Types of survey questions

Looking for insights? It’s important to start off on the right foot. The way you
get information and the survey questions you use play a big role in a
successful survey.

Before you rush into writing your survey questions, ask yourself how you
intend to use the answers from your survey. Are you going to ask direct
questions? What about categorical questions? Once you know the goals of
your survey and the information you’d like to collect, you’ll be able to
choose survey question types easily.

Survey questions can use either a closed-ended or open-ended format to

collect answers from individuals. And you can use them to gather feedback
from a host of different audiences, including your customers, colleagues,
prospects, friends, and family.

Note: A closed-ended question includes a predefined list of answer options,

while an open-ended question asks the respondent to provide an answer in
their own words.
 What are the top three survey question types?

• Multiple choice questions

• Open-ended questions
• Rating scale questions
 What are the top questions to ask for a successful survey?

Make sure to ask the how, why, who, when, and what. Take a few minutes
to answer these 5 questions before you start writing your survey.
 What are some tips to make questions more mobile friendly?

• Limit the number of questions on each page

• Use mostly multiple choice questions in your survey

 • Keep surveys as short as possible to minimize dropouts
 Are there survey template examples I can use to maximize responses?

From social media templates to customer success, SurveyMonkey offers a

variety of free survey templates for you to choose from.

Before you decide on the different types of survey questions to use, let’s
review each of your options. These include:

 Multiple choice questions

  Rating scale questions

  Likert scale questions

  Matrix questions

  Dropdown questions

  Open-ended questions

  Demographic questions

  Ranking questions

  Image choice questions

 Click map questions

  File upload questions

  Slider questions

  Benchmarkable questions

This list features the best types of survey questions, so once you master
using them, you’ll be set to write surveys like a pro!
Popular types of survey questions
Below are some of the most commonly used survey question types and
how they can be used to create a great survey. To see what each type of
survey question might look like, visit the sample survey questions page.

Multiple choice questions

Multiple choice questions are the most popular survey question type. They
allow your respondents to select one or more options from a list of answers
that you define. They’re intuitive, easy to use in different ways, help
produce easy-to-analyse data, and provide mutually exclusive choices.
Because the answer options are fixed, your respondents have an easier
survey-taking experience.

Perhaps, most important, you’ll get structured survey responses that

produce clean data for analysis.

Multiple choice questions come in many different formats.

The most basic variation is the single-answer multiple choice question.

Single answer questions use a radio button (circle buttons representing
options in a list) format to allow respondents to click only one answer. They
work well for binary questions, questions with ratings, or nominal scales.

Here’s how a single-answer question can look:

Multiple-answer multiple choice questions are commonly shown with

square checkboxes. They allow respondents to check off all the choices
that apply to them. For example, "In which of the following ways do you use
our product?"
A common drawback of multiple choice questions is that they force you to
limit responses to a predetermined list of options. This can cause bias in
your results. What if none of your answer options apply to your
respondents? They might just choose a random answer, which could
impact the accuracy of your results.

You can solve this problem by adding an “other” answer option or comment
field. It should be listed at the end of all your choices. When respondents
see it, they know they have the option of answering your question in their
own words instead of yours.

Rating scales

In rating scale questions (sometimes referred to as ordinal questions), the

question displays a scale of answer options from any range (0 to 100, 1 to
10, etc.). The respondent selects the number that most accurately
represents their response.

Net Promoter Score® questions are a good example of rating scale

questions. They use a scale to gauge how likely customers would be to
recommend their product or service.

With ranking questions and numerical rating scales it’s important to give the
respondent context. For instance, imagine you asked the question, “how
much do you like ice cream?” Without explaining the value of the numbers
on your scale, a numerical rating scale might not make much sense.
Likert scales

Chances are you’ve seen this question type before. Likert scale

questions are the “do you agree or disagree” questions you often see in
surveys, and are used to gauge respondents’ opinions and feelings.

Likert scale questions give respondents a range of options—for example,

starting at “not at all likely” scaling all the way up to “extremely likely”.
That’s why they work well to understand specific feedback. For
example, survey questions for employees often use a Likert scale to
measure their opinions or attitudes on a range of topics.

Matrix questions

If you want to ask a few questions in a row that have the same response
options, matrix questions are your best option. A series of Likert scale
questions or a series of rating scale questions can work well as a matrix
question. Matrix questions can simplify a lot of content, but it’s important to
use them carefully. Very large matrices, like the one below, can be
confusing and difficult to take on mobile devices.

Dropdown questions

The dropdown question is an easy way to display a long list of multiple

choice answers without overwhelming your respondents. With it, you can
give them a scrollable list of answers to choose from.

Sometimes, showing all answer options at once can offer your respondents
useful context about the question. Keep that in mind whenever you
consider using more than one dropdown question in your survey.
Open-ended questions

Open-ended survey questions require respondents to type their answer into

a comment box and don’t provide specific pre-set answer options.
Responses are then viewed individually or by text analysis tools.

When it comes to analyzing data, open-ended questions aren’t the best

option. It’s not easy to quantify written answers which is why text boxes are
better for providing qualitative data. Allowing your respondents to offer
feedback in their own words could help you uncover opportunities that you
may have otherwise overlooked. However, if you’re looking for data to
analyze, you may want to engage in some quantitative marketing research
and utilize closed questions.

Pro tip: Pair closed-ended questions with open-ended ones to better

understand and address your quantitative data. For example, after the Net
Promoter question, you can ask:

Demographic questions

Use demographic survey questions if you’re interested in gathering

information about a respondent’s background or income level. When
properly used, these types of questions in a questionnaire allow you to gain
better insights on your target audience. Demographic questions are
powerful tools to segment your audience based on who they are and what
they do, allowing you to take an even deeper dive in on your data.

Classic demographic questions ask for information like age, gender, and
occupation. They can even ask for the respondent’s relationship status:

Once you get the hang of survey question types, you’ll quickly get the most
out of your data. Learning which survey question type to use helps you
focus on the most important information you need from respondents. Until
then, you can use our survey creation tools to help you choose the best
questions for your survey.

Ranking questions

A ranking question asks respondents to order answer choices by way of

preference. This allows you to not only understand how respondents feel
about each answer option, but it also helps you understand each one’s
relative popularity.

It’s important to keep in mind that ranking questions can take more time to
answer. So try not to use them if other question types can provide the data
you need. Also, only use them when you’re confident that respondents are
familiar with each answer option. Otherwise, they’ll be next to impossible to
answer accurately and honestly.

For instance, in the question below, respondents need to be familiar with

each show before they can compare them.

Image choice questions

Our image choice question type allows you to use images as answer
options. This works great when you want respondents to evaluate the
visual qualities of something, such as an ad or a logo. It can also provide a
breath of fresh air for respondents, as it gives them a break from reading.

Click map questions

Want to get real-time, gut reaction feedback on an image? Use a click map
question! Add an image to your survey and ask survey takers to click a
certain spot on the image. For example, you could ask what item on a shelf
is most appealing, or which part of your website is most user friendly.

File upload questions

Need respondents to upload their resume? A headshot? Their ID? You can
collect whatever you need as a PDF, PNG, or Doc file. And once your
responses come back, you can easily download the files.

Slider questions

Give respondents a chance to evaluate something on a numerical scale

with our slider question type. They’re interactive, which can make them fun
to answer, and they allow you to quantify respondent sentiment at both an
individual and aggregate level.

Benchmarkable questions

Benchmarkable questions aren’t necessarily presented in a specific format,

but they’re special in that they allow you to compare yourself to other
survey creators who asked the same question.

Benchmarkable questions range widely, and they can be used for different
audiences (employees, customers, etc.). To find one for your survey, you
can either use our question bank or one of our survey templates. Any
question that has a small bar chart icon at the top means it’s
benchmarkable.

3 tips for writing great survey questions

 Now that you know the different survey questions you can ask, you’re
ready to start creating your survey! Here’s some advice to keep in mind as
you begin:
Use the questions our experts have written

Creating a great survey doesn’t have to be difficult. Don’t let the design of a
questionnaire throw you. You could create one in minutes by choosing from
one of our hundreds of free, expert-designed survey templates built by our
in-house subject-matter experts and survey scientists.

Prefer to create a survey from scratch? Use our Question Bank to start

populating your survey with ready-made questions that can help you get
the answers you need. Either way, you’re sure to have a survey our
methodologists say will leave you with unbiased results.

Ask mobile-friendly questions

Are your surveys ready to go mobile? Roughly 3 in 10 people taking
SurveyMonkey surveys in the U.S. do so on a smartphone or tablet. Here’s
a quick checklist on the different survey questions you should ask and how
to format your survey to ensure it’s mobile-optimized and mobile-friendly.

 Use mostly multiple choice questions in your survey

 Limit the number of questions on each page

 Keep surveys as short as possible to minimize dropouts

 Only require responses to your most important questions

 Keep survey formatting simple—avoid progress bars or logos as they take

up valuable space

 Avoid using images—they take up valuable space on small screens

 Test your survey on different mobile devices

 Keep your survey URL short and easy to read so it can be linked anywhere

See what others think of your survey

We can all benefit from someone proof-reading our work. Surveys are no
exception.

Share your survey with colleagues, friends, family, and anyone else who
has a vested interest in its success before you send it. Who knows? They
might be able to help you spot errors or areas for improvement!

It’s important to know which survey question type to use and when to use it.
Once you’re familiar with different survey questions, you’ll be able to focus
on what you need from respondents, getting you far better data than ever
before.

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