Research Tips

Don’t Make People Answer Unnecessary Questions

Many surveys don’t make use of skips and branches (nor dynamic content creation in computer-based surveys) to ensure that people aren’t asked questions that are not relevant to them, even though their previous answers should have made it clear that they are not relevant. Given the ease of implementing these techniques, there’s really no excuse for forcing respondents to answer more questions than they need to. It shows a lack of care about or knowledge of survey design and a lack of respect for respondents, which may make people less willing to participate in future research projects.