One of the most important part of designing an effective road safety survey is creating questions that accurately measure opinions, behaviour, and experiences. Here are some tips to help design successful surveys:
- Clearly state the topic or topics that will be covered by the survey. As you develop the questions, check that they relate to the topic or topics.
- Identify your audience and word the questions so that the audience will understand what you are asking.
- Keep in mind that the choice of words and phrases is critical in expressing the meaning and intent of the question.
- Ask questions that are clear and specific.
- Ask only one question at a time.
- Check if certain words used may be seen as biased or potentially offensive to the audience.
- Group questions on a similar topic together.
- Check if the group of questions follow in a logical order.
- Check if questions early in a survey may have unintended effects on how respondents answer subsequent questions.
- Test, re-test, and re-re-test your survey before launching it. This will help identify issues. It is much easier to correct issues early.
