A Survey Faux Pas: Double-Barreled Question

An integral part of the survey design process is to write precise questions.

A double-barreled question is the opposite, this happens when different topics are grouped on a single survey question.

For example, let’s go over the following survey question:

How reliable is your current Internet service and its customer support?

There’s some difficulty in figuring out what the respondent is actually rating.  Is it the Internet service?  Or is it a recent customer support encounter?

Drawing conclusions from this question is almost impossible and you run the risk of influencing your survey insights.

Your data is valuable.  You are better off separating the question above, it’ll give you a better outlook.

Eduardo E Sierra

I am a freelance marketing consultant. I design practical surveys and carry out data analysis for clients ranging from small businesses and startups to multinational corporations.