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Slider Questions

Slider Questions
Guide with Examples

Slider questions are survey questions that allow respondents to select a value within a range by moving a slider. They provide a visual and interactive way to gather quantitative data.

Gathering data is one of the most important things for businesses. It allows them to learn about customer preferences and mindsets. And the best way to collect data is through the sliding-scale survey. There is a wide range of benefits that you can get from conducting that type of online surveys.

You can use slider questions to ask different questions and then provide multiple options for each answer. Next, you can use the data to measure customer satisfaction to know what customers feel about products or services.

As a result, you can set a price range for the price point accordingly. In this article, we’ll give you a comprehensive idea of how sliding question surveys work and how to use them to gather suitable information.

What are Slider Questions?

A sliding scale is a type of question that has a wide range of answers along with a single or a couple of text boxes. These boxes can be useful so customers can provide additional information. While it is an effective method for data collection, a few things are worth considering.

For instance, the sliding scales are optimal for collecting qualitative data, like how helpful your products were. Businesses can also use it for quantitative data, such as how many products the customers often buy.

It is not suitable for open-ended questions since customers don’t have a choice of giving their answers. Nevertheless, you can still use it to get specific user information on certain topics.

Slider Questions

Watch this video on YouTube

Slider Questions shortly explained with an example – by resonio (01:59)

What are Sliding Scale Surveys?

A sliding scale survey contains various slider questions where respondents can rate their emotions on a scale. It would start from 0 (nothing) to 10 (extremely). Most businesses use it for research purposes for their marketing efforts, but it can also be useful in other scenarios.

Sliding scale surveys can help you find out about people’s opinions in different scenarios where it might not be easy to question how they feel. For instance, your business might want to determine whether it should introduce a new line of products. In that situation, getting people’s ratings about a new product might not be feasible.

Instead, you can ask them how they’ll likely purchase the new sell product based on a particular feature. Furthermore, sliding scale surveys are also useful if you want to gauge the performance of a particular item.

For example, your company might want to know how well the company products are selling over time. So, you can send out a sliding scale survey to ask respondents about the sum spent each month on buying your products.

Benefits of Slider Questions

Using slider questions doesn’t only help you collect valuable data but also allows you to reap a wide range of benefits. Let’s review the few benefits you can get from slider-scale surveys.

Works on All Devices
The best thing about the slider questions is that it works well on all devices, such as mobile phones, desktops, and laptops.
Requires Less Time
Another great thing about the slider questions is that respondents can give feedback quickly. They’ll only have to click the sliding bar to answer the question.
Allows You to Collect Feedback on Various Items
Slider questions are also optimal for you to gather feedback on various things connected to a similar question. Therefore, it saves you from the hassle of adding different questions.
Respondents Can Easily Answer
Last but not least, respondents can easily answer the questions since they’ll only have to drag the slider to leave their feedback. Hence, it will only take a little time and effort from the respondent. Moreover, it will also enhance the overall experience of the participants.
Gives You More Precise Answers
Slider questions allow people to tell about their choices more accurately. The respondents’ answers will fall in the set of choices. You can present the options in text or MCQs (multi-choice questions) and an option to leave an opinion.

However, that option is not available when it comes to rating scale questions since that format doesn’t support it. Therefore, the slider scale question is a much better option.

Drawbacks of Slider Questions

Just like every other thing, there are certain drawbacks that you need to keep in mind for the slider questions. Knowing about these drawbacks will allow you to make the most out of your slider surveys.

Difficult to Get Meaningful Data
The answer range may be too narrow or too broad. As a result, it can be challenging for businesses to gather valuable data.
Difficulty in Interpretation
Presenting the data in the right form is vital so the user can easily interpret it. Failure to do so can lead to inaccurate results or data that isn’t of any use.

It is also difficult to tell how much better or worse something is than some other value on the scale, which can confuse people looking at the scale from different angles.

Types of Slider Questions

An important thing to understand is that there are two kinds of slider questions. You can choose either one of them, depending on your target audience.

Numerical Slider:
It provides respondents with a list of possible values for a particular topic. Respondents can choose a binary answer option according to their preference.
Text Slider:
These types of slider questions come with textual answer questions. Respondents have the choice between three alternatives.

The type of slider question that you choose depends on the topic and the target audience. Therefore, it is important that you go through these options and then make the right choice accordingly.

When to use Slider Questions?

Slider questions are good options where you want to give the respondents a wide range of answer options. However, you can also use this type of question for a single option. Most importantly, the slider questions are an exceptional way to engage your target audience.

You can use the numeric sliding scale and the interactive text to retain that target audience’s attention. There are different scenarios where you can use the slider survey question.
Here are some examples of the slider questions:

What is the percentage of your income that you put in savings?
How many hours do you work out every week?
Do you agree with the above opinion/statement?

If you want to gauge the degree of anything, then the slider question survey is the right choice.

Quick tips for writing good Slider Questions for a Survey

There are a few things to keep in mind for writing good slider questions. The first thing is that you would have to use two formats, one is the question, and the other is an answer. You would place the answer on the right side while the question is on the left side of the screen

Also, it is important that the question is easily understandable. If the answer is difficult to interpret, people will more likely have a hard time answering the question. So, using the right words is vital for the survey. Below are some additional tips to help you out with it:

Ensure that each question is appropriate to the slider scale you use (for instance, if you use the slider of 1 to 10, then all questions should be in the same context so the reader can answer them appropriately)
At least give two options for each question
Make sure to include the relevant question category tag, so it is easy for respondents to interpret what type of answers you need from the survey

How can you analyze data from the Slider Questions?

There is no point in collecting data if you can’t leverage it for your business growth. So, analyzing the data is more than important to make the right business decisions. The first thing you need to do when analyzing the data is to find out the principle you’re testing. And the best way to do so is to ask yourself the following questions:

What is the underlying belief for this activity?
What are the specific results that you want to gauge?
Do you have a clear set of variables in a manner that makes sense for your experiment?

After you answer all these questions, the next step is collecting relevant information. After you come up with an adequate amount of data, you can analyze them to find out the impact of your independent variables on the dependent ones. For instance, you might want to know customers’ opinions regarding your products.

Furthermore, you might also want to find out whether they would recommend your products to others. Therefore, you can come up with two options: “Highly likely” and “Not at all.” Next, add a scale to each question and request the users to rate their feelings about every option from 1 to 5.

How are Slider Scales different from Likert Scales?

Some people confuse the Likert scale with being the same as the slider scale, but they’re two different things. In a slider questions survey, you can easily select from multiple options. On the other hand, the Likert scale is a type of survey where respondents will have to provide answers.

What sets both types of surveys apart is the method for data collection. While slider scales allow users to choose from a list of options, Likert scales surveys usually ask people questions about their preferences. Another major difference between both types of surveys is the way they score responses.

Slider scales will designate points for every option the users choose, whereas the Likert scales utilize the total points to calculate a respondent’s response. One similarity between the Likert and slider scales is that they are both kinds of panel surveys. However, the Likert scale is a two-dimensional survey, whereas the slider scale is one-dimensional.

In simple words, the slider scale lets the respondent choose an option from a list. Conversely, the Likert scale will allow the respondents to choose either one of the two options, such as “strongly agree” vs “disagree.”

Conclusion

Slider questions help you get more comprehensive answers from other types of surveys. Therefore, they’re the preferred choice for most businesses. However, there is also room for error since people might move around on the scale before submitting their answers.

Nevertheless, slider questions are much more engaging, so they will compel the respondents to answer them. In addition, slider questions help you compare two or more variables. As a result, you can use it to find out how well the respondents understand your topic.

Learn about further Online Survey Question Types

FAQ on Slider Questions

What are slider questions?

Slider scale questions allow people to choose a rating on the numerical scale by dragging a slider. Respondents can drag the scale to give the ratings.

What do you use the slider questions for?

The slider questions can help you measure the degree of a particular thing or topic. You can use it for a number of purposes.

How can I set up a slider question?

You have many options to choose from when setting up a slider question. Include labels and units, or tell the system to start the slider from a particular point.