Importance of form and survey design to gain an accurate picture

Lena Groeger, writing for Source, shifts attention upstream from analysis to the design of forms in the data collection process.

Whether you’re filling out a form or building it yourself, you should be aware that decisions about how to design a form have all kinds of hidden consequences. How you ask a question, the order of questions, the wording and format of the questions, even whether a question is included at all—all affect the final result. Let’s take a look at how.

Census surveys, election ballots, and racial profiling. Oh my.