Write simply, survey better
A few years back, Paul Graham—investor and co-founder of Y Combinator—published Write Simply, a short essay about a powerful idea:
"The easier something is to read, the more deeply readers will engage with it."
Good survey questions follow the same principle.
They’re “good” because people can answer them without trying – the idea you’re conveying and their reaction easily appear in their mind.
I know it’s more complicated than that.
“What’s your age?” is easy and not very insightful.
But I’ve never seen a question that was both insightful and hard to answer.
What’s the key to writing “easy” questions?
Two things come to mind.
First, use precise language.
"The leaves covered the ground" is better than "the leaves were on the ground" because covered communicates both quantity and placement in one word.
Second, forget the mechanics. Most survey methodology guides focus on proper data collection techniques. But reading these is like an aspiring novelist studying grammar instead of storytelling.
Are you struggling to craft “easy” survey questions?
Need help asking questions that make people think "I know exactly what to say" instead of “wtf are they even asking?”
Consider booking a Survey Roast.
Precise language is one of the many items I focus on.
Send me your survey draft, and for $145, I'll make a 15-minute Loom video with copy-and-paste edits and suggestions to improve your survey data quality.
Cheers,
Sam