User's Manual

Smart Survey Design
Page 11
Example: Please rank the items from 1 to 5 according to what is most important when
looking for an online survey provider.
1
st
choice 2nd choice 3
rd
choice 4
th
choice 5
th
choice
Survey templates        
Multi-lingual Support        
More customization        
Multiple logins        
More export formats        
3. Matrix & Rating Types:
The matrix & rating type questions are used when surveying the frequency of
something like behavior or attitude. It is best to present the rating scale in a logical or
consistent order. Therefore, it makes sense to order the ranking or rating choices from low
to high (e.g. Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree going from left to right).
If you set up the rating scale in your survey in this format of “Strongly Disagree” to
“Strongly Agree,” make sure that the rest of the survey is consistent and all rating scales go
from the low to the high frequency throughout (or vice versa). In addition, some surveys
may only label the outliers or endpoints of the scale, but it is good practice to assign a label
or number to each rating scale.
Please note: Some studies have shown that whether verbal descriptors are used only at
endpoints or at every scale point, it may affect the distribution of the data collected either
way (Meric, H. and J. Wagner 2006, 3).
Example: Without Descriptions on Every Rating Scale:
Please answer the following about SurveyMonkey.
1 - Strongly 5 – Strongly
Disagree 2 3 4 Agree
It is easy to use. 
It is fun. 
(See the next page for example on adding descriptive text to each column)