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How to Create a Survey

How to write a survey report
Tips for an effective survey report.
- Start with an introduction
- Use visualizations
- Focus on key facts first
- Categorize results
- Summarize your findings
- Integrate company branding
Conducting a survey is a great way to gather insights from your target demographic. But you’ll limit the effectiveness of the results if you don’t have the right strategy to analyze and report the information.
Once you’ve published and collected data from an online survey, it’s time to analyze the information and format it in a presentable way. Let’s dive into the ins and outs of how to write a survey report.
Survey report basics
You conduct research because you want to answer a question. Do your customers like your product? Why or why not? Did your customers get good service from the support team? If not, how could you improve? One way to find out is to conduct a survey.
The survey report presents the results of the survey objectively, summarizing the responses. Most survey reports show the results in visually appealing ways by including graphs and charts.
It’s important to make the report easy to follow — for example, creating different sections for various survey question categories and using headings and subheadings to call out those categories. Your survey report should be interesting, but always focus on summarizing the information accurately.
Create and share customizable surveys with Jotform.
Survey administration and data collection
Before drafting a survey, consider what you want to achieve, then shape the questions to gather the kind of information that will help you reach those goals. You’ll likely want to include two types of questions :
- Quantitative. These are questions that yield a numerical response. Some of the most common quantitative questions ask respondents how satisfied they are with a product or service or how likely they would be to recommend a service to someone else. Respondents then have a scale of numbers to choose from. This numerical data can measure variables, and the results fit easily into graphs and charts.
- Qualitative. These questions gather more details from respondents about their experiences and opinions. As an example, if you were an online retailer, you might ask respondents to describe how you could improve their shopping experience.
Quantitative results are a little easier to present in a report because the numbers can quickly translate into easy-to-understand graphics. When you include qualitative questions, you’ll need to analyze and interpret the responses in text to share the results effectively with others.
Here are a few best practices for creating a quality survey report:
- Start with an introduction. Set the tone by explaining the purpose of the survey. Provide context for the information you’re presenting.
- Use visualizations. Images and graphs are an effective way to tell a story. Keep it interesting with different visuals, such as pie charts, bar graphs, and other formats. But make sure to use the type of visual that best demonstrates the results.
- Focus on key facts first. What are the most critical data points you want to share? Include those at the beginning of the survey report.
- Categorize results. Group similar data together to show relationships. Consider using headings and subheadings to break up the information.
- Summarize your findings. At the end of the survey report, give the reader an overview of the information. Include takeaways that you can use to make improvements.
- Integrate company branding. Look for ways to infuse your brand in the survey report — at minimum, make sure you include your logo at the top of the document and a footer with your company’s information. And don’t forget to select presentation colors that align with your branding guidelines.
The aesthetics of your report matter. Even the smallest details can communicate volumes about your organization. So make sure the survey report is professional and concise while sharing accurate information.
Sharable survey reports
Now that you’ve created your survey report, how will you share it with others ? Here are a few options to consider:
- Send a URL to a cloud-based report
- Embed the report on a website
- Download the report to distribute as a PDF
- Print a copy of the report for in-person meetings
You may also want to use multiple report-sharing features to accommodate the varying needs of your audience.
Built-in reporting features
If you don’t want to write a survey report from scratch, don’t worry! The simplest solution is to use a survey tool with built-in reporting features. You can pair a Jotform survey template with the Jotform Report Builder to visualize and present data in just a few clicks.

Jotform Report Builder makes it easy to convert collected survey data into beautiful visuals and charts. You can use auto-generated reports , but you also have the ability to customize the report layout to match the unique needs of your organization. You can share these survey reports in seconds, and they are updated automatically whenever new responses are submitted.
Additionally, the Report Builder allows you to filter the data in many ways, which is a huge help when it comes to analyzing the information you’ve collected. You can use these powerful insights to improve your business and meet the needs of your customers more effectively.
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How to Write a Summary of Survey Results (+7 Examples)

Do you need to write a summary of your survey results? A great summary will increase the impact of your report and encourage more readers to engage with the content.
In this article, we’ll look at tips on presenting a survey report and writing up the introduction.
Create Your WordPress Survey Form Now
How Do You Present a Survey Report?
The survey summary is often the only part of your survey that a visitor will read. So it’s important to get all of the elements right, including the presentation.
WPForms has an awesome surveys and polls addon that makes it easy to publish many types of surveys on your WordPress site. You can collect survey data using all of these fields:
- Likert Scale (sometimes called a matrix question )
- Net Promoter score
- Star rating
- Single Line Text
- Multiple Choice
- And more…
You can even turn on survey reporting when the form expiry date has passed and the survey has closed.
But that’s not all. WPForms has unique survey reporting features too.
You can instantly create a beautiful PDF of your survey results when you click Print Survey Report right from the WordPress dashboard:

Then just click the Print button to create your report.

WPForms creates survey results reports without branding, so you can present them right away.
Now we understand a bit more about WPForms’ survey presentation and reports, let’s look at some of the content you could write to go with it.
How to Write a Summary of Survey Results
When you present your survey results, you’ll have a small space to get the reader’s attention. You’ll want to use as many tricks as possible to keep them engaged.
Here are the techniques we’ll talk about in this article:
- Use Visualizations to Show Data
- Write the Key Facts First
- Write a Short Survey Summary
- Explain the Motivation For Your Survey
- Put Survey Statistics in Context
- Tell the Reader What the Outcome Should Be
- Export Your Survey Result Graphs
Let’s walk through some tricks and techniques with real examples.
1. Use Visualizations to Show Data
When you write a survey introduction, visuals are the #1 feature you’ll want to include.
Adding a chart to an introduction really helps to bring it to life and adds impact to the story you want to tell.
Examples of Survey Visualizations
Pie charts are perfect when you want to bring statistics to life. Here’s a great example from a wedding survey:

Pie charts can be simple and still get the message across. Here’s another great example from a homebuyer survey introduction:

You can easily add pie charts like this using the WPForms surveys and polls addon. It has powerful survey reporting features that are completely unique to WPForms.
If you want to customize the survey visuals for your introduction, check out this neat feature.
WPForms automatically changes the color of your pie chart when you click different visualization types at the top, so it’s easy to get a chart that looks great:
This is a handy feature that will save tons of time when you’re composing your survey results.
2. Write the Key Facts First
When you’re thinking about how to write a summary of survey results, remember that the introduction needs to get the reader’s attention.
Focusing on key facts helps you to do that right at the start.
This is why it’s usually best to write the survey introduction at the end once the rest of the survey report has been compiled. That way, you know what the big takeaways are.
This is an easy and powerful way to write a survey introduction that encourages the reader to investigate.
Examples of Survey Summaries With Key Facts
Here’s an awesome example of a survey that immediately draws the eye.
The key finding is presented first, and then we see a fact about half the group immediately after:

Using this order lets us see the impactful results from the survey right up top.
If you need help deciding which questions to ask in your survey, check out this article on the best survey questions to include.
3. Write a Short Survey Summary
Your survey summary should give the reader a complete overview of the content. But you don’t want to take up too much space.
Survey summaries are sometimes called executive summaries because they’re designed to be quickly digested by decision-makers.
You’ll want to filter out the less important findings and focus on what matters.
For most surveys, a 1-page summary is enough to get this information across.
Examples of Short Survey Introductions
One way to keep a survey summary short is to use a teaser at the start.
Here’s an example introduction that doesn’t state all of its findings, but gives us an incentive to keep reading:

And here’s a great survey introduction that summarizes the findings in just one sentence:

In WPForms, you can reduce the size of your survey report by excluding questions that you don’t need. Here, we decided to remove this question from the report PDF because it has no answers.
Just click the arrow at the top and it won’t appear in the final printout:

This is a great way to quickly build a PDF summary of your survey that only includes the most important questions.
4. Explain the Motivation For Your Survey
When you create a survey in WordPress, you probably have a good idea of your reasons for doing so.
Make your purpose clear in the intro. For example, if you’re running a demographic survey , you might want to clarify that you’re going to use this information to target your audience in a better way.
It’s important that the reader knows exactly what you want to find out. Ideally, you should also explain why you wanted to create the survey in the first place.
Examples of Intros that Explain Motivation
This vehicle survey was carried out to help with future planning, so the introduction makes the purpose clear to the reader:

Having focused questions can help to give your survey a clear purpose. We have some questionnaire examples and templates that can help with that.
Explaining why you ran the survey helps to give context, which we’ll talk about more next.
5. Put Survey Statistics in Context
Including numbers in a survey summary is important. But your survey summary should tell a story too.
Adding numbers to your introduction will help to draw the eye, but you’ll also want to explain what the numbers are telling you.
Otherwise, you’ll just have a list of statistics that don’t mean much to the reader.
Examples of Survey Statistics in Context
Here’s a great example of a survey introduction that uses the results from the survey to tell a story.

Another way to put numbers in context is to present the results visually.
Here, WPForms has automatically created a table from our Likert Scale question that makes it easy to see a positive trend:

If you’d like to use a Likert scale to produce a chart like this, check out this article on the best Likert scale questions for survey forms .
6. Tell the Reader What the Outcome Should Be
Now that your survey report is done, you’ll likely want some kind of action to be taken based on your findings.
That’s why it’s a good idea to make a recommendation.
If you already explained your reasons for creating the survey, you can naturally add a few sentences on the outcomes you want to see.
Examples of Survey Introductions with Recommendations
Here’s a nice example of a survey introduction that clearly states the outcomes that the organization would like to happen now that the survey is published:

This helps to focus the reader on the content and helps them to understand why the survey is important.
You can also cite related research here to give your reasoning more weight.
7. Export Your Survey Result Graphs
Now you’ve created beautiful graphs in your survey summary PDF, you’ll want to use them again in the main report.
By exporting visuals, you can also use them in marketing materials like:
- Presentation slides
- Infographics
- Press releases
WPForms makes it easy to export any graphic from your survey results so you can use it on your website or in slides.
Just use the dropdown to export your survey pie chart as a JPG or PDF:

And that’s it! You now know how to create an impactful summary of survey results and add these to your marketing material or reports.
Next Step: Make Your Survey Form
To create a great survey summary, you’ll want to start out with a great survey form. Check out this article on how to create a survey form online to learn how to create and customize your surveys in WordPress.
You can also create a popup WordPress survey with a plugin .
Ready to build your survey? Get started today with the easiest WordPress form builder plugin. WPForms Pro includes free survey form templates and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.
If this article helped you out, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more free WordPress tutorials and guides.
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This is really good
Hi Jocasta! Glad to hear that you enjoyed our article! Please check back often as we’re always adding new content as well as updating old ones!
Hi, I need to write an opinion poll report would you help with a sample I could use
Hi Thuku, I’m sorry but we don’t have any such examples available as it’s a bit outside our purview. A quick Google search does show some sites with information and examples regarding this though. I hope that helps!
With the Likert Scale what visualisation options are available? For example if there were 30 questions… I would like to be able to total up for all questions how many said never, or often… etc… and for each ‘x’ option for example if it was chocolate bars down the side and never through to often across the top… for each question… I would like to total for all questions for each chocolate bar… the totals of never through to often…? can you help?
Hey Nigel- to achieve what you’ve mentioned, I’d recommend you to make use of the Survey and Poll addon that has the ability to display the number of polls count. Here is a complete guide on this addon
If you’ve any questions, please get in touch with the support team and we’d be happy to assist you further!
Thanks, and have a good one 🙂
I am looking for someone to roll-up survey responses and prepare presentations/graphs. I have 58 responses. Does this company offer this as an option? If so, what are the cost?
Hi Ivory! I apologize for any misunderstanding, but we do not provide such services.
Hi! Can you make survey report.
Hi Umay! I apologize as I’m not entirely certain about your question, or what you’re looking to do. In case it helps though, our Survey and Polls addon does have some features to generate survey reports. You can find out more about that in this article .
I hope this helps to clarify 🙂 If you have any further questions about this, please contact us if you have an active subscription. If you do not, don’t hesitate to drop us some questions in our support forums .
Super helpful..
Hi Shaz! We’re glad to hear that you found this article helpful. Please check back often as we’re always adding new content and making updates to old ones 🙂
Hi , can you help meon how to present the questionnaire answer on my report writing
Hi Elida – Yes, we will be happy to help!
If you have a WPForms license, you have access to our email support, so please submit a support ticket . Otherwise, we provide limited complimentary support in the WPForms Lite WordPress.org support forum .
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How to build a survey results report that inspires your team to act

Presentations are the perfect opportunity to show off your survey results and help your team understand what respondents really want and need.
To help you become a top-notch presenter, we’ll show you how to use our Results Dashboards feature. It allows you to create a survey results report, where you can present the results visually, and add text alongside any visual for additional context. You’ll also be able to pick and choose the questions you want to use, and decide where to drag and drop each visual so that the dashboard looks the way you want.
The result is a nifty page that breaks down your survey results in an easily digestible format. Here’s an example of how it could turn out:
Discover more ways to use our Results Dashboards
From surveying customers to collecting employee feedback, use our feature to show the results of any survey.
Now that you’re feeling jazzed about the feature, let’s walk through how you can use it, and go over some tips and tricks on how to present survey results!
The 5 steps for creating a survey results report
1. Click on the “Present Results” tab in your survey homepage.
2. Select the “New Dashboard” button at the center of the page or click “New” and then “Dashboard.”
3. SurveyMonkey will automatically send you to the Analyze tab of your survey to identify questions you’re interested in adding to your dashboard. While you’re in the Analyze tab, feel free to apply any filters you’d like and customize your charts so they display what you want to share (we’ll review this more in the next section). Once you’re happy with how a chart looks, you can add it to your dashboard by clicking the thumbtack icon on the upper-right of the chart.
4. Go back to your “Present Results” tab. You should see all of the charts and open-ended questions you added in boxes (we call them cards). You can add text below or next to any card and change the position of any card by simply dragging and dropping it.
5. All that’s left to do is share your survey results report! Click “Publish.” You can then create a link for sharing it, and, depending on your plan, add an extra layer of security by making the link password-protected.
Note: There are certain types of questions you can’t add to dashboards. Learn about these question types and the other incompatible settings for dashboards by reviewing the “Unsupported Questions” section in our help center article .
Tips: How to present a Results Dashboard like a pro
Setting up your dashboard is just the beginning. Here’s what you’ll need to do to turn it into an accessible and insightful survey results report:
1. Create separate dashboards for different teams.
Think through the different teams or individuals you plan to present the data to. They’re likely to care about different questions and audiences. You can account for their individual needs and wants by filtering your data before you add questions to each dashboard.
For example, say you surveyed employees to gauge how happy they are at work. The leaders of individual departments care more about what employees in their departments said. To give them the information they want, filter your results by the appropriate department before you begin adding anything to their dashboard.
2. Make your charts more accessible and attractive.
Here are some ideas:
- Add data points onto your chart (they’ll appear as either percentages or response counts). This can help remove any ambiguity in the numbers each bar or slice represents.
- Remove decimal points . Decimal points are unlikely to add any useful information to your chart and they make it harder to read.
- Customize the colors of each bar or slice . Customized colors can help distinguish each component of your chart, but you can also use them to match your organization’s branding.
The resulting chart can look something as follows:
Learn more about how you can customize your charts .
Related: How to use survey data to tell compelling stories .
3. Use text sparingly in your dashboard.
Only add comments alongside your charts or open-ended response slides when you want to add additional context or your opinions. This can include the reasons why the responses look a certain way or your recommendations for improving certain pieces of feedback. For any comment you make, make sure it’s concise so that it doesn’t overwhelm or distract your colleagues.
Your team wants to receive feedback quickly, but they also want it presented in a way that’s clear and relevant to their needs. To help you present the survey data successfully with each team, you can lean on our Results Dashboards. As you now know, the feature allows you to create several custom reports that allow different teams to understand their target audience and make decisions that are in the respondents’ best interests.
You might also like
How to use a pricing survey like chatgpt, how feedback helped a performing arts organization navigate the pandemic, harnessing the power of dei and social impact together.
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How to Build a Survey Results Report in 5 Simple Steps

Surveys offer companies a plethora of quantitative and qualitative feedback into their customer experience . Those presenting the survey findings need to do so in a readable, succinct way. This is where a survey report becomes handy. A survey report can be shared with a company’s stakeholders leaders, other integral departments (marketing, PR, advertising, and sales), and various teammates.
A survey report pulls any key data and important findings to create a structured story around various issues. The report also offers actionable steps to resolve the issues at hand and helps companies proactively prepare for the future.
The guide below will discuss the five necessary steps to creating a condensed and thorough survey report that audience members will find interesting and useful. For a quick example of a survey result report see our, visual below .

1. Use A Structured Plan
Like a customer journey map , a survey report needs to have a structured plan. Readers want a formatted structure they can easily follow and jump from slide to slide or page to page without feeling lost. Below is the ideal survey structure:
1. Title Page
The title page should include the following: A short and engaging title, the publication and/or release date, names of those responsible for the report, and a one or two-sentence description.
2. Table of Contents
A table of contents gives the reader a quick overview of the report and allows them to quickly locate sections.
3. Executive Summary
The executive summary is one of the most important sections of the report. It summarizes the report’s main findings and proposes the next steps. Many people only read the executive summary.
4. Background
The background explains the impetus and story behind the survey. It states the hypothesis, question, or issues at hand for why the research was conducted and how the results plan to be used.
5. Survey Method
This section reviews who the target audience was and who the survey actually included. It also reviews how surveyors contacted respondents and the process of data collection. This is often a more technical and detailed section.
6. Survey Results
The survey results section is the meat and potatoes of the report. It provides an overarching theme of the report and underscores any statistical findings or significant takeaways.
7. Appendices
Similar to the methodology section, the appendices section will contain technical data and information about the data collection and analysis process .
2. Visualize The Data
A ton of numbers and statistics aren’t appealing or friendly to the average person. It’s best to present the data in a visually appealing way via graphs and charts.
Interactive dashboards are also a nice option if the report is being sent digitally. These dashboards allow readers to quickly glance over findings and to play with variables to see changes in the data.
Our interactive dashboards are great for organizing data and sending customized reports to tell the right story.

Which Data Visualization Is Best For When
Reports can show data in several ways. However, different visualizations work best for different data sets. The suggestions below go over the benefits of each data visualization. Note, these suggestions aren’t rigid. There’s usually flexibility for how to display data.
1. Bar Graph
A bar graph is best used when one data point is an outlier compared to the other data clusters. It is also useful to display negative numbers.
2. Line Graph
A line graph shows progress or trends over time. Reports should use it when there’s a continuous data set or multiple categories of data to portray.
3. Pie Chart
Pie charts contain static numbers that are a percentage of a whole. They’re best for displaying comparisons. Note, the total sum of all segments should equal 100%.
A map displays geographically related data. A survey report should show the proportion of data in each region. For instance, the specific location that the majority of a company’s users are coming from.
A gauge usually depicts a single value such as a company’s average Net Promoter Score (NPS) . Use gauges to highlight extremely relevant figures.
6. Scatter Plot
A scatter plot, also known as a scattergram chart, portrays the relationship between two variables. It’s best when lots of data points exist. A scatter plot helps to reveal distribution trends and outliers.
3. Keep The Copy Simple

A survey report can quickly become too detailed. A good way to avoid overwhelming the audience is to keep the copy brief and simple. Each sentence within the survey report should give the reader new knowledge.
Tabular copy (text in graphs, charts, and tables) needs to be extremely short. The main purpose of the text in the data visualizations and dashboards is to label the data or to serve as a title, subheader, or axis label.
Survey report writers do have more leeway when it comes to headlines. Report headlines should be short, but catchy. Think of headliners as tweets that grab consumer’s attention.
Example 1: Company X increased its Net Promoter Score by 15 points last quarter, causing their Customer Lifetime Value to jump by an average of $281.
Example 2: The CX department lowered its Customer Effort Score (CES) by an average of 36% after the group training.
Lastly, before submitting or presenting a report, make sure it’s proofread and correctly punctuated. Ideally, at least two or more individuals will have reviewed and edited the piece before the final draft is submitted or shared with others.
4. Tell A Unique Story
The executive summary combined with the background section should create an engaging story. Remember, the survey report addresses an issue, takes in feedback, and then suggests solutions.
Here’s an example of how HelloFresh used surveys and survey reports to create an appealing story:
- Character: HelloFresh, a meal delivery service
- Issue or problem: HelloFresh needed to better understand the customer and to synthesize their customer feedback into digestible reports and presentations. These reports also needed to be shared with stakeholders, customer service reps, and both the PR and social media teams.
- Findings from market research: HelloFresh uncovered significant differences in food taste on a hyper-geographical level, e.g., English Canadian vs French Canadian in Quebec and East vs West Berlin. They also found that customers wanted to know what was in their recipes and they requested more check-ins during the ordering process.
- Solutions: They modified their recipes to their consumers’ preferences and added touchpoints to keep customers informed and up-to-date.
5. Types Of Survey Results Reports
Part of conducting a thorough survey and creating an engrossing report means selecting the best type of survey. Companies must choose a survey type that will give the best customer feedback based on the problems or issues they’re facing. The list below will help companies determine which type of survey will give them the most reliable results.
1. Real-Time Summary Report
A real-time summary report is typically an interactive dashboard that gives live feedback via charts, statistics, and graphs from the collected survey data.
Best for: Both qualitative and quantitative surveys as they report in real-time.
2. Open-Ended Text Reports
Open-ended text reports use text analytics and sentiment analysis tools to identify patterns or themes from customers’ survey responses.
Best for: Qualitative surveys that contain open-ended responses.
3. Report Scheduler
A report scheduler automatically sends a survey result or report to other users or departments within an organization. Think of them as check-ins. Typically, a CX department uses schedulers to prompt reports for long-running surveys that require check-ins and monitoring.
Best for: Quantitative surveys. A report scheduler can generate overarching quick reports from the collected data.
4. Gap Analysis Report
A gap analysis is best used to analyze two scale-type questions. For instance, if a customer had two interactions with different customer representatives, a customer satisfaction survey could ask them to rate the satisfaction of each. The gap analysis report would then compare satisfaction levels between the two of them.
Best for: Both qualitative and quantitative surveys. A gap analysis report will almost always be a quantitative survey since it should ask the respondent to give a numbered rating. A gap analysis report can become qualitative if a second open-ended question is asked, such as: what made you rate (Employee Name) higher or lower?
5. Spotlight Report
A spotlight report hones in on either one or a target group of respondents. These responses can then be compared to the overall survey responses.
Best for: Both qualitative and quantitative surveys can use spotlight reports since it’s highlighting a small group or individuals’ responses.
6. Trend Analysis Report
A trend analysis report will show significant data currents or tendencies from the past few weeks, months, or even years. A trend analysis report can help businesses modify their surveys by reviewing response rates. Or they can be used to make large overarching themes based on customer feedback.
Best for: Both qualitative and quantitative surveys. Typically, trend analysis reports will offer more insight into quantitative surveys since they’re best for reviewing a large amount of data.
However, with a text analytics tool , qualitative data trends can also be reported on since the text analytics tool automatically creates lots of sentiment data points.
The visual below depicts ways companies best visualize their data in a survey results report .

Both quantitative and qualitative surveys bring in a plethora of insight and data about the customers, specifically, the customer experience. Survey results reports are vital for companies who want to succinctly share findings with both internal and external stakeholders.
To help present and highlight significant data, take a product tour to see how Chattermill’s dashboards and Voice of the Customer tools give a holistic view of the customer journey and make it simple to diagnose and fix pain points .
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- How to Create a Survey Report in 5 Steps

Surveys are usually created as part of a research process, which is aimed at attaining a conclusion. Hence,r to conclude your surveys, you need to create a survey report at the end of your survey.
This describes a survey, its results, and any pattern or trends found in the survey, all to help you conclude your research.
Creating a survey report is usually the next step after you finish conducting your survey. For proper analysis, it usually follows a set-out pattern — including headings, subheadings, etc.
What is a Survey Report?
A survey report is a document whose task is to present the information gathered during the survey in an objective manner. It presents a summary of all the responses that were collected in a simple and visually appealing manner.
The report follows a standard organization, with different sections, headings, subheadings, etc. It is usually created at the end of a survey (i.e. after constructing and gathering responses).
Survey reports are an integral part of the research, and it is very important that you always represent accurate data in your report.
5 Steps to Creating a Survey Report
It is one thing to create a survey report, but another to create a good survey report. Therefore, we have prepared a guide to assist you in writing your next report.
Here are the 5 main steps you need to follow to create a good survey report.
Create a Questionnaire
Every survey report requires a survey Hence, the first thing you need to do is to create a survey or questionnaire that will be used to carry out your survey.
The responses received from the questionnaire will determine the final outlook of the survey report . However, there are a few important things you need to consider before creating a questionnaire for your survey report.
Factors to Consider Before Creating a Questionnaire For a Survey Report
- Define your objectives
The first step to creating a good questionnaire for your survey report is defining the objectives of your research. After which you will create your questionnaire which aligns with your research objectives.
In simple terms, your research objective will guide you in choosing the kind of questionnaire that should be created. For example, if your objective is to sell your products online, then you should create an online order form.
- Who are your audience?
After defining your objectives, the next step is to identify your target audience. Your target audience will determine the kind of questions that would be asked in the questionnaire.
When creating a questionnaire to evaluate job seekers, for instance, the questions that will be asked in the questionnaire will be different from when creating a questionnaire for those seeking a life partner.
- Survey Report Method (Quantitative/Qualitative)
Now that you know the research objective and target audience, the next step is to determine the method that will be used in carrying out this survey. Is it going to be quantitative or qualitative? Or both?
The interesting thing about choosing a method of carrying out your research is that this method is determined by the first two factors. For an online matchmaking questionnaire, a qualitative method will be used.
An online order form , on the other hand, will require both, but mostly quantitative methods.
- Best Types of Questions for Surveys
Another important aspect of creating a questionnaire is determining the types of questions that will be most perfect for the survey. Is it dichotomous, close-ended questions , or rating and ranking questions ?
The type of survey questions should be carefully chosen by the questionnaire in order to collect the right data and not affect the response rate on the survey . For example, when requesting the phone number of your respondents, the question shouldn’t be closed-ended.
Collect Data
After determining how to create a questionnaire for your survey, the next thing to do is create the questionnaire and start collecting data . There are points to note in data collection and some of them have been highlighted below:
- Location of your Audience
to create a more detailed survey report, you need to identify your audience’s location when collecting data. Respondents may be reluctant to provide their location in the questionnaire,
Therefore, you need to create a questionnaire that automatically identifies the respondent’s location once they start filling the questionnaire. This can be done using the Formplus Geolocation feature .
- Avoid Survey Bias
One of the best practices of collecting clean data for your questionnaire is by avoiding survey bias . There are different kinds of biases that we can face during data collection, and they all fall under response and non-response biases .
There are a lot of things you need to consider when creating your questionnaire to avoid these biases. These fall under the 4 factors we have highlighted above for you to consider when creating a questionnaire.
- Ways to Create a Questionnaire (Paper or Online Form)
Another thing to consider when choosing a data collection method is the type of questionnaire to use. Is it better to use an online or paper form?
There are a lot of factors that should be considered when making this decision. Some of these include; your target audience, cost of implementation, efficiency, and data security.
The traditional way of data collection is through the paper questionnaire. However, if you consider the factors that were highlighted above, you will realize that it is better to use an online questionnaire .
An online questionnaire is easier to implement, more efficient, cost-effective, helps to reach a larger audience, and even offers more data security. However, if most of your target audience are in remote areas without an internet connection, or are not familiar with how to use a technological device, it is better to use paper forms or both.
Analyze Data
Before writing a report from the data collected during your survey, you need to simplify it for better understanding. This will make it easy to write a survey report for the data collected and for other people to understand the data.
- Export Data
After data collection, you need to export it for data analysis. This can be done using any of the available data analysis software.
Analyzing data on Excel or Google Sheets just became easier with Formplus . With the Formplus – Google Sheets integration, the responses collected from your questionnaire will be automatically added to your Google Sheets worksheet in real-time.
You can also export the data as CSV and work on it using Microsoft Excel, Power BI, or any other data analysis software.
Analyze and Interpret
After exporting the data, you analyze it. Data analysis involves breaking data down into simpler terms, identifying similarities, grouping and interpreting them.
There are different methods of data analysis that can be used in analyzing the data collected from your questionnaire before interpretation . However, each of these methods follows similar processes that have been highlighted below.
- Data Cleaning
Due to some factors during the data collection process, you may have collected inaccurate or corrupt information – making the data “ dirty”. This may include duplicate records, white spaces, or outright errors.
Things like this make the collected data irrelevant to your aim of Analysis and should be cleaned. It is the next step after data collection, so that you may arrive at a conclusion that is closer to your expected outcome.
- Data Analysis
Once the data is collected, cleaned, and processed, it is ready for analysis. At this point, you may realize that you have the exact data you need or still need to collect more data. To make analysis easier, you might use software that will ease understating, interpretation, and conclusion.
- Data Interpretation
After a successful analysis, the next step is interpretation. There are different ways of interpreting the result of data analysis. It can be done using simple words (usually a summary of the result), tables, or charts.
- Data Visualization
This is the most common process involved in data analysis and interpretation. It is the process of displaying data graphically so that it can be easier for everyone to understand and process it. It is often used to analyze relationships and discover trends by comparing t variables in a dataset.
Write Survey Report
After successfully analysing and interpreting your data, it is ready to feature in your survey report. At this stage, all you need to do is plug and play because everything you need has been prepared in the previous steps.
To further make your survey report writing process easier, it is advised that you follow a pre-designed template that is tailored to the type of survey under consideration.
Types of Survey Report
Before embarking on the report writing journey, you need to first identify the type of survey report you want to write. The type of survey report is determined by the nature of the survey that was carried out.
Some of the different kinds of surveys include employee satisfaction surveys, customer feedback surveys, market research surveys, etc.
- Employee Satisfaction Survey
This method is used to gauge whether employees are satisfied with the work environment. Organizations usually do this to ensure that employees are motivated and to build a stronger team spirit.
Employees are asked to give feedback and particularly voice their frustrations with the company.
- Customer Feedback Survey
This is undoubtedly one of the most common types of surveys. Businesses are always seen requesting feedback from customers after selling a product or rendering a service.
As an individual, you must have experienced this at a point in time. Whether after purchasing an item from a grocery store, placing an order online ordering at a restaurant, etc.
- Market Research Survey
It is used to discover customer needs, competitive advantage, how and where products are purchased, etc. This type of survey can be applied when no data is available yet: For example, to measure how your target audience feels about a product you intend to lunch.
In some instances, it’s about building on past data in your market research database. When you are building on past research, you conduct a survey to measure, for example, what people think about the product, say, a year after its launch.
For each of the different types of surveys highlighted above, the structure of the survey report will be slightly different from the other.
Features of a Survey Report/Guidelines
Although the structure of the different types of survey reports may vary slightly, there are some must-have features common to all survey types. The features of a survey report include; a title page, table of contents, executive summary, background and objectives, methodology, results, conclusion and recommendations, and appendices.
The content of the above-listed sections may, however, vary across the different types of survey reports. Asides from following a set structure, there are also guidelines for writing a good survey report.
This includes writing the executive summary and table of contents last, writing in concise, simple sentences, and polishing the report before finalizing it.
- Use Analyzed Data and Infer Conclusion
This is the point where you implement all the research and analysis that was done in previous steps. Note that it is not good practice to write survey reports from memory.
Rather, it should be carefully written using the facts and figures derived from analysis. This is what is used to drive a conclusion on your research, and also make recommendations.
You will notice that this follows consecutively in the survey report. That is results, the conclusion derived from results, and the recommendation after observing the conclusion.
How to Create an Online Survey with Formplus
Follow the following simple steps to create a ranking questionnaire using Formplus:
Step 1- Get Started for Free
- Visit www.formpl.us on your device
- Click on the Start Free Trial button to start creating surveys for free
- Register using your email address or Google account in just 2 seconds.
Step 2- Start Creating Surveys
You can create a Formplus survey in one of the following ways:
Use an Existing Template
Get a head start by using a template designed by a team of market research experts. To do this, go to Templates and choose from any of the available templates.
Start From Scratch
To create a new survey from scratch on Formplus, go to your Dashboard, then click on the Create new form button.
Alternatively, go to the top menu, then click on the Create Form button.
Step 3 – Add Form Fields
The next step is to add questions so you can collect data from your survey. You can do this by going to the left sidebar in the form builder, then choose from any of the available 30+ form fields.
You can simply click or drag and drop the form field into the blank space to preview your progress as you create the survey. Each form field included in your form can be further edited by clicking on the Edit icon.
Once you have edited the form fields to your taste, you should click on the Save button in the top right corner of the form builder.

Step 4 – Beautify Your Survey
After adding the required form field to your survey, the next step is to make it attractive to respondents. Formplus has some built-in customization features that can be used to create a beautiful survey
This option allows you to add colours, fonts, images, backgrounds, etc. There is also a custom built-in CSS feature that gives you more design flexibility.
You even get to preview the survey in real-time as you make further customization.
Step 5 – Share and Start Collecting Responses
Formplus offers various sharing options to choose from. This includes sharing via email, customized links, social media, etc.
You can send personalized email invites to respondents with prefilled respondent details to avoid entry of incorrect data. With prefilled surveys, personal details like respondent’s name, email address, and phone number will be pre-populated.
Conclusion
Survey reports show the results of a research survey and make recommendations based on a careful analysis of these results. They summarize the result of your research in a manner that can be easily understood and interpreted by a layman or third party, who was not involved in the research process.
A good survey report follows a well thought out systematic arrangement that smoothly drives you from a wide summary down to your specific recommendations. How it is being written is what determines how it is seen or understood by other people.
The key to writing a good survey is by mastering the art of using simple words to summarize the results of your research. It should also be created using beautiful designs to encourage readers.

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How to Analyze Survey Results Like a Data Pro

Updated: November 23, 2021
Published: October 04, 2021
Obtaining customer feedback is difficult. You need strong survey questions that effectively derive customer insights. Not to mention a distribution system that shares the survey with the right customers at the right time. However, survey data doesn't just sort and analyze itself. You need a team dedicated to sifting through survey results and highlighting key trends and behaviors for your marketing, sales, and customer service teams. In this post, we'll discuss not only how to analyze survey results, but also how to present your findings to the rest of your organization.

Short on time? Jump to the topics that interest you most:
How to Analyze Survey Results
How to present survey results, how to write a survey report, survey report template examples, 1. understand the four measurement levels..
Before analyzing data, you should understand the four levels of measurement. These levels determine how survey questions should be measured and what statistical analysis should be performed. The four measurement levels are nominal scales, ordinal scales, interval scales, and ratio scales.
Nominal Scale
Nominal scales classify data without any quantitative value, similar to labels. An example of a nominal scale is, "Select your car's brand from the list below." The choices have no relationship to each other. Due to the lack of numerical significance, you can only keep track of how many respondents chose each option and which option was selected the most.
Ordinal Scale
Ordinal scales are used to depict the order of values. For this scale, there's a quantitative value because one rank is higher than another. An example of an ordinal scale is, "Rank the reasons for using your laptop." You can analyze both mode and median from this type of scale, and ordinal scales can be analyzed through cross-tabulation analysis .
Interval Scale
Interval scales depict both the order and difference between values. These scales have quantitative value because data intervals remain equivalent along the scale, but there's no true zero point. An example of an interval scale is in an IQ test. You can analyze mode, median, and mean from this type of scale and analyze the data through ANOVA , t-tests , and correlation analyses . ANOVA tests the significance of survey results, while t-tests and correlation analyses determine if datasets are related.
Ratio Scale
Ratio scales depict the order and difference between values, but unlike interval scales, they do have a true zero point. With ratio scales, there's quantitative value because the absence of an attribute can still provide information. For example, a ratio scale could be, "Select the average amount of money you spend online shopping." You can analyze mode, median, and mean with this type of scale and ratio scales can be analyzed through t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation analyses as well.
2. Select your survey question(s).
Once you understand how survey questions are analyzed, you should take note of the overarching survey question(s) that you're trying to solve. Perhaps, it's "How do respondents rate our brand?"
Then, look at survey questions that answer this research question, such as "How likely are you to recommend our brand to others?" Segmenting your survey questions will isolate data that are relevant to your goals.
Additionally, it's important to ask both close-ended and open-ended questions.
Close-Ended Questions
A close-ended survey question gives a limited set of answers. Respondents can't explain their answer and they can only choose from pre-determined options. These questions could be yes or no, multiple-choice, checkboxes, dropdown, or a scale question. Asking a variety of questions is important to get the best data.
Open-Ended Questions
An open-ended survey question will ask the respondent to explain their opinion. For example, in an NPS survey, you'll ask how likely a customer is to recommend your brand. After that, you might consider asking customers to explain their choice. This could be something like "Why or why wouldn't you recommend our product to your friends/family?"
3. Analyze quantitative data first.
Quantitative data is valuable because it uses statistics to draw conclusions. While qualitative data can bring more interesting insights about a topic, this information is subjective, making it harder to analyze. Quantitative data, however, comes from close-ended questions which can be converted into a numeric value. Once data is quantified, it's much easier to compare results and identify trends in customer behavior .
It's best to start with quantitative data when performing a survey analysis. That's because quantitative data can help you better understand your qualitative data. For example, if 60% of customers say they're unhappy with your product, you can focus your attention on negative reviews about user experience. This can help you identify roadblocks in the customer journey and correct any pain points that are causing churn.
4. Use cross-tabulation to better understand your target audience.
If you analyze all of your responses in one group, it isn't entirely effective for gaining accurate information. Respondents who aren't your ideal customers can overrun your data and skew survey results. Instead, if segment responses using cross-tabulation, you can analyze how your target audience responded to your questions.
Split Up Data by Demographics
Cross-tabulation records the relationships between variables. It compares two sets of data within one chart. This reveals specific insights based on your participants' responses to different questions. For example, you may be curious about customer advocacy among your customers based in Boston, MA. You can use cross-tabulation to see how many respondents said they were from Boston and said they would recommend your brand.
By pulling multiple variables into one chart, we can narrow down survey results to a specific group of responses. That way, you know your data is only considering your target audience.
Below is an example of a cross-tabulation chart. It records respondents' favorite baseball teams and what city they reside in.

If the statistical significance or p-value for a data point is equal to or lower than 0.05, it has moderate statistical significance since the probability for error is less than 5%. If the p-value is lower than 0.01, that means it has high statistical significance because the probability for error is less than 1%.
6. Consider causation versus correlation.
Another important aspect of survey analysis is knowing whether the conclusions you're drawing are accurate. For instance, let's say we observed a correlation between ice cream sales and car thefts in Boston. Over a month, as ice cream sales increased so did reports of stolen cars. While this data may suggest a link between these variables, we know that there's probably no relationship.
Just because the two are correlated doesn't mean one causes the other. In cases like these, there's typically a third variable — the independent variable — that influences the two dependent variables. In this case, it's temperature. As the temperature increases, more people buy ice cream. Additionally, more people leave their homes and go out, which leads to more opportunities for crime.
While this is an extreme example, you never want to draw a conclusion that's inaccurate or insufficient. Analyze all the data before assuming what influences a customer to think, feel, or act a certain way.
7. Compare new data with past data.
While current data is good for keeping you updated, it should be compared to data you've collected in the past. If you know 33% of respondents said they would recommend your brand, is that better or worse than last year? How about last quarter?
If this is your first year analyzing data, make these results the benchmark for your next analysis. Compare future results to this record and track changes over quarters, months, years, or whatever interval you prefer. You can even track data for specific subgroups to see if their experiences improve with your initiatives.
Now that you've gathered and analyzed all of your data, the next step is to share it with coworkers, customers, and other stakeholders. However, presentation is key in helping others understand the insights you're trying to explain.
The next section will explain how to present your survey results and share important customer data with the rest of your organization.
1. Use a graph or chart.
Graphs and charts are visually appealing ways to share data. Not only are the colors and patterns easy on the eyes, but data is often easier to understand when shared through a visual medium. However, it's important to choose a graph that highlights your results in a relevant way.

4. Empowerment Keynote Presentation
This presentation template makes a great research report template due to its clean lines, contrasting graphic elements, and ample room for visuals. The headers in this template virtually jump off the page to grab the readers' attention. There's aren't many ways to present quantitative data using this template example, but it works well for qualitative survey reports like focus groups or product design studies where original images will be discussed.

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How to Write a Survey Report
Last Updated: March 6, 2023 References Approved
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Once you have finished conducting a survey, all that is left to do is write the survey report. A survey report describes a survey, its results, and any patterns or trends found in the survey. Most survey reports follow a standard organization, broken up under certain headings. Each section has a specific purpose. Fill out each section correctly and proofread the paper to create a polished and professional report.
Writing the Summary and Background Info

- Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Background and Objectives
- Methodology
- Conclusion and Recommendations

- Methodology of the survey.
- Key results of the survey.
- Conclusions drawn from the results of the survey.
- Recommendations based on the results of the survey.

- Study or target population: Who is being studied? Do they belong to a certain age group, cultural group, religion, political belief, or other common practice?
- Variables of the study: What is the survey trying to study? Is the study looking for the association or relationship between two things?
- Purpose of the study: How will this information be used? What new information can this survey help us realize?

- Look for surveys done by researchers in peer-viewed academic journals. In addition to these, consult reports produced by similar companies, organizations, newspapers, or think tanks.
- Compare their results to yours. Do your results support or conflict with their claims? What new information does your report provide on the matter?
- Provide a description of the issue backed with peer-reviewed evidence. Define what it is you're trying to learn and explain why other studies haven't found this information.
Explaining the Method and Results

- Who did you ask? How can you define the gender, age, and other characteristics of these groups?
- Did you do the survey over email, telephone, website, or 1-on-1 interviews?
- Were participants randomly chosen or selected for a certain reason?
- How large was the sample size? In other words, how many people answered the results of the survey?
- Were participants offered anything in exchange for filling out the survey?

- For example, you might sum up the general theme of your questions by saying, "Participants were asked to answer questions about their daily routine and dietary practices."
- Don't put all of the questions in this section. Instead, include your questionnaire in the first appendix (Appendix A).

- If your survey interviewed people, choose a few relevant responses and type them up in this section. Refer the reader to the full questionnaire, which will be in the appendix.
- If your survey was broken up into multiple sections, report the results of each section separately, with a subheading for each section.
- Avoid making any claims about the results in this section. Just report the data, using statistics, sample answers, and quantitative data.
- Include graphs, charts, and other visual representations of your data in this section.

- For example, do people from a similar age group response to a certain question in a similar way?
- Look at questions that received the highest number of similar responses. This means that most people answer the question in similar ways. What do you think that means?
Analyzing Your Results

- Here you may break away from the objective tone of the rest of the paper. You might state if readers should be alarmed, concerned, or intrigued by something.
- For example, you might highlight how current policy is failing or state how the survey demonstrates that current practices are succeeding.

- More research needs to be done on this topic.
- Current guidelines or policy need to be changed.
- The company or institution needs to take action.

- Appendices are typically labeled with letters, such as Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, and so on.
- You may refer to appendices throughout your paper. For example, you can say, “Refer to Appendix A for the questionnaire” or “Participants were asked 20 questions (Appendix A)”.
Polishing Your Report

- The table of contents should list the page numbers for each section (or heading) of the report.

- Typically, you will cite information using in-text parenthetical citations. Put the name of the author and other information, such as the page number or year of publication, in parentheses at the end of a sentence.
- Some professional organizations may have their own separate guidelines. Consult these for more information.
- If you don’t need a specific style, make sure that the formatting for the paper is consistent throughout. Use the same spacing, font, font size, and citations throughout the paper.

- Try not to editorialize the results as you report them. For example, don’t say, “The study shows an alarming trend of increasing drug use that must be stopped.” Instead, just say, “The results show an increase in drug use.”

- If you have a choice between a simple word and a complex word, choose the simpler term. For example, instead of “1 out of 10 civilians testify to imbibing alcoholic drinks thrice daily,” just say “1 out of 10 people report drinking alcohol 3 times a day.”
- Remove any unnecessary phrases or words. For example, instead of “In order to determine the frequency of the adoption of dogs,” just say “To determine the frequency of dog adoption.”

- Make sure you have page numbers on the bottom of the page. Check that the table of contents contains the right page numbers.
- Remember, spell check on word processors doesn’t always catch every mistake. Ask someone else to proofread for you to help you catch errors.
Survey Report Template

Community Q&A

- Always represent the data accurately in your report. Do not lie or misrepresent information. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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- ↑ https://survey.umn.edu/best-practices/survey-analysis-reporting-your-findings
- ↑ http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/about-statistics/presentation/presenting-survey-results.pdf
- ↑ http://www.esourceresearch.org/eSourceBook/SampleSurveys/3DefiningObjectives/tabid/476/Default.aspx
- ↑ https://www.poynter.org/news/beware-sloppiness-when-reporting-surveys
- ↑ https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-surveys/main
About This Article

To write a survey report, you’ll need to include an executive summary, your background and objectives, the methodology, results, and a conclusion with recommendations. In the executive summary, write out the main points of your report in a brief 1-2 page explanation. After the summary, state the objective of the summary, or why the survey was conducted. You should also include the hypothesis and goals of the survey. Once you’ve written this, provide some background information, such as similar studies that have been conducted, that add to your research. Then, explain how your study was conducted in the methodology section. Make sure to include the size of your sample and what your survey contained. Finally, include the results of your study and what implications they present. To learn how to polish your report with a title page and table of contents, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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