Neutral or Leading? Writing Fair Survey Questions

Question 1

The Aster Elementary club wants pupils' views on canteen noise. Which draft is neutral rather than one that pushes an answer?

Accepted Answer

How do you feel about the noise in the canteen?

Answer

Don't you agree the canteen is too noisy?

Answer

Wouldn't you say the canteen noise is a problem?

Answer

Isn't the canteen much noisier than last year?

Question 2

A draft asks, "Don't you agree the library hours are too short?" Why is this a leading question?

Accepted Answer

It tells the respondent which answer to give.

Answer

It asks about two different topics at once.

Answer

It can be answered with only a yes or a no.

Answer

It uses a word most pupils do not know.

Question 3

The club must fix this leading draft: "Don't you agree our new library corner is wonderful?" Which repair makes it fair?

Accepted Answer

What do you think of the new library corner?

Answer

Isn't the new library corner a good idea?

Answer

How wonderful is the new library corner?

Answer

Don't you enjoy the new library corner?

Question 4

A draft asks, "How do you like the terrible new class schedule?" Which word carries a judgment and makes the question unfair?

Accepted Answer

terrible

Answer

schedule

Answer

class

Answer

new

Question 5

The Health Club wants opinions on the morning exercise program. Which draft uses neutral words?

Accepted Answer

What do you think about the morning exercise program?

Answer

How much do you enjoy the wonderful morning exercise?

Answer

What do you think of the tiring morning exercise program?

Answer

Do you like the boring morning exercise program?

Question 6

A draft asks, "Should pupils waste class time on the noisy club fair?" Which repair removes the judging words?

Accepted Answer

Should class time be used for the club fair?

Answer

Should pupils waste time on the club fair?

Answer

Should class time be lost to the noisy club fair?

Answer

Should the noisy club fair take class time from pupils?

Question 7

Mr. Cruz says one canteen draft asks two things at the same time. Which draft is the double question?

Accepted Answer

Was the canteen food tasty and cheap?

Answer

Was the canteen food tasty?

Answer

Was the canteen food cheap?

Answer

How often do you buy canteen food?

Question 8

A draft asks, "Was the school trip fun and well planned?" What is the best repair?

Accepted Answer

Ask about the fun in one question and the planning in another.

Answer

Keep both ideas but add a rating scale from 1 to 5.

Answer

Change "and" to "or" so pupils pick one idea.

Answer

Move the draft to the end of the printed survey.

Question 9

A draft asks, "Was the new club room clean and quiet?" Ana answers "No." Why is her answer hard to use?

Accepted Answer

The club cannot tell which part of the question she means.

Answer

The club cannot tell whether she visited the room.

Answer

The club cannot count answers that are only yes or no.

Answer

The club cannot ask her a follow-up question later.

Question 10

Only some pupils go to the Saturday assembly. Which draft assumes something that may not be true?

Accepted Answer

What did you enjoy most at the last Saturday assembly?

Answer

Do you go to the Saturday assembly?

Answer

What do you think of the Saturday assembly?

Answer

Would you join a Saturday assembly next month?

Question 11

A draft asks, "Which day do you bring a snack to the club room?" Some members never bring one. Which question should come first?

Accepted Answer

Do you bring a snack to the club room?

Answer

Which snack do you like best?

Answer

How many snacks do you bring each week?

Answer

Why do you bring a snack to the club room?

Question 12

A draft asks, "How much did you enjoy the new reading corner?" Mia has never used it. Why is the draft unfair to her?

Accepted Answer

It assumes she used the corner, so no answer is true for her.

Answer

It asks about two different things at the same time.

Answer

It uses words that are too hard for her to read.

Answer

It lets her choose more than one answer at once.

Question 13

The Science Club wants pupils' views on its plant project. Which draft is too vague to answer?

Accepted Answer

Do you like school things?

Answer

Do you like the plant project?

Answer

What did you learn from the plant project?

Answer

How often did you water the class plants?

Question 14

The club sells notebooks and pens. A draft asks, "Do you like our stuff?" Which repair is clearest?

Accepted Answer

Do you like the notebooks and pens the club sells?

Answer

Do you like the things our club sells to pupils here?

Answer

Do you like most of the stuff we sell around school?

Answer

Do you like what our club sells at school each week?

Question 15

Twenty pupils answered "Yes" to the draft "Do you like school activities?" Why can the club not use this result?

Accepted Answer

Each pupil may have thought about a different activity.

Answer

The pupils answered before they saw the whole survey.

Answer

The club counted the yes answers instead of listing them.

Answer

The question was printed near the end of the club form.

Question 16

A club asked, "Don't you agree our fun field day was a success?" Ninety pupils said yes. What is wrong with reporting that finding?

Accepted Answer

The result is weak because the wording pushed pupils to agree.

Answer

The result is weak because only ninety pupils answered it.

Answer

The result is fine because most of the pupils agreed.

Answer

The result is fine because the club asked every class.

Question 17

A club prints this question: "How do you feel about the new lunch line?" This draft pushes pupils toward one answer.

Accepted Answer

False

Answer

True

Question 18

The club wants one short question about the new bell schedule. Which short draft is still neutral?

Accepted Answer

What do you think of the new bell schedule?

Answer

Isn't the new bell schedule better?

Answer

Do you love the new bell schedule?

Answer

Is the new bell schedule as bad as before?

Question 19

Nina drafts this survey question: "Wouldn't you say the club fair was well run?" What is the fault in her draft?

Accepted Answer

It leads the respondent toward saying yes.

Answer

It asks about two things in one question.

Answer

It assumes the pupil never went to the fair.

Answer

It is too vague for a pupil to answer.

Question 20

Ben drafts this survey question: "What do you think of our activities?" What is the fault in his draft?

Accepted Answer

It is too vague, because the activities are not named.

Answer

It plants the answer in the respondent's mind.

Answer

It asks two separate questions at one time.

Answer

It assumes the respondent is a club officer.

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BLASTROOM

Neutral or Leading? Writing Fair Survey Questions

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

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Zombie Escape

Avalanche

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Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Bug Blast

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner

Neutral or Leading? Writing Fair Survey Questions

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

Like what you see?

More like this

Zombie Escape

Avalanche

Maze Blast

Cave Climb

Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Bug Blast

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner