How do you test and pilot your survey before launching it to the full sample?

1 Choose your testers and pilots

The first thing you need to do is to select a small group of people who will test and pilot your survey. Ideally, they should be similar to your target population in terms of demographics, characteristics, and attitudes. However, you should also include some diversity in terms of age, gender, education, and experience. You should also avoid testing and piloting your survey with people who are involved in the survey design or administration, as they may have biases or expectations that affect their responses.

3 Conduct usability testing

Usability testing is another qualitative method that involves observing how testers interact with your survey interface and layout. It helps you evaluate the functionality, accessibility, and user-friendliness of your survey, and whether it works well on different devices, browsers, and platforms. You can conduct usability testing in a controlled environment, such as a lab or a room, or in a natural setting, such as the testers' home or workplace. You should record the testers' behavior, feedback, and suggestions as they complete your survey, and note any technical issues or errors.

5 Review and revise your survey

After conducting the testing and piloting phases, you should review and revise your survey based on the feedback and data you collected. You should identify and correct any problems or errors with your survey questions, options, instructions, logic, or design. You should also consider making any changes or improvements that could enhance your survey clarity, validity, reliability, or relevance. You should document the changes you made and the reasons behind them, and test and pilot your survey again if necessary.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?