Module: Survey Questions - Using polls in posts to supercharge your engagement!

Note: This video gives an overview of how to create a post with a poll through the Builder Dashboard. You can also access polls directly through "Select Module" at the bottom of every post or page.

How to Create a Poll

NOTE: You must be signed into your IHUBApp or Builder and have appropriate permission to create a post page.

1. Navigate to the Post or Page that you wish to put the Survey with.

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the Content Creator and 'Select Module'
   

3. A screen will pop-up with the modules that are available based on your plan. Toggle the "Survey Questions" module on and select the "Save" button
   

4. The Survey Questions module is now added and ready for you to create a survey.
   

Survey Questions Features

Allow Anonymous Responses

"Allow anonymous responses" on surveys is a feature that enables participants to submit their feedback or answers without revealing their identity. This option is particularly valuable in various scenarios:

1. Sensitive Topics: When surveys deal with sensitive or personal topics, respondents may feel more comfortable providing honest answers if their responses are anonymous. This is crucial in areas like employee feedback, health-related surveys, or topics involving personal beliefs or experiences.

2. Encouraging Honesty and Reducing Bias: Anonymity can encourage more honest and candid responses. Respondents may fear judgment, retribution, or may want to conform to perceived expectations if their identity is known. Anonymity reduces these concerns, potentially leading to more accurate and truthful responses.

3. Improving Participation Rates: Knowing that their responses will be anonymous might make people more willing to participate, especially in cases where they might have otherwise felt hesitant to share their opinions or personal information.

4. Compliance with Privacy Regulations: In certain jurisdictions, anonymity in surveys can be important for compliance with privacy laws and regulations, such as GDPR in Europe. Anonymity ensures that personal data is not unnecessarily collected or stored.

5. Research Integrity: In academic or market research, anonymity can help in ensuring the integrity of the research. Respondents are less likely to provide responses influenced by the researcher's identity or perceived expectations.

6. Employee Feedback: In organizational settings, employees may be more open in providing constructive criticism or expressing concerns if they know their responses cannot be traced back to them. This can lead to more genuine feedback and insights for the organization.

Hide Survey Results

"Hiding survey results" from the groups taking the survey is a common practice in various contexts, and it serves several important purposes:

1. Preventing Bias in Responses: If participants can see the responses of others, it might influence their own answers. People may consciously or subconsciously align their responses with the majority, leading to conformity bias. Hiding results helps ensure that each response is independent and based on the respondent's own opinions or experiences.

2. Maintaining Focus on Individual Perspectives: When survey results are hidden, participants are more likely to provide answers that reflect their personal views or experiences, rather than being swayed by the group’s responses. This is particularly important in surveys aimed at gathering diverse opinions or in brainstorming sessions where unique ideas are valuable.

3. Avoiding Bandwagon Effect: The bandwagon effect occurs when people do something primarily because others are doing it, regardless of their own beliefs. Hidden results prevent this by ensuring that respondents are not aware of the 'popular' choices or opinions.

4. Reducing Anxiety or Peer Pressure: In some cases, knowing how others have responded can create pressure to conform or anxiety about being in the minority. Hiding results helps create a more comfortable environment for respondents to express their true thoughts.

5. Protecting Sensitive Information: In surveys that involve sensitive topics or personal data, hiding results is crucial for privacy and confidentiality. This is especially important in situations where the disclosure of aggregate results could indirectly reveal individual responses.

6. Enhancing Data Quality and Integrity: Hidden results can lead to more accurate and reliable data. When respondents are unaware of others’ responses, the survey is more likely to yield a true representation of the opinions or experiences of the entire group.

7. Preventing Misinterpretation: Early results in an ongoing survey can be misleading, as they may not represent the final outcome. Hiding results prevents respondents from drawing premature conclusions based on incomplete data.

Answer Types

The difference between multiple choice, multiple select, and short answer questions lies in their format and how respondents are expected to provide their answers:

1. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs): In a multiple choice question, respondents are presented with several options but are required to select only one as their answer. This format is highly structured and is ideal for questions where there is a single correct response or when you want to know the respondent's primary choice.

   Benefits of Using MCQs:

   • Efficient Data Collection and Analysis: MCQs are easy to administer and analyze, especially with large groups. Responses can be quickly quantified and statistically analyzed.
   • Reducing Ambiguity: Since the options are predefined, MCQs minimize the chances of misinterpretation of the question.
   • Quick to Complete: Respondents can quickly select an answer without spending time on formulating a response.
   • Standardization: MCQs ensure that all respondents are answering the exact same question, which is important for comparative analysis.

2. Multiple Select Questions: These are similar to multiple choice questions, but respondents are allowed to select more than one option. Multiple select questions are used when you want to understand all the applicable choices or preferences of the respondent, not just their primary choice.

   Benefits of Using Multiple Select Questions:

   • Capturing Comprehensive Information: They allow respondents to provide a fuller picture of their preferences or opinions.
   • Flexibility: They are useful in situations where more than one answer can be correct or relevant.
   • Diverse Insights: These questions can provide a more nuanced understanding of the respondent's views or experiences.

3. Short Answer Questions: These questions require respondents to provide a brief, open-ended written response. Unlike multiple choice or multiple select, there are no predefined options.

   Benefits of Using Short Answer Questions:

   • Rich, Qualitative Data: They can yield detailed and nuanced responses that capture the respondent's thoughts in their own words.
   • Flexibility in Responses: Respondents are not limited to predefined options and can express a wider range of opinions and ideas.
   • Insight into Reasoning: They can provide insights into the reasoning or thoughts behind a respondent's answer.

Benefits of Using Multiple Choice and Multiple Select Over Short Answers:

• Time-Efficient for Respondents and Researchers: Multiple choice and multiple select questions are quicker to answer and easier to analyze than open-ended questions.
• Quantitative Analysis: They are more amenable to quantitative analysis, allowing for straightforward statistical interpretation.
• Reduced Ambiguity and Variability: Predefined choices reduce the variability in responses, making them easier to compare and analyze.
• Lower Risk of Misinterpretation: Since the options are clearly stated, the risk of misinterpreting the question is lower compared to open-ended questions.
• Easier for Respondents: Some respondents may find it easier to select an option from a list rather than formulating a written response.

In summary, multiple choice and multiple select questions are beneficial for their efficiency, ease of analysis, and ability to produce standardized, quantifiable data. They are particularly useful for large-scale surveys or when the goal is to perform statistical analysis of the responses. Short answer questions, while providing richer qualitative data, are more time-consuming to analyze and may introduce more variability in the responses.