Introduction

It’s popular knowledge that survey creators want to create a perfect experience for their respondents, as this is the sure way to derive accurate results and gain useful insights. Poorly crafted or ambiguous questions are among the most common causes of inaccurate research results. 

This is because they need further clarification for the survey respondents to understand what the questions are asking; the result is answers that must reflect their true thoughts. This post will show you double-barrel questions and how to identify and avoid them in your research studies.

For survey participants, it is also helpful to recognize them so that you can easily avoid questions that would be unable to reflect your truest feelings no matter how you express yourself.

What is a Double-Barreled Question?

When a question refers to more than one topic, the result is a double-barrel question. A double-barreled question is sometimes referred to as a double-direct question.

 It is a question that makes inquiries about two related or unrelated issues with room for only one answer. In most cases, the answer provided does not depict which question is being referred to in the response.

 These questions are often found in research surveys and can make accuracy in survey research difficult to achieve. In simple terms, double-barreled questions are two questions presented as one with only a single answer as a response option.

This approach leaves room for inaccurate interpretation of the survey results. For instance, asking survey participants how often and how much time they spend in the market is a double-barrel question. 

This is so because some respondents might visit the market frequently without spending a lot of much. While some may not be frequent visitors to the market, they spend a lot of time when they do. 

The problem is that they can only answer one of the questions at a time.

Effects & Implications of Double-Barreled Questions

A well-planned survey focuses on 3 major things; Getting respondents’ participation, motivating them to fill in the surveys, and using their responses to retrieve viable feedback that can guide business decisions.

However, with double-barreled questions, the respondents end up confused, and participation and completion of double-barreled survey questions are low. The cause of their confusion is that they have been asked two questions and are wondering which one should be answered.

In the same vein, the indecision on the part of the participants also leads to further confusion on the part of the survey analysts as they need clarification as to which of the questions the respondents answered in their forms, making it more difficult to analyze the answers.

The result of double barrel questions is always mixed-up answers that do not reflect the true state of things. 

The inaccuracy and unreliability of the results would cause poorly informed business decisions. This implies that the effort and resources invested in the survey would be a complete waste of time, as the purpose of the survey had been defeated due to the double barrel questions adopted.

Examples of Double-Barreled Questions

1. How well do you get along with your parents and siblings?

This question inquires about two things. The people referred to are people that you interact with often. Their relationship is different based on their classification. You might be closer to your siblings than your parents or vice versa.

The best way to gauge the relationship between your parents  and your siblings would be to separate the questions like this;

• How well do you get along with your parents?
• How well do you get along with your siblings?

2. How pleased are you with your remuneration and work culture?

Some people could be pleased with compensation but hate the work culture. This implies that they stay put only because they have bills to pay. The work culture may be stifling and toxic, while the salary is fantastic. So for more accurate feedback, separating the questions is the way to go.

• How pleased are you with your remuneration?
• How pleased are you with the work culture?

3. How satisfied are you with the Formplus Surveys form questions templates and customer support?

With questions like the above, you can not get the true picture of what customers think about your service. On the one hand, the form templates are flexible and can be tweaked to suit any survey using the intuitive code-free form builder. On the other hand, the customer might not have needed customer support due to the ease of using the software application.

In this case, dividing the questions into two like this is ideal.

• How satisfied are you with Formplus survey forms templates?
• How satisfied are you with Formplus customer support?

4. Which is better creation of more jobs or an increase in welfare packages for the unemployed?

These questions are difficult to answer, and it would be difficult to get the true stand on public opinions when questions are framed like this. How would the respondents answer the questions accurately if the preference is for more jobs or welfare packages?

The way out is two questions addressing the different concerns.

• Should the government create more jobs?
• Should the government increase welfare packages for the unemployed?

5. How often do you buy Apples and Mangoes?

• Always
• Frequently
• Sometimes
• Never

As you can see, it is difficult to tell which of the fruits a customer prefers to buy, as the question is lumping two different things together. A shopper might buy either of both fruits at different intervals. 

Some more frequently than others due to personal preferences. So asking a question like this would be better.

• How often do you buy mangoes?
• How often do you buy apples?

6. Is this application easy to use and useful?

The question refers to two aspects. Easy to use and users are both positive features. They are not interchangeable. Some respondents may find the software useful but need help using it.

It would be better to ask separately:

• Is the software easy to use interesting?
• Is the software useful tool useful?

7. How often do you take your children to the pediatrician, and how much time is spent on each visit?

The frequency of your visit to the pediatrician varies from how much time is spent with each visit. So instead,d it should be;

• How often do you take your kids to see the pediatrician?
• How much time is spent per visit?

How to Avoid Writing Double-barreled Questions

• Review your questions carefully. 

Stating the obvious, however, a careful review of your questions with your team would help you identify any questions inquiring about more than one thing; if a question falls into the double barrel category, edit it and break it down into two questions.

Asking a neutral person not involved in framing the survey questions would help you pinpoint double-barrel questions faster.

• Test run your survey.

Similar to how car manufacturers test cars and review cars before the final release. Before going live with the final survey, it is important to conduct beta testing.

This way, from the response, you can fix any issues relating to double barrel questions before the final release.

Other Common Survey Question Errors To Avoid

• Leading questions

Leading questions, as the name implies, employ the tool of biased terms to propel survey respondents to choose a particularly preferred answer option. It might seem like an innocent mistake; however, it can meddle with the survey’s accuracy. Most times leading questions are usually deliberate and aim to manipulate survey responses. There should be avoided at all costs, as this would affect the integrity of your survey, especially when reviewed by an external body, and would affect your brand image negatively.

Leading question example: Did you enjoy our new fantastic offer?

Read More – Leading Questions: Definition, Types, and Examples

• Confusing questions

Confusing questions are a result of using a mix of words inappropriately. It usually has to do with grammar, and online editing tools can be a great way to tackle them.

The result of confusing questions is that respondents misinterpret your questions, which leads to wrong answers. Confusing your survey respondents can leave them guessing when completing your survey and leave you with unusable results.

For example: “Was our product used, and did it help to resolve your problem?”

• Negative Questions

Negative questions, where positive responses indicate a negative answer and negative responses mean a positive answer. It cannot be easy to navigate for respondents and should be avoided, as the response can affect the quality of your survey.

• Absolute Questions

Absolute questions aim to compel a certain kind of response with a note of finality from respondents. Absolute questions coerce participants to select either a yes or no answer, while the questions are always characterized by terms like always, never, all i.e.

For example: Do you always work for at least 40hours weekly? (Yes/No)

The “always” in this question and the yes/no answer choices makes the survey experience very uncomfortable for participants. It is best to avoid absolute questions when creating surveys. 

• Ambiguous Questions

Ambiguous questions are usually difficult to answer, as their meaning is subject to various interpretations because there are too broad and not specific. This subjective interpretation leads to unreliable feedback, as each respondent would take an educated guess on what the question might mean.

The ambiguity here is the movie and the time it was aired. This kind of question would evoke a follow-up question by a respondent before an answer can be proffered.)

• Assumptive Questions

Researchers or survey creators usually assume they have a knowledgeable audience in assumptive questions. Hence the question asked might be difficult ro the participants to respond to, as they need further clarity before answering.

It’s best always to seek clarity and specificity in your survey questions. as ambiguous questions usually breed unreliable answers.

For example: Which exercises help you get rid of diastasis recti? (It assumes that the respondent suffers from diastasis recti, a condition characterized by separation of the stomach muscles usually experienced by women after pregnancy.)

Here the assumption is that the respondent is female has had a baby, and suffers from diastasis recti. Meanwhile, the participants might be males or females who have never had a baby or do not suffer from diastasis recti even after they have had children.

Conclusion

The quality of survey research can be compromised when the questions seem unclear about what is being asked. Double-barreled questions should be avoided as they usually connote more than one meaning. Survey questions must be smart, specific, and easy to comprehend without significant effort. If you need help crafting survey questions, you can check out any free customizable survey form templates from Formplus.