We have talked about it before, and we are definitely going to talk about it in the future; survey writing is an art form. I'm not comparing survey writing to a Picasso, but if you took an inside look at the surveys crafted by Drive Research you would see what I'm talking about.
Survey writing is not one of those traits you are born with, but being a curious person helps. Curiosity is one of those traits many (if not all) analysts have. It is the driving force of our work. We ask why? We dig deeper. We search for root causes of consumer behavior.
In a previous post, we discussed how to write a survey and provided tips for survey flow. In another post, we discussed 44 quick tips for online surveys. (Yes, we realize that's a lot of tips.)
Through many years of experience, we have developed a special set of skills that helps us craft effective research methodologies, carry out those methodologies, and then pull insight from the data gathered to drive business strategy.
In this post, we will discuss survey writing goal language (what it is, how it is used, and more).
What is survey goal language? How is it used? Find out!
What is survey goal language?
Survey goal language is text added to a survey to explain to the client why the question is being asked. Typically, survey goal language goes further to explain question phrasing, what results it will produce, or how the results may be shown in the market research report.
But it doesn't stop there. Depending of the objectives of the research, survey goal language may be simple or in-depth to explain to the team exactly the types of strategies a question or series of questions can produce. The goal language may be as simple as one sentence or as lengthily as several.
How does survey goal language help?
Survey goal language is a helpful time saver for our clients, especially for those who are new to market research or are not well versed in market research. This added information saves a lot of back and forth discussion both internally and with the survey writing team.
So, instead of wondering why the survey writer chose specific wording or asked a question in a slightly different manner, goal language provides the answer to the reader.
Avoid miscommunication with why questions are being asked. Use goal language in surveys.
Where is survey goal language placed?
This is truly up to the survey writer, but typically survey goal language is placed after the survey question or series of questions the goal pertains to. As a rule of thumb, stay consistent with wherever you place the goal language throughout the survey.
When the survey is ready to be programmed it is removed. The goal language is not intended for the participant but rather the client team.
What some examples of survey goal language?
Now for the moment I am sure we have all been waiting for: Examples!
I've chosen some easy examples for the purposes of this blog post. However, depending on the objectives of the research survey goal language may be more in-depth than what is shown here.
Example 1
Question: What word or phrase comes to mind when you see or hear Drive Research?
Example survey goal language: The results to this question will assess top of mind feedback about Drive Research from respondents. Asking this question unaided gathers true unbiased responses direct from the respondents. The responses can be shown in the report as word count analysis as well as a visual word cloud that places emphasis on words that are more frequently used.
Example 2
Question: Which of the following best describes your age?
Example survey goal language: This question will help the team understand similarities and/or differences between age groups. For example, how do the results of those aged younger than 45 differ from those aged 45 and older? The results to this question can be cross-tabbed to the results of other questions. This will also tell us the make-up and profiles of survey takers as a whole.
You Should Contact Our Team
Drive Research is a market research company in NY, but our services span across the country and beyond. As you might be able to tell, we are passionate about market research and everything it encompasses. We are obsessed with market research as you might have noticed on our market research blog.
Wondering what better data, better decisions, and better strategy looks like? We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Contact us via email at [email protected] or by phone at 315-303-2040.