We've processed millions of survey forms over the past 30 years, from employee and customer satisfaction surveys,
to every form of market research and government survey.
Below are some essential tips for compiling a survey for your company or project. Following these guidelines
will help ensure accurate results and save you money during
data entry.
The design of the survey form should be simple, clear and easy to follow. Keep text on the left and response
boxes on the right. Where possible, align the response boxes vertically to assist
data capture.
Free text responses, where opinions or personal preferences can be hand-written, should be kept to a minimum.
They tend to be less accurate and more time-consuming to complete, requiring a higher degree of
interpretation
(and therefore cost) during data entry.
An alternative to free Text is to provide a tick-box list of possible options or choices. Tick box responses
provide unambiguous data which is easy to capture and evaluate.
Avoid open-ended, ambiguous questions that might be interpreted incorrectly. Provide a list of options where
possible.
When seeking an opinion, for example "strongly agree", "agree", "indifferent", "disagree", "strongly disagree",
consider adding "other" which can be interpreted as "Other", "N/A" or "Don't Know" during
data entry processing.
When seeking to capture name and address details, ensure that you leave adequate space for long surnames
and addresses. Always "fence-off" sufficient space for the postcode, especially if it is hand-written.
Avoid response forms with gummed edges. If data is too close to the gummed edge, the information is at risk
when the edges are separated.
Opening gummed responses forms adds extra cost and can often cause response forms to stick together.
Layout of Text and Response Boxes |
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Keep plenty of space around and between question text and response boxes. This not only helps initial
legibility, but assists with accurate
data capture.
Where possible, provide a unique reference number for each survey to assist with analysis and for future
reference.
In cases where the survey runs into multiple pages, keep the page format the same way up in order to avoid
the need for awkward page turning. This will add to your
data processing costs.
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Call 0800 612 6256 for a free quotation,
or send us your contact details and we'll call you back at a convenient time...
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Find our how
Delgat Data
delivers the UK's
most accurate
data entry
service...
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Learn more about our professional UK-based data entry team...
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