What are the best practices for avoiding double-barreled questions?

1 Why avoid double-barreled questions?

Double-barreled questions can lead to several problems in your marketing research. First, they can confuse your respondents, who may not know which part of the question to focus on or how to rate their overall satisfaction. Second, they can bias your data, as respondents may give different answers depending on the order or wording of the question. Third, they can limit your analysis, as you cannot separate the effects of each variable or compare them across groups. Therefore, avoiding double-barreled questions can help you increase the validity and reliability of your research.

2 How to identify double-barreled questions?

One way to identify double-barreled questions is to look for words that indicate multiple concepts or dimensions, such as "and", "or", "both", "either", "all", "any", etc. For example, "Do you like the design and functionality of our website?" is a double-barreled question, because it asks about two distinct aspects of the website. Another way to identify double-barreled questions is to check if you can split the question into two or more separate questions without changing the meaning or intent. For example, "How easy and convenient was it to order from our online store?" can be split into "How easy was it to order from our online store?" and "How convenient was it to order from our online store?".

3 How to avoid double-barreled questions?

The best practice for avoiding double-barreled questions is to ask one thing at a time. This means that you should break down your question into simpler and more specific questions that address each variable or dimension separately. For example, instead of asking "How satisfied are you with the quality and price of our product?", you can ask "How satisfied are you with the quality of our product?" and "How satisfied are you with the price of our product?". This way, you can measure each aspect of satisfaction independently and analyze the relationship between them.

4 How to format your questions?

Another important factor that can affect your question quality is the format or type of your question. There are different types of questions, such as closed-ended, open-ended, Likert-scale, ranking, etc., that have different advantages and disadvantages. You should choose the format that best suits your research objective, your target audience, and your data analysis plan. For example, if you want to measure the level of agreement or disagreement with a statement, you can use a Likert-scale question, such as "To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Our product meets your needs." However, if you want to explore the reasons or opinions behind the agreement or disagreement, you can use an open-ended question, such as "Why do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Our product meets your needs."

5 How to test your questions?

The final step to ensure that your questions are clear, relevant, and unbiased is to test them before launching your survey or interview. You can test your questions by conducting a pilot study, a cognitive interview, or a focus group with a small sample of your target population. These methods can help you identify and fix any issues or errors in your question wording, format, or logic. You can also ask for feedback from your colleagues, experts, or stakeholders on your question design and content. By testing your questions, you can improve your response rate, quality, and accuracy.

6 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?