Survey statistics: 95 surveys and question banks

A finished survey asks 8 or 9 questions, most of them single choice, with one optional open question near the end. That is the pattern across the 30 survey forms on this site. The 65 question banks behind them, longer lists of 20 to 40 questions to choose from, add more rating grids and more open and short text questions, organised into four or five sections.

What was counted

Two sets were counted on 21 October 2026. The first is the 30 survey form examples: finished surveys for fictional Australian businesses and organisations, from an app feedback survey to a staff wellbeing survey, all built as one question at a time forms. The second is the 65 question bank pages, each a list of 20 to 40 questions for one kind of survey, tagged with the form field each question uses and whether it should be required. Together they hold 1,798 questions.

The surveys and banks were written to be used, so the counts describe a well built survey rather than responses to one. For response rates, see survey response rate benchmarks.

Finished surveys: short and closed

The 30 surveys ask between 7 and 14 questions, with a median of 8.5. Single choice questions make up 62% of the 271 questions, rating grids 8%, open text 11%, multiple choice 7% and dropdowns 5%. Short text, numbers, dates and uploads are rare, because a survey asks for opinions, not details.

Open questions are rationed. 22 surveys have exactly one, 4 have two and 4 have none, and only 6 of the 30 open questions are required. The usual place is near the end: what is one thing we should change. The course evaluation form, a related example outside the 30, shows the same shape at a slightly larger size: a dropdown for the class, three rating grids on the teaching, the materials and the outcome, then open questions on the most useful part and the one thing to change.

None of the 30 uses section headings. Eight or nine questions on one subject do not need dividing.

Question banks: the full menu

The 65 banks cover employee surveys (16), customer surveys (14), education (11), applications (6), events and sport and membership (4 each), patients and property (3 each) and a few others. They hold a median of 23 questions, from 20 to 40, in four or five sections.

The mix is wider than a finished survey’s. Single choice is still the largest group at 42%, but rating grids rise to 16%, because a bank offers sets of statements on one scale, such as the agreement items in the employee engagement survey questions. Open text stays at 11%, and short text rises to 9% where banks include identifying details for applications and enrolments.

Only 32% of bank questions are marked required, and only 28 of 167 open questions. A bank is a menu, and most of its questions are follow ups to pick from.

How surveys start and end

In the banks, 19 open with a single choice question, 17 with a dropdown and 11 with short text, usually a role, a visit type or a name. They end with a single choice question (18), an open question (18) or, on applications and consent style banks, a signature (8). Pew Research Center’s guidance on questionnaire design stresses that question order affects answers; the banks here put easy, relevant questions first and the personal or demanding ones later.

Building a survey from the numbers

1. Eight to ten questions for a customer or event survey.
2. Mostly single choice and one rating grid, each with a clear scale.
3. One open question near the end, optional.
4. No sections under about 12 questions; four or five above 20.
5. Start easy, end with the open question.

The survey question count post covers length by survey type, how to write survey questions covers wording, and the customer satisfaction survey questions bank is a starting point.

In the product

A survey can be built as a classic form or a conversational one, from a description of up to 10,000 characters, with single choice, checkbox, dropdown, rating grid, text, number and date fields. Conversational surveys can jump to a later screen based on an answer. Responses appear in a table and export to CSV with one column per question, and a rating grid’s answers are joined into one column. The conversational form builder page shows the format, and the guide to viewing and exporting responses covers the results.