HOW SHOULD I PHRASE THE SURVEY ITEM?
Survey items can be constructed as questions or statements.

Example:
Did you feel that customer phone support was attentive to your needs?
Customer phone support was attentive to your needs.

What is most important here is that biases are minimized. If the item "leads" the respondent to answer in a particular way there is probably a better way to phrase it.

DOUBLE-BARRELED ITEMS
This is a common pitfall that makes it almost impossible to interpret a respondent's answer. The problem occurs when a single survey item addresses two separate issues.

Examples:
1. I believe my benefits and retirement packages are fair.
2. The site was helpful and easy to navigate.

In example one respondents may be referring to either the benefits package or retirement package or both. The item should be restructured so that one survey item assesses the perceived fairness of the benefits package and a second survey item assesses the perceived fairness of retirement package. In the second example it is unclear whether the survey item refers to the usefulness of information provided on the site, or the overall ease of navigability of the site. Again, the solution is to address only one issue per item.

ORDER EFFECTS
These occur when one survey item effects the interpretation and response of the following survey item.

Example:
Overall, my impression of the site was positive.
It was difficult to navigate the website.

In the above example, the respondent's overall evaluation of the site will influence subsequent responses about specific aspects of the site such as navigation. One way to minimize order effects is to place specific statements earlier in your survey, and more general questions toward the end of your survey. A more traditional solution is to "counter-balance" the item or survey order of presentation.

RESPONSE OPTIONS
There are variety of response options that can be used such as: open-ended, yes-no, true-false, 4-point scales, and 5-point scales. You may ask yourself, "Should the survey use four response options ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree or should there be five response options with a neutral point?" There is no definitive answer to this question because biases are introduced in both cases. For example, with 4-point response options, the respondent is forced to take a position when they may actually think or feel neutrally about the situation. With 5-point response options, the respondent may fall back on responding neutrally when they have a definite position on the matter, but do not want to express it. Ultimately, the goal is to minimize the bias that is most detrimental to your study.

ITEM DIRECTION
Should a survey item be worded positively? Negatively? Or Neutrally?

Example:
I was satisfied with the customer support I received.
I was not satisfied with the customer support I received.
How satisfied were you with the customer support you received?

Ideally, you should use neutral statements so you aren't leading an individual to respond a certain way. However positively and negatively worded items are frequently used. The most important consideration is balance. If there are negatively worded items then there should be an equal number of positively worded items as well.