# Survey Design

> Design surveys that produce reliable, interpretable data — with clear questions, sensible scales, and bias-aware structure. Use when building questionnaires for customers, employees, research panels, or market studies.

- Skill: `itsual/survey-design` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add itsual/survey-design`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/itsual/survey-design/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: itsual (https://skillmd.com/u/itsual)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/itsual/survey-design

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# Survey Design

## Overview

Survey quality is mostly design quality. Poor questions produce confident, misleading numbers. Good design maximizes truth per minute of respondent time.

## When to Use

- Customer, employee, or market questionnaires
- Tracking studies and pulse surveys
- Concept and pricing tests via survey
- Academic or program evaluation instruments

## Core Practices

- Start from decisions and constructs, not a wishlist of questions
- Use simple, specific language; avoid double-barreled items
- Choose scales intentionally (and keep them consistent where comparing)
- Randomize or rotate sensitive order effects when needed
- Pilot for comprehension and timing
- Plan analysis before fielding

## Principles

- Every question costs attention — earn it
- Leading and loaded wording poison results
- Mandatory long surveys increase junk data
- Incentives and channel choice affect who responds

## Verification

- [ ] Each question maps to an analysis need
- [ ] Pilot feedback was incorporated
- [ ] Sampling and nonresponse risks are acknowledged