Survey question checker
Paste your questions. See which ones will get you misleading answers, why, and a better way to ask each one.
What makes a survey question bad?
The short answer: A bad survey question nudges people toward an answer, asks two things at once, or uses words people read differently. The answers look clean but don't tell you what people think. A good question asks about one thing, in plain words, with room for any answer.
What the checker looks for
- Leading wording"How much do you love our new app?" assumes they love it. Ask "What do you think of the new app?"
- Two questions in one"How happy are you with the price and support?" can't be answered by someone who likes one and not the other.
- Loaded or absolute wordsAlways, never, obviously and "waste of time" push people to one end of the answer.
- JargonOnboarding, functionality, UX and NPS are your words, not theirs. Say setup, features and experience.
- Vague time frames"Recently" and "often" mean different things to different people. Say "in the last 30 days".
- Agree / disagree scalesPeople lean toward agreeing. "How easy or hard was checkout?" gets a truer answer.
- Yes or no, where you could hear more"Did you like it?" gets a yes. "What was the hardest part?" tells you what to fix.
- Too many optionsPast about seven choices, people skim and pick something near the top.
- No "Other" or "Not sure"When nothing fits, people pick the closest wrong answer or quit.
The checker is a set of rules, not an AI. It reads each line you paste, spots the patterns above, and rewrites the question when the fix is clear. It can't tell whether you're asking the right things, so read each suggestion before you use it.
FAQ
What is a leading question in a survey?
A question whose wording hints at the answer you want, like "How much did you enjoy our event?" It assumes people enjoyed it. A neutral version is "What did you think of the event?"
What is a double-barrelled question?
One question that asks about two things, like "How satisfied are you with our price and support?" Someone happy with one and not the other can't answer it honestly. Split it into two questions.
Should I use agree / disagree scales?
Usually not. People tend to agree with statements, to be polite or to finish faster. Ask about the thing directly instead, like "How easy or hard was checkout?", with answers from "Very easy" to "Very hard".
When should a question be open instead of yes or no?
When you want to know why. "Did you like the onboarding?" gets a yes. "What was the hardest part of getting started?" tells you what to fix. Keep yes or no for facts, like "Do you own a car?"
Is what I paste sent anywhere?
No. The checker runs in your browser and your questions stay on your device. If you choose "Turn these into a live survey", the fixed questions come with you to Enform so you don't have to type them again.
Does the checker use AI?
No. It's a set of rules based on common survey-writing advice, so it's instant and free. It catches wording problems, not whether you're asking the right things. If you want help with that part, Enform can write a whole survey from one sentence.