Handling Sensitive Questions in Surveys and Screeners

Summary: Researchers often want to ask about sensitive topics in surveys and screeners. Handle them appropriately and delicately to avoid dropoffs and inaccurate data.

Frequently, surveys and screeners contain questions that some respondents may find sensitive or be reluctant to answer. Even questions that might seem innocuous to a researcher, like age, gender, or income level, could cause an emotional response from your respondents.

This article guides you through handling sensitive questions in surveys and screeners and provides some example wording for you to use in the future.

Which Questions Are Sensitive?

Researchers should always attempt to avoid any possible discomfort experienced by their research participants. In addition to the obvious ethical implications, sensitive questions could cause participants to either abandon the survey or, worse, provide unreliable answers.