Radio Buttons and Checkboxes: did you put a square box where you need a round button?

If I had to name the most common survey design error that I see, it is confusion around radio buttons and checkboxes and how they pertain to choice questions.  If you aren't sure what radio buttons and checkboxes are, don't worry..you are undoubtedly familiar with them even if not by name. Radio buttons are simply those round buttons that accompany a single choice selection, allowing you to select just one answer. Checkboxes accompany a multiple choice selection and allow you to select multiple options. If you've ever filled out a form online or even used a computer, you've used radio buttons and checkboxes. They are such a part of the way that we interact with our computers, that many of us don't even think about these interface elements anymore than we would taking a breath of air! However, just like breathing, we may forget about them when we begin to design our surveys. Using checkboxes for single choice questions, especially rating scales, is a common mistake. It can be confusing to your survey participants and it can mess up your data collection. After all, if you've asked your survey participant to rate on a scale of “1 to 5,” you don't want them to pick 3 AND 4, right? Whenever you're not sure which type of question to use when designing your survey, check out the sample survey on our homepage which showcases many types of questions and how they can be used! See sample survey.