Research shows that sensitive questions create psychological discomfort that can lead to survey abandonment when encountered early (Tourangeau & Yan, 2007; Krumpal, 2013).
A product feedback survey begins with questions about income, age, and job title before asking about product experience.
Problems:
The survey begins with engaging product experience questions, builds to moderately personal usage questions, and ends with optional demographic items.
Benefits:
Review your survey for questions about finances, politics, health, personal habits, or identifying information.
Position engaging, relevant questions early to build momentum before sensitive topics.
Allow respondents to skip personal questions while completing the core survey.
Provide clear reasons for sensitive questions to establish legitimacy and purpose.
Back to Principles Context Clarifies Intent Principle: Brief context statements help respondents understand why questions are being asked and how to frame their answers. Without
Back to Principles Clarity Trumps All Principle: Questions must be simple, direct, and jargon-free to ensure accurate responses. Clear questions minimize confusion and respondent burden,
Back to Principles One Question, One Focus Principle: Each question should target a single idea to avoid confusing respondents and muddling responses. Questions that try
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