own words is important.

Open-ended question example:

Describe your relationship with your child.

2. Multiple choice question. This question type is often used to gather demographic information or to find out about a range of issues. Multiple choice questions can require a single answer or offer multiple answer selections.

Multiple choice question example:

What is your marital status? (Select one)
- Single
- Living with Partner
- Married
- Divorced
- Separated
- Widowed

3. Ordinal scale question. This question type asks respondents to rank a range of items or choose from an ordered set.

Ordinal scale question example:

When considering a job offer, please rank the importance of the following (Please fill in your rank order using numbers 1 through 5 with 1 being the most important):
- Positive working environment
- Salary
- Benefits
- Vacation time
- Challenging workload

4. Interval scale question. This is the most commonly used question type. On an interval scale, it is important that the space between each option, whether it's a number range or a feeling range, are equal. Many of you have probably seen scales asking about agreement strength, likelihood or satisfaction (i.e. very unsatisfied, unsatisfied, neither satisfied nor unsatisfied, satisfied, very satisfied).

Interval question example:

After learning about product XYZ, how likely are you to consider purchasing it when next shopping for laundry detergent?
Extremely unlikely 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Extremely likely

5. Ratio scale question. This question type asks respondents to respond in a measurable way. You've likely seen ratio scale questions about income, age or hours spent. Ratio scale questions have a true zero, and often times will be presented in an ordinal way with ranges. However, these ranges can still be treated as ratio responses for analysis.

Ratio scale question example:

How many hours a day do you spend on a computer?

Selecting the correct question type is an essential part of any survey design. Carefully consider the question type(s) on your next survey in order to obtain significant data.