Good practice guide on question design

Ask about a single concept

Avoid combining multiple questions into one (double-barrelled questions). A respondent may feel differently about each of the concepts making it impossible to respond to the one question.

Ask about the respondent’s own experience

Ask questions that respondents will feel able to answer.

Make questions as specific and concrete as possible

Be clear what time period or context you’re referring to where relevant. Be consistent throughout a section (preferably the whole survey) about the time period you want respondents to think about.

Avoid leading questions

Make sure your questions don't influence respondents to answer in a way that doesn’t reflect how they really feel. Opt for neutral questions.

Aim for the most simple language

Remove all unnecessary words, and ensure the thing you are measuring in the answer options is the most important concept covered within the question.

Give respondents all possible answers

Make sure your response options are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive (MECE), meaning that these groups do not overlap and that they cover all possible options in the given context.

Include neutrals and opt-out answers - being neutral or not being sure about something is a valid part of the human experience and it’s important respondents don't feel irritated by not being able to find an answer that represents how they feel.