80 survey question examples and when to use them

Surveys are created to gather essential data for organizations. Unfortunately, poorly worded survey questions can skew your results, leading to issues like response bias, which is the tendency of respondents to answer questions falsely for any number of reasons, such as to provide more socially acceptable answers to controversial questions. By choosing the right survey question types, and asking the right questions, you can avoid response bias and make your surveys more effective.

To help you create surveys that lead to informed business decisions, we’ll examine 80 survey questions, how they work, and when to use each.

Market research questions

Market research is typically aimed at your business’s target audience. This type of research allows businesses to tailor their marketing and products to those who are already customers or are likely to become customers.

For example, while huge brands like Starbucks and McDonald’s both specialize in food service, their products and advertising are completely different. This is because of the insights they gain from market research. The following market research questions provide a great starting point for conducting your research.

1. Why did you decide to use our company?
2. Where do you usually purchase this type of product or service?
3. How often do you use our product or service?
4. What problems does the product or service solve for you?
5. What characteristics do you look for in this product or service?
6. What problems do you often encounter with this type of product or service?
7. How did you hear about our company?
8. What can we do to improve your future experiences with our company?

Customer experience questions

Customer experience surveys help you see your business through the eyes of clients. These survey forms can be customized based on the part of your business you want to evaluate. For this reason, you may want to make several types of customer experience surveys so you can zero in on specific issues.

9. How satisfied are you with this product or service?
10. Did this product or service help you accomplish your goal?
11. How would you improve the product or service?
12. What is the most useful feature of this product or service?
13. Was our website easy to navigate?
14. How could we improve our customer service?
15. Will you use our company again in the future?
16. How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?

Product development questions

Nobody wants to spend all their resources creating a product that customers don’t like or need. Thankfully, you don’t have to. Product development surveys enable you to test ideas before you invest too much in them.

17. What is your first thought about this product?
18. How interested are you in purchasing this product?
19. Are you satisfied with the product’s performance?
20. How would you rate the quality of this product?
21. What changes would you like to see made to our product?
22. Is this product something you need or something you want?
23. How does this product compare to similar products in the industry?
24. What price range do you think this product would sell for?

Brand recognition questions

Everyone wants to be recognized for something, but what if your brand is associated with the wrong ideas? Brand recognition surveys help you see if your core values are being communicated correctly to your audience.

A quick tip: These surveys can be used for both returning customers and individuals who have just stumbled onto your website, as each perspective is important for determining brand recognition.  

25. Where did you first hear about our brand?
26. When you think of our brand, what values do you associate with it?
27. How would you describe our brand?
28. How often have you used our products and/or services?
29. How have your interactions with our brand impacted your view of the company?
30. How likely are you to recommend this brand to a friend or coworker?
31. Which brand is the most well-known in this industry?
32. What aspects of this brand make it well known?

Employee survey questions

As the economy continues to improve, many businesses will need to retain and hire more employees. But demand is starting to outstrip supply. A May 2021 report by the National Federation of Independent Business found that 48 percent of small businesses had unfilled positions.

By using employee satisfaction surveys, you’ll learn how your current employees view their jobs and glean ideas for improvement so you can hire the workers you need. Plus, by administering these surveys to your employees at regular intervals, you can determine if any workplace changes have been beneficial or not.

33. How happy are you with your current job? 
34. Do you feel valued at work?
35. Is your average workload manageable?
36. How would you rate your immediate manager’s leadership style?
37. Do you have the resources and support you need to accomplish your job?
38. Do you have sufficient opportunities to advance your career?
39. Does the company’s culture contribute to a positive working experience?
40. Are there problems not brought up in this survey that need to be addressed?

Event survey questions

Whether it’s a booth at a trade show or an expo sponsored by your company, events are often used to generate leads and increase your brand recognition. Sending out event surveys after the function can help you make sure that your events are living up to your expectations.

41. How did you first hear about this event?
42. Why did you attend the event?
43. How did attending this event impact your view of the business?
44. Do you remember any of the event’s sponsors?
45. If you were able to demo a product, what was your impression of the product?
46. Are there any topics, services, or products that you would enjoy seeing at this event?
47. Did you experience any challenges when registering or trying to attend the event?
48. Were you satisfied with the networking opportunities at the event?

Educational institution survey questions

Educational organizations use surveys for much more than the average business. This includes surveys for academic research, student or faculty satisfaction, and ideas on which vendors to use for food service or merchandise.

Best practices for institutions like colleges include providing students with a separate email address for school communications and limiting the number of surveys you send. This will also help ensure that you don’t violate student privacy laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

49. How would you rate the campus climate in terms of being respectful?
50. How would you rate the knowledge level of the professors?
51. Was it hard to access resources such as tutoring or other forms of academic assistance?
52. Was the school staff helpful?
53. Are the facilities clean and safe?
54. Do you feel safe on campus?
55. On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy were you with the variety of extracurricular activities?
56. Was the school accessible?

Nonprofit organization survey questions

Nonprofits often depend on donations to carry out their missions. By using surveys, these organizations can learn which fundraising methods are successful and what messaging style works for their cause. If your nonprofit’s mission is to improve people’s lives, your organization can also use surveys to determine the needs of the people you are helping.

57. How did you first learn about our organization?
58. Was the donation process easy to complete?
59. Was it clear how your charitable donation would be used?
60. What motivated you to volunteer at our organization?
61. On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your volunteer experience?
62. Did you feel that the training you received prepared you for your volunteer work?
63. How easy is it for you to access our services and support?
64. Are there any needs or gaps in services that we could fill?

Healthcare company survey questions

Healthcare organizations are tasked with providing vital medical care while keeping their patients happy. By using patient surveys, medical institutions can track the efficiency of their work and overall patient satisfaction.

Healthcare surveys must be HIPAA-friendly. If you’re collecting demographic information or medical data, this information must be private and secure. To keep patients happy, allow patients to opt into receiving surveys so that they don’t feel pressured to provide personal information for nonmedical purposes.

65. Were you able to make an appointment that fits your schedule?
66. Was it easy to navigate the clinic/hospital?
67. How satisfied were you with the appointment check-in process?
68. Did you need to wait past your appointment time to receive care?
69. How long past the appointment time did you wait?
70. Were staff members kind and courteous?
71. Were your medical questions answered?
72. How satisfied are you with your doctor? 

Membership organization survey questions

Establishments like lodges, country clubs, and honor societies focus on providing services for their members. Surveys help improve members’ benefits and reveal ways to increase member acquisition and reduce attrition.

73. How long have you been a member of this organization?
74. What membership advantages do you enjoy having?
75. Is the price of your membership worth the benefits it provides?
76. How many events on average do you attend each year?
77. Which of our events/activities/meetings do you like the most?
78. Which of the events/activities/meetings do you like the least?
79. What changes do you believe need to be made to the organization?
80. How likely are you to renew your membership?

Build smarter surveys with Jotform

Knowing which question type to use makes all the difference between a survey that collects noise and one that surfaces real insights. From open-ended fields and Likert scales to ranking questions and demographic data, each format covered in this guide serves a specific purpose — and Jotform gives you all of them in one place. With over 12,000+ ready-made survey templates and a drag-and-drop builder packed with flexible form fields and widgets, you can put together a polished, effective survey in minutes.

Once responses come in, Jotform Tables keeps everything organized and easy to share, while Jotform Report Builder automatically converts your data into vibrant, customizable reports that update in real time. If you haven’t already, try building your first survey with Jotform today — and turn the feedback you collect into decisions that actually move the needle.