4 Benefits of Skip Logic in Online Surveys

What are some benefits of skip logic in online surveys?

1. Lessens survey questions
2. Keeps questions relevant
3. Increases number of completions
4. Provides better results

Online surveys are more widespread now than ever. While they have been used since the 90s, the pandemic made them even more significant. The limited physical interactions of the lockdown mean that many processes move online. Researchers also transition to online surveys for their own purposes. To improve them, the benefits of skip logic in online surveys were explored and implemented.

What is Skip Logic?

Skip logic, in a nutshell, lets you see questions only relevant to you by changing what questions you see based on your answers. Different answers would lead to different questions. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure feature for online surveys. The mechanics will depend on how you set the survey up.

But why exactly would this improve online surveys? Keep reading to find out!

Lessens Survey Questions

Skip logic is also oftentimes referred to as “conditional branching” or “branch logic”. This is because it works by creating different “branches” or routes that survey respondents can take. In other words, answering yes would lead to a different question than if you answer no.

How does this change the survey? Traditional surveys show all the same questions to every respondent. Every respondent would need to answer every question that’s prepared.

On the other hand, by using skip logic, this would no longer be necessary. Your respondents will not see all the questions, only those they would be prompted to answer. This would also significantly lessen the time needed to finish the survey. A short survey is less likely to scare respondents away.

With fewer questions, less effort is needed from your respondents. You will notice that people will appreciate this better, as shorter surveys take up much less time and effort to complete.

Keeps Questions Relevant

Using skip logic will keep the questions dynamic because the queries changes based on the respondent’s answers. The reasoning behind this is that the person shouldn’t have to answer questions that are not immediately relevant to them.

Supposedly, the branch that your respondent will follow should be the best and most relevant path for them. Skip logic eliminates any time that could be wasted on irrelevant questions as they also tend to interrupt the flow of the person answering.

Maintaining the relevance of the questions will keep the purpose of the survey clear to the respondents. It is generally better to avoid confusion in online surveys, and having focused and relevant questions is a good way to do it.

Increases Number of Completions

Along with lessening time and effort to do the survey will come the willingness of more people to finish it. Sometimes, traditional surveys take too long to finish. Surveys with many questions that seek to get specific information would benefit greatly from using skip logic.

There are several reasons why people may ignore your survey. One of them is due to the presence of irrelevant questions. We’ve already established the ability of skip logic to keep questions relevant, so we know that it can contribute to a higher completion rate. But there’s more to that.

The design of the survey itself, if skip logic is used, will continue the engagement that the respondent has. Skip logic makes the whole survey make sense, and if a survey makes sense, the respondent is more likely to complete it.

Provides Better Results

One of the biggest advantages of skip logic is that it alters the survey in such a way that it is designed specifically for the respondent currently answering it. The person taking the survey becomes its focus instead of getting blanketed with questions. Isn’t the essence of surveys to learn about your respondents?

Skip logic drives the survey to be tailor-made for your expected respondents. The results would then give you better insight and better information overall. If your respondents answer questions outside the scope of what you want to find out, the results would be a mix of satisfactory and unsatisfactory. Ultimately, better results would help you make better decisions regarding the intention of your survey.

Skip logic has been tested in different fields, including medicine. This type of approach for surveys has been used for better evaluation of performance, in this case of resident doctors in a hospital. Using skip logic keeps the survey in line with their standards, yielding more favorable and interpretable results.

Good questions make for good answers. Because skip logic streamlines the survey, it becomes a smooth-sailing experience for the respondent and a good source of information for you.

Key Takeaway

The many benefits of skip logic in online surveys should be enough for you to contemplate its application for your business or organization. The quality of both questions and results will, more often than not, drastically improve. Considering the changes that skip logic may do to your online surveys, it’s recommended that you use it for future survey questionnaires.

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