Poor Survey Design Is A Multi-Million Dollar Risk

By Nancy Q | March 2026

You have a list of questions. That doesn’t make it a survey.

Why?

Just like an Excel formula, survey questions must adhere to specific rules and formatting. There are established design principles that must be followed. If the structure is wrong, the output is wrong. You can't improvise a formula in Excel and expect accurate calculations. The same applies to survey questions. 

Business risks

Poorly designed surveys result in flawed data that can lead to misguided workforce decisions, wasted investments, lost productivity, avoidable turnover, or legal exposure tied to employment actions. The cost of that could potentially reach hundreds of millions of dollars (Gartner, 2020). 

Survey design is a Science. 

There is a multi-billion-dollar industry dedicated to teaching organizations how to design survey questions correctly. Question wording, response scale structure, sequencing, and construct alignment follow standards developed through decades of research (Groves et al., 2009). Small design errors can create large distortions in results. A question that appears simple can introduce bias, confusion, or measurement error that changes how people respond.

Good survey questions require:

1. 1. 1. A clearly defined construct (what is being measured)

      2. Neutral, unbiased wording

      3. Response scales that accurately capture intensity or frequency

      4. Items that collectively represent the construct

      5. Logical sequencing that minimizes order effects

      6. Evidence that the measure is reliable and valid (Groves et al., 2009)

Without these principles, responses may produce misleading conclusions.

Bottom line

A list of questions does not make a survey. Without proper survey design, organizations risk making decisions based on unreliable data.