One Survey Question Can Hide Two Different Answers
RIAPL explains why a survey question should ask about one thing at a time, using price and delivery to show how clear wording makes responses easier to use.
Consider this customer-survey question:
“How satisfied are you with the price and delivery speed of your most recent order?”
A customer might consider the price reasonable but have experienced a late delivery. A single satisfaction score leaves the reason unclear.
This is a double-barrelled question: it asks about two different parts of the experience at once.
A clearer approach is to separate the two:
• How satisfied are you with the price of your most recent order?
• How satisfied are you with the delivery speed of your most recent order?
Now each response relates to a specific part of the experience. A team can examine price satisfaction and delivery satisfaction separately, without guessing which one a combined score describes.
The wording is only part of the review. Response options should fit each question, and respondents should have a relevant experience to report. Someone whose order has not arrived may need a different route through the questionnaire.
Before adding another question, check whether an existing one is trying to measure two things at once.
Further reading: Pew Research Center, Writing Survey Questions