Survey questions can be ordered in various formats due to differences in survey objectives, types of information sought, and administration methods.
For example, computers enable dynamic adjustments to survey flow based on respondents’ answers. Question order within sections can be customized, varying for each respondent based on specific answers or randomly to prevent artificial response effects caused by question sequence (Guppy and Gray, 2008).
There are, however, some general suggestions that researchers have found helpful when it comes to ordering questions. Fink (2017) offers the following tips when it comes to the order of questions:
Interactive Book
Survey Question Order
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Guiding the Order of Survey Questions
Checklist
- For any given topic, ask relatively objective questions before the subjective ones
- Move from the most familiar to the least
- Follow the natural sequence of time
- See to it that all questions are independent
- Relatively easy-to answer-questions (including demographic questions) should be asked at the end
- Relatively easy-to answer-questions (including demographic questions) should be asked at the end
- Avoid many items that look alike
- Sensitive questions should be placed well after the start of the survey but also well before its conclusion
- Questions should be in a logical order
(Fink, 2017: p.71)
