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Question types and questionnaire glossary

Overview

Crafting effective surveys starts with selecting the right question types. Questions are the foundation of your questionnaire, shaping how you gather data and paving the way to uncover meaningful insights. Below is a breakdown of common question types and their unique purposes, along with a glossary to help you navigate market research terminology.

Question types

Single & multiple selection

This is the most common type of question in surveys. Respondents choose one or more options from a predefined list, making it ideal for collecting quantitative data.

  • Matrix Format: Useful when asking the same question across multiple items (e.g., brands, products, or statements).

Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are designed for gathering qualitative data, focusing on the "why" behind behaviors and opinions.

  • Formats:
    • Essay: Respondents elaborate in detail.
    • Textbox: Often used for spontaneous recall (e.g., listing known brands).
    • Numeric Input: Allows quantification of metrics like spending or frequency.

Rate and rank sort

These questions introduce a ranking or rating mechanism to understand preferences and priorities.

  • Applications:
    • Rank Sort: Respondents classify items by preference using drag-and-drop.
    • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures likelihood of recommending a brand, product, or service, often used as a quality indicator.

Structural

Structural questions are hidden from respondents but play a crucial role in survey design and analysis.

  • Uses:
    • Create logic and paths for different respondent segments.
    • Act as cross-variables for segmentation in analysis.
    • Populate variables based on previous answers.

Market research glossary

  • Question Logic: Filters that display questions to specific segments of the sample.
  • Condition: Filters that limit answer options to relevant respondents.
  • Non-eligibility: Rules that set eligibility of your questionnaire
  • Recode: Variable created for analysis purpose based on the answer to one or multiple questions
  • Piping: Process applied to repeat a set of answers selected previously in the questionnaire to a question that appears later
  • Loop: Repeats a set of questions for multiple items like brands or products.
  • Attributes: Characteristics assigned to answer options (e.g., "Exclusive" for single selection, "Textbox" for open-ended input).
  • Coherence check: Quality metrics applied in the questionnaire to detect bad quality behavior 
  • LOI (Length of Interview): The estimated time to complete the survey, measured in minutes.