Survey question types: Examples and pro tips

Survey questions shape the data you collect, the insights you uncover, and the decisions you can make from your survey questionnaire. The way each question is structured, from the answer options you offer to the response scales you choose, directly affects accuracy, comparability, and the overall respondent experience.

Different survey question types provide different kinds of value. Multiple choice questions make patterns easy to quantify, rating scales capture intensity, Likert scales reveal attitudes, and open-ended prompts surface context you can’t get from fixed choices. Each format also has trade-offs, including effort, mobile performance, and the potential for bias introduced through unclear wording or imbalanced options.

Creating an effective survey questionnaire involves selecting the right types of questions to gather the data you need. Below is a snapshot of the most commonly used survey question types and when to use them. 

Keep reading for a more in-depth exploration of these common types of survey questions and how they can be effectively used to gather valuable feedback. You’ll find out how features like our Question Bank, benchmarks, templates, and AI-assisted design and insights help you build smarter and faster.

Multiple choice survey questions are a form of assessment where respondents select one or more predefined answer options, making them one of the most common and reliable types of survey questions. They’re quick to answer, easy to understand, and produce structured survey answers you can compare across respondents.

Single-answer multiple choice questions use radio buttons and guide respondents to one definitive pick. They work well for binary questions, rating categories, and nominal classifications where only one response applies.

Multiple-answer questions use checkboxes to let respondents select all that apply. Choose this format when behaviors or preferences naturally include more than one option. For example:

“Which channel did you use most recently?”

Because multiple choice questions rely on fixed response options, they can introduce bias if the choices are incomplete, unclear, or unbalanced. Watch for:

Rating scale questions are close-ended survey questions that ask respondents to choose a point on a numeric or labeled scale to measure intensity, satisfaction, or likelihood. These scales make it easy to quantify attitudes, compare responses, and track changes over time across your survey questionnaire.

Rating scales often use familiar numeric ranges, such as 1–5 satisfaction ratings or 0–10 likelihood scores. For instance, a satisfaction rating might ask:

“How satisfied were you with your experience?”

A well-known example is the Net Promoter Score (NPS®) question, which uses a 0–10 numeric scale to measure how likely someone is to recommend a product or service.

Likert scale survey questions are a type of survey question that measures levels of agreement, frequency, or sentiment using a labeled, evenly spaced scale. They help you understand how strongly respondents feel about a statement, making them one of the most widely used formats in online survey questions.

Likert scales use consistent labels across each point on the scale. Common formats include:

For example, employee surveys often ask respondents to rate statements related to their workplace.

Related reading: Likert scale survey questions, examples, & mistakes to avoid

Matrix questions are a type of survey question that groups similar items under shared response options so respondents can compare them side by side. They’re useful when you want to compare attitudes, satisfaction ratings, or behaviors across multiple statements in a single, structured grid.

A series of Likert scale questions or a series of rating scale questions can work well as a matrix question.

Matrix questions can simplify your survey questionnaire, but they must be used thoughtfully to stay clear and accessible:

Dropdown survey questions is a survey question type that presents a long list of answer options in a compact, scrollable menu, helping respondents navigate lengthy choices without feeling overwhelmed. They’re especially useful in survey questionnaire design when you need to present many response options without cluttering the page.

“What’s your age?”

A dropdown keeps an age range list, such as Under 18, 18–24, 25–34, and so on, compact and easy to scan, giving respondents a clear, accessible way to choose the option that best reflects them.

Dropdowns work well when:

However, if context matters, such as comparing a few response options at a glance, a multiple choice question may be better. Showing all choices can help respondents make quicker, more confident selections.

Open-ended survey questions are a survey question that asks respondents to answer in their own words, revealing context you can’t capture with fixed answer choices. These text box questions are valuable for collecting qualitative data, uncovering motivations, and capturing survey comments that add nuance to your analysis.

Open-ended responses provide detail and depth, offering insight into what respondents think and why. They’re especially helpful for discovery: surfacing ideas, issues, or opportunities you may not have anticipated.

However, written survey answers take longer to analyze and can contribute to survey fatigue if used too often. Because the data is unstructured, open-ended questions are less suited for metrics or trend tracking.

Demographic survey questions collect background information such as age, gender, education, or location to help you segment your results and understand differences across groups. When used thoughtfully, these questions add essential context to your survey questionnaire and make your insights more precise and actionable.

Keep demographic answer options clear, inclusive, and directly tied to how you plan to analyze your data. To support accessibility and respondent comfort:

Demographic questions commonly ask for:

Ranking survey questions ask respondents to order items by preference, helping you understand not just what people like but the relative importance of each option. This format reveals trade-offs that multiple choice or rating scale questions may not capture, making ranking questions useful when you need clear priority data in your survey questionnaire.

Ranking questions work best when respondents are familiar with every item in the list and can compare them meaningfully. Because ranking requires more effort than selecting a single answer, keep lists short, clear, and easy to scan. Use ranking when you want to understand:

If respondents may not recognize all items, or if a simpler format will suffice, consider using a multiple choice or rating scale question instead. For instance, in the question below, respondents need to be familiar with each TV show before they can compare them.

Image choice survey questions are a type of survey question that use images as answer options, making them ideal for visual surveys where respondents need to compare designs, ads, logos, or product concepts. This format supports quick preference checks and concept testing, especially when visual qualities matter more than text descriptions.

Click map survey questions are a type of survey question that asks respondents to click on a specific area of an image, such as a webpage, product mockup, or shelf layout. This question type helps you identify attention hotspots, intuitive navigation paths, and visual elements that stand out at first glance.

“Click the part of this webpage that draws your attention first.”

File upload survey questions are a type of survey question that allows respondents to attach documents or images directly within your survey, such as resumes, headshots, IDs, or supporting materials. This question type is useful when you need files to verify information, collect submissions, or support an application or intake process.

Slider survey questions a type of survey question that lets respondents rate something along a continuous numerical scale by dragging a marker to the point that best reflects their view. This format is interactive and intuitive, making it a useful way to measure sentiment, likelihood, or intensity within your survey questionnaire.

“How likely are you to try this feature again?”

Benchmarkable survey questions use standardized wording and scales so your results can be compared against external norms. These benchmark-ready items help you understand how your scores stack up against similar organizations, audiences, or industries, giving you clearer context for setting goals, tracking performance, and communicating results.

Benchmarkable questions rely on consistent phrasing and response scales that have been asked widely enough to generate reliable comparison data. Because the wording is fixed, you can compare your results to aggregated norms from others who asked the same standardized question, whether you’re surveying employees, customers, or broader audiences.

A well-known example is the Net Promoter Score® (NPS®) question, which measures how likely someone is to recommend a product or service using a 0–10 scale.

SurveyMonkey highlights benchmarkable questions in the Question Bank and across curated survey templates. Look for the small bar chart icon to identify standardized items you can add without starting from scratch.

Dichotomous survey questions are a type of close-ended survey question that present two choices, most commonly yes/no or agree/disagree, to collect clear, quick responses. They work best when you need a straightforward check within your survey questionnaire, such as confirming eligibility, capturing consent, or validating a specific action or condition.

“Did the representative resolve your issue?”
Yes
No

Dichotomous questions keep things simple when:

Because dichotomous questions offer only two response options, they can oversimplify experiences that may be more nuanced. If you need more detail, such as level of satisfaction, frequency, or intensity, consider switching to:

These alternatives preserve clarity while giving you more actionable insight.

Qualitative survey questions are a type of open-ended survey question that gathers descriptive, narrative feedback in respondents’ own words. These open-ended prompts surface stories, opinions, and explanations that add depth and context you can’t capture with predefined answer options. The qualitative data you collect is typically textual, offering rich detail about perceptions, motivations, and experiences.

Use qualitative questions when you need context, discovery, or nuance—especially for attitudes, emotions, or experiences that can’t be summarized with a fixed set of choices. Keep in mind that qualitative feedback is harder to quantify and may not represent broader trends, so use these prompts sparingly to avoid survey fatigue.

Quantitative survey questions collect numerical or categorical data through structured answer options, such as rating scales, multiple choice questions, or yes/no responses. This format allows you to measure frequency, intensity, satisfaction, and other standardized metrics that can be statistically analyzed across your survey questionnaire.

Use quantitative questions when you need measurable results—especially for tracking patterns, comparing groups, benchmarking performance, or analyzing trends over time. The trade-off is that predefined answer options may limit nuance, so pair quantitative items with a focused open-ended follow-up when additional context would strengthen your analysis.

Designing strong survey questions helps you gather clearer, more accurate data across your survey questionnaire. As you apply the different survey question types, keep these best practices in mind.

Start with questions that are already methodologically sound. Explore SurveyMonkey’s free, expert-designed survey templates built by in-house survey scientists, or pull ready-made items from the Question Bank. These resources help you choose unbiased response options, avoid common pitfalls, and build a survey that produces reliable insights.

About six in ten people who take SurveyMonkey surveys in the US use a smartphone or tablet. A mobile-friendly survey keeps respondents engaged and reduces drop-off.

Checklist for mobile optimization:

Write questions that are straightforward and focused on one idea at a time. Avoid jargon, compound questions, or technical phrasing that can confuse respondents.

Phrase questions neutrally so respondents can answer honestly. For example, instead of “How great was your experience with our customer service,” ask “How would you rate your experience with our customer service?”

Pair structured formats like rating scales with focused open-ended prompts. This gives you measurable data along with context or explanations in respondents’ own words, improving the richness of your insights.

Share your draft survey with colleagues or stakeholders who can help you spot unclear wording, missing answer options, or opportunities to simplify navigation. A quick review often improves quality and reduces respondent confusion.

Before you launch, pretest your survey with a small sample. Use their feedback to identify issues with comprehension, wording, or response options, then refine accordingly.

It helps to know which survey question type to use and when to apply it. Once you’re familiar with the main formats, you can focus on the decisions you need from respondents and design surveys that return more accurate, reliable data.

Related reading: Sample survey questions and examples 

SurveyMonkey helps teams build better surveys with expert-written questions, inclusive answer options, and AI-assisted design tools that make every survey questionnaire easier to create and analyze. With professionally crafted survey templates, a robust Question Bank, and access to sample survey questions across industries, you can move from an idea to a polished survey in minutes.

Whether you’re designing a customer satisfaction survey, an employee engagement pulse, or a market research study, SurveyMonkey gives you the structure and guidance to choose the right survey question types and gather clear, reliable data.

Get started free to explore templates, customize questions, and build a survey that delivers insights you can act on.

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