{"id":35737,"date":"2021-03-05T10:11:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T10:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proprofs.com\/c\/?p=35737"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:15:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:15:58","slug":"how-to-fix-survey-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.proprofssurvey.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-survey-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Problems With Surveys You Can Fix Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"How<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The telephone company solved John\u2019s complaint within 24 hours. Hence, he was more than happy to respond to a follow up customer survey.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question 1: How would you rate your overall customer service interaction?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

{ John gives a five star!}<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question 2: What attributes did you like the most about our customer service representative? (minimum 100 words)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh no! This is too lengthy. I do not have much time to think about this. Let me skip this question. No option to skip? Let me exit the survey!\u201d<\/span> John thought.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the above scenario, John was forced to exit the survey because of  the necessity to answer a lengthy question. John did not have the time and patience to answer a detailed question that too with a word count of minimum 100 words.. It can happen with any of your customers while they are attempting a survey. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lengthy, irrelevant, personal, or too many open ended questions, can potentially lead to survey fatigue, high survey exit rates, and poor data collection.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, you need to foresee the <\/span>most common problems surveys <\/span>well beforehand and be prepared to tackle them.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is precisely what we have covered in this blog. After reading this blog, you will get a detailed understanding of <\/span>\u2018how to fix survey problems\u2019<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What are Common Survey Problems?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While creating a survey, your content and design team faces multiple challenges ranging from the type of questions, avoiding survey biases, ensuring the mobile responsiveness of the survey, using the right <\/span>survey maker tool<\/a><\/strong>, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s have a clear understanding of these problems with surveys.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. <\/strong>Leading and Loaded Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leading and loaded questions<\/a> are biased survey questions that confuse or trick the respondents to give a favorable answer. In such a scenario, you receive inaccurate survey responses that fail to give you a clear understanding of your audience\u2019s needs. . <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s consider this question:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you think about this amazing event?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, the adjective \u201camazing\u201d leads the survey respondent<\/a><\/strong> to answer in a favorable manner. Even if the respondent did not like the event, they may find it  rude to point out the shortcomings.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Double-Barreled Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Double-Barreled questions consist of two different sub questions combined under a single question. Each of these questions require a different level of thinking and answer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s understand with the help of an example,<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you like tea and coffee?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question requires two answers: A respondent\u2019s like\/dislike for tea and their like\/dislike for coffee. Hence, it is better to split the question into two for better clarity and response.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Too Many Demographic Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Demographic questions collect the personal information of the target audience like age, income, marital status, religious affiliation, and so on. But, the catch is that too many demographic questions right at the beginning of the survey can seem too much for your target audience to respond. Many of them would have filled the demographic details multiple times. A lot many others would be reluctant to answer personal questions. The key is to strategically place them in the middle and give the option to skip these questions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: How to Ask Demographic Questions Like a Pro?<\/a><\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
4. Poor Mobile Responsiveness of Surveys<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Poor<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Source:Pagebuildersandwich<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you know that the average response rate of a mobile survey ranges between 30-40%(<\/span>source<\/span><\/a>)? But, some of the <\/span>common problems with surveys<\/span> on the mobile platform is the lack of clarity and responsiveness of the survey, confusion regarding survey navigation tabs, slow image loading, and so on. <\/span>Additionally, issues with mobile attribution data<\/a> can further complicate the accuracy and reliability of the results obtained from mobile surveys<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more: Effective Ways to Improve Your Survey Response Rate<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
5. Insufficient Response Options<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It is observed that many surveys fail to include the right answer options for their audience to choose from. Instead of answering the particular question, your audience either moves to the next question or abandons the survey altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s understand with the help of an example:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow many years of driving experience do you have?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
  1. 1-2 years<\/span><\/li>
  2. 3-5 years<\/span><\/li>
  3. 7-10 years<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    If the respondent has 15 years of experience, there is no relevant option to collect their answer. Instead, in this case, an option \u201c10+ years\u201d helps to collect valid responses from the respondents.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    6. Negative Worded Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    Negative worded questions have \u2018not\u2019 words attached in the question and they confuse your survey respondents. They could even end up giving a completely opposite answer to the question.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For example, consider the question<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
     \u201cIt is <\/span>not easy <\/b>for me to interact with the customer service team\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Agree<\/span><\/li>
    2. Not Agree<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      Here, a respondent can be easily confused and choose an unintended answer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      7. Improper Design of Skip Logic<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \"Improper<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
      Source: Microsoft<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      Skip logic type survey question<\/a><\/strong> takes the survey respondent to a specific page based on their choice of answer selection. It is an easy way to filter out responses in a survey. But, your skip logic functionality can malfunction, if your customers end up in the same infinite loop and see the non-relevant options.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      Let\u2019s understand with the help of an example,<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \u201cAre you vegetarian or non-vegetarian?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      1. Vegetarian<\/span><\/li>
      2. Non-Vegetarian<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        If the respondent selects the option \u2018Vegetarian\u2019, they shouldn\u2019t be asked a next question related to meat eating like \u201cDo you like fish or chicken?\u201d. Instead, they should be taken to a page with only vegetarianism related questions. If not, they might find the survey questions irrelevant and exit the survey altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Read more: How to Use Skip Logic in Surveys<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        8. Too Many Open-Ended Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \"Open-Ended<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
        Source: Cartoonstock<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Sometimes, while <\/span>designing survey questions<\/span>, we tend to create a number of open-ended questions to collect comprehensive feedback<\/a><\/strong> from our audience. But, we miss out on the fact that open-ended questions are lengthy and require a lot of time to think and answer. Most of the respondents will be reluctant to continue with the survey due to time constraints.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Read more: What is Survey Fatigue and How to Avoid It?\n<\/a><\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        9. Irrelevant Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        At times, <\/span>issues with surveys<\/span> is that you end up asking irrelevant questions that are completely unrelated to the survey topic. This can irritate your customers resulting in survey abandonment, midway through.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        10. Confusing Rating Level Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        Rating level questions try to understand the opinions of your customers on a wider scale. Usually, we make use of (1-5) scale or (1-7) scale. But, when do rating level questions get confusing?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        It gets confusing if the scale is not labeled properly. In that case, some customers can take \u20181\u2019 to mean a low score while others can think it to be a high score.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        11. Assuming Prior Knowledge of Your Survey Audience<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        Not all your survey audience will be aware of the survey topics and ideas behind each survey question. Hence, it is necessary that you use as simple and jargon free language as possible in your survey. Also, ensure that you have familiar survey answer options to make their job easier.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        With a clear understanding of <\/span>common survey mistakes, <\/span>let\u2019s understand <\/span>\u2018how to avoid survey problems\u2019<\/span> in the next section.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        <\/span>Pro-Tips on How to Fix Survey Problems<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        In this section, let\u2019s understand the tips and tricks to an <\/span>effective survey design<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span> It is possible by carefully planning the questions, proper placement of questions, limiting the length of the survey, and many more.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n