Survey Questionnaire Design: A Step-by-Step Guide for India

For each question, write the decision it feeds. If you cannot, delete the question. Use the brief template to fix the decision, audience and study type before you write a line.

Then list the evidence the decision needs, and write one question per item. Put it in a table so nothing is missed.

1. Introduction. Purpose in one line, length, privacy. Do not name the brand being tested.
2. Screener. Confirms the person is in your audience. Screen-outs end the survey politely.
3. Warm-up. Easy behavioural questions about the category.
4. Core. Unaided questions before aided ones, general before specific. Pew notes that earlier questions can unintentionally provide context for the questions that follow.
5. Profile. Age band, gender, city. Put sensitive items last.
6. Close. Thank and, if needed, ask consent for follow-up.

Pew's advice also covers answer options: keep the number of choices small, randomise unordered lists, and note that forced-choice questions tend to yield more accurate responses than select-all lists, especially for sensitive questions. Use select-all sparingly. For rating scales, see the Likert guide.

• Mobile first. Most answers arrive on a phone, so avoid wide grids and long scrolls.
• Language. Write each question in the respondent's language and have a native speaker check it. Test that a translated scale still reads as balanced.
• Length. Cut anything that does not feed a decision. Check the length on a phone, not on a laptop.
• Consent. Respondents under 18 need parental consent, see the teen survey guide.

1. Each question feeds a named decision.
2. One idea per question.
3. No leading or loaded words.
4. Answer lists cover the real options, with "other" and "none" where needed.
5. Unordered options are randomised.
6. Scales are balanced and labelled the same way throughout.
7. Unaided questions come before aided ones.
8. The screener does not give the answer away.
9. Sensitive questions are last and optional.
10. Routing sends each person to the right questions.
11. The survey is tested on a phone and in each language.
12. A pilot of a small group is read, not only counted.

If your job is a consumer survey in India, the AI survey builder drafts the questionnaire, screener and routing from your brief, then checks it against a quality rubric. You edit by conversation. This is the pilot and main study at list price.

Pro is sold in bundles of 400 to 1,000 responses and costs 20% less per response than Plus. Enterprise plans come with a dedicated research team and are priced on request.

The SuperJ network has a 25M+ consumer footprint. The survey-eligible panel is a subset, and availability depends on your targeting. Members complete Aadhaar-based KYC once, and each study receives a zero-knowledge proof of verification. Surveys run in as many Indian languages as the study needs. Quality checks flag speeders, straight-lining and inconsistent answers. Read /panel-methodology and pricing.

The limit: the app reaches smartphone users only, so offline households need face-to-face fieldwork.