You've likely stumbled upon Template Standards as a strange category in the Bellini Slushie Question Bank.

We’ve created this category for a simple reason: you will most likely need to reword survey questions and add in responses that fit your context. Some questions in the Question Bank (such as demographic questions) may only need to be changed slightly, while others (e.g. Likert scales and or market research questions) may need to be completely rewritten or have no responses attached.

We don’t know your context, so we can’t write your survey for you. We can't imagine the unlimited directions each question could take, let alone add them into the Question Bank.

Instead, we provide you with templates and the tools so you can write your survey yourself. Thus, we've created the Template Standard category to give you specific recommendations and example scenarios.

At the end of the day, Bellini Slushie wants to make you a better researcher!

How do I use them?

Below are two types of questions we've tagged as Template Standard. For each example, we’ve pulled the content for each section and added comments further explaining them. Use these questions as a guide.

1. Open-ended and free-form

This is a generic statement that will force a user to choose between different response options. The wording of the question can be used as is or reworded.

Question: 
- Select which statement you agree with best 

This section only has a vague statement because everyone’s context is different. You will have to add your own responses here.

Responses:  
- List of a few statements to choose between

Under Recommendations, we offer up advice on when and how you should use this type of question.

Recommendations:
- This is typically used when you're deciding between a few options. Forcing users to choose 1 option over a few others helps you understand which they would prefer.  

Under templates, we've provided you with two example questions and responses. You can see different ways the question was rewritten and how the responses are specific to this context.

Question: 
- Which statement do you agree with best about how you prefer to text message?

Options:
- I prefer messaging via the phone's default SMS application
- I prefer messaging via messaging applications on my phone (i.e. phone apps for Whatsapp, Telegram, FB Messenger)
- I messaging via messaging applications on my computer (i.e. desktop apps for Whatsapp, Telegram, FB Messenger)

Question: 
- Which season do you prefer the most?

Options:
- Fall
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer

2. Likert scales and likes

This is a Likert scale question, so the question is intentionally vague. You’re provided with a very generic statement, which should be adapted as you need to.

Question: 
- Rate how acceptable (X).

This section has a 7-point Likert scale in the response options. When using Likert scales, you need to choose what point scale you’d like to use. Read more on how to do that in the Choosing the number of points for your scale section in our Likert How-To article.

Responses:
- Totally unacceptable 
- Unacceptable 
- Slightly unacceptable 
- Neutral 
- Slightly acceptable 
- Acceptable 
- Perfectly Acceptable

This section offers advice on when and how you should use this type of question.

Recommendations:
- Acceptable is great for understanding consumer attitudes or beliefs, esp. about controversial topics (e.g. e-cigs, abortion, animal testing)

Under templates, we've provided you with two example questions. You can see different ways that the question was rewritten. For any Template Standard also tagged as Likert scale, responses are not added into this section because they scales are easy to adjust once you select what point scale you’d like to use.

Question: 
- How acceptable do you think it is for your underage children and their friends to drink alcohol under your supervision?

Question: 
- Rate how acceptable you think the following action is - using a sick day at work to do something fun, e.g. attending a concert or taking a day trip.

Other Survey Writing Resources

Still a bit lost on how to write a survey? Need a little help? We’ve got you covered with some how-to articles:

• How to write survey when you know nothing
• What are likert scales and how do I use them?
• How to get survey responses for free

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