Internet Survey

There is sufficient evidence from prior studies suggesting it is a good idea to keep respondents informed of their progress during internet surveys.  Respondents may suffer from fatigue or irritation, and may abandon web survey forms – even if they have only a few questions left to complete the questionnaire.  This may lead researchers and project managers to adjust their online questionnaire design by reordering questions to include “important” or sensitive items earlier, possibly causing more survey respondents to abandon mid-stream.

There are various survey design techniques that can be employed to keep respondents informed of their progress, especially within electronic surveys.  One way is to design web surveys so the entire survey web form can be viewed on a single page; but while this allows respondents to scroll down and see the total length of a questionnaire, this setup is less than ideal. 

Another method is to include words or symbols in headers and transitions that notify progress (such as section numbers, the words "next" and "finally," etc.)  By far however, the most popular and effective method of keeping respondents in the loop is to include a progress bar. 

A progress bar is a graphic or set of words that let respondents know how far along they are in the survey process.  Progress bars are especially useful for shorter, instant surveys, since answering only a few questions will show that they are through a significant portion of the questionnaire.

Cvent Web Surveys software makes it easy to include a progress bar as part of an effective online survey design.  You can even select among three options (percent complete, page x of y, or a bar graphic that fills as respondents move through the survey).