Survey data can help you retain the best talent, drive more profits…and grow your market share.
Picture survey data as gold ore.
Gold must be filtered from dirt to have value. Equally, a huge chunk of your data is a bunch of meaningless values.
How do you separate the grain from the chaff? Your guess is correct if you thought of charts and graphs.
But that’s not enough.
Storytelling using survey data is a ‘must-have’ skill. It transforms raw data into emotionally appealing content for decision-making by department heads and other decision-making authorities.
Survey data and storytelling coexist to bring out the best in each other.
You need charts designed purposely to create compelling survey data stories.
Why?
A dense spreadsheet of survey responses probably isn’t the best way to sell your points or push a recommendation.
Besides, Microsoft PowerPoint slides with just a few data points are unlikely to persuade some of your more analytical stakeholders.
This is where survey-oriented charts come in. You can use these charts as backdrops for your data stories.
Some of the survey-based charts we recommend includes:
Google Sheets lacks charts (mentioned above) for visualizing survey data.
We’re not advising you to do away with the Google Sheets.
Install a particular add-on in your Google Sheets to access ready-made survey-based charts, such as Sentiment Trend and CSAT Score Charts.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
Before jumping into the listicle, we’ll address the following question: what is a survey?
Definition: A survey comprises questions that aim to extract specific data from a particular group.
You can conduct a survey by phone, mail, via the internet, etc.
The tool can help you to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings.
Psychologists and sociologists use surveys to assess behaviors.
In other sectors, such as advertising and finance, surveys are widely used to probe the deeply felt needs of consumers (audiences).
In medical and surgical fields, surveys are critical in gathering data to improve medical outcomes and drive patient-led intervention.
So, what is survey data?
Survey data is the information you get from a target audience (or a group).
This data is usually about a specific topic or theme
There’re multiple methods of gathering data via a survey.
But most seasoned visualization gurus use freemium tools like Google and Microsoft Forms to collect survey data faster.
It gets better.
These survey-based applications are free and shareable via website embeds and social media.
Once you gather survey responses, how do you proceed?
This is where these survey-based visualizations come in:
In the ensuing section, we’ll address the following question: what are the main survey research methods?
Paper-based survey methods represent some of the oldest strategies still being used today.
You must either administer these surveys physically or mail them and wait for the responses.
The downside of this is the constraints of time and other resources. For instance, you’ve got to travel to where your target respondents hang out.
Telephonic surveys are much less resource-intensive than paper surveys.
You don’t have to travel to gather survey data for analysis. On the flip side, you’re likely to get poor responses if you opt for cold calling.
Not everyone will feel comfortable sharing their sentiments and views via phone. So, the lack of trust will likely affect data collection negatively
An online survey is one of the practical survey data-collection strategies today.
Remember, about 75% of the global population has access to the internet.
An online survey can help you gather opinions from the target audience without traveling or paying for mail postage.
We recommend online surveys because they’re more flexible, convenient, and inexpensive.
Unlike postal mail and paper-based surveys, which require you to wait for responses, online survey responses are gathered automatically.
You can enjoy the automation if you opt for Google or Microsoft Forms (two of the freemium tools for creating surveys.
Online survey applications, such as Google Forms, are less resource-intensive than other methods, such as telephone surveys.
You don’t have to part away with your hard-earned money. Also, you’ll save a lot of time.
Older methods, such as paper-based surveys, can easily experience errors
For instance, responses gathered via online surveys must be fed into your database manually, making the whole process error-prone.
With an online survey application, such as Microsoft Forms, data is directly saved in Microsoft’s cloud.
Most online survey tools are very flexible because you can easily access them provided you have internet-enabled gadgets.
Now that you have all the basics of a survey, let’s dive into the best types of survey graphs.
A Likert Scale Chart provides you with multiple answer options aligned with the objective of the survey.
Your target respondents have up to 10-options to express their agreement or disagreement.
The visualization chart is one of the top 5 types of survey graphs you can use to drill down the precise feelings and sentiments of respondents.
Use a Likert Scale Chart to measure the opinions and sentiments of your respondents faster and more conveniently.
Your target audience will have up to 10 options to select from each time they answer a survey question.
The Likert Scale Chart is increasingly helping businesses like yours resonate with their target audience (or customers).
CSAT Score Survey Chart is one of the top types of survey graphs that uses column bars to display insights into promoters and detractors of your brand.
Promoters are likely to recommend your business to their families and friends.
On the other hand, detractors are people who are likely to throw shade on your brand.
Promoters are depicted using green colors while detractors are represented using red colors.
The aggregate score is calculated by subtracting detractors from promoters.
For instance, the CSAR Score for the chart above is 47 (64-17).
A CSAT Score Bar Chart is one of the best types of survey graphs you can use to display insights into your survey data.
The visualization design shows a Net Promoter Score- a customer experience-based metric.
The resulting insights are measured along a scale that ranges between -100 and +100.
Use survey-based visualization to assess your customers’ level of loyalty.
A Customer Satisfaction Chart is one of the top 5 types of survey graphs you can use to display insights into close-ended responses.
The survey-based chart shows how your respondents agree or disagree with themes related to your business.
And it is segmented into red and green colors, depicting YES and NO.
A Sentiment Trend Chart uses a combination of bars and lines to depict insights into your survey data.
The green color in the color represents the satisfied respondents. Conversely, the red color shows detractors (unsatisfied respondents).
The line shows the overall pattern of the respondents’ responses.
For instance, in May, the number of satisfied customers was through the roof. Only 366 out of the 4,780 respondents gave a negative sentiment towards the brand under study.
Google Sheets is one of the spreadsheet applications you can use to store, organize, and analyze data.
But, it lacks visualizations designed purposely to visualize survey data, such as CSAT Score Bar and Sentiment Trend Charts.
We’re not advising you to do away with Microsoft Google Sheets.
There’s an add-on you can easily install in your Google Sheets to access survey-based visualizations.
The application is called ChartExpo.
What is ChartExpo?
ChartExpo is an add-on you can easily install in your Microsoft Google Sheets to access charts for visualizing survey questions.
This section will use one of the top 5 types of survey graphs to visualize the tabular data below.
Let’s dive in.
| Questions | Scale | Responses |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 0 | 4 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 1 | 7 |
| xThe friendliness of teaching staff. | 2 | 3 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 3 | 8 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 4 | 5 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 5 | 9 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 6 | 11 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 7 | 5 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 8 | 7 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 9 | 25 |
| The friendliness of teaching staff. | 10 | 27 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 0 | 3 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 1 | 7 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 2 | 2 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 3 | 9 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 4 | 4 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 5 | 6 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 6 | 12 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 7 | 3 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 8 | 6 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 9 | 27 |
| The approachability of teaching staff. | 10 | 31 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 0 | 7 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 1 | 8 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 2 | 6 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 3 | 14 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 4 | 9 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 5 | 13 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 6 | 9 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 7 | 14 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 8 | 11 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 9 | 15 |
| The concern shown when you have a problem. | 10 | 8 |
| The competence of staff. | 0 | 5 |
| The competence of staff. | 1 | 16 |
| The competence of staff. | 2 | 8 |
| The competence of staff. | 3 | 13 |
| The competence of staff. | 4 | 13 |
| The competence of staff. | 5 | 6 |
| The competence of staff. | 6 | 10 |
| The competence of staff. | 7 | 6 |
| The competence of staff. | 8 | 6 |
| The competence of staff. | 9 | 14 |
| The competence of staff. | 10 | 15 |
| The availability of staff. | 0 | 1 |
| The availability of staff. | 1 | 3 |
| The availability of staff. | 2 | 2 |
| The availability of staff. | 3 | 5 |
| The availability of staff. | 4 | 8 |
| The availability of staff. | 5 | 1 |
| The availability of staff. | 6 | 7 |
| The availability of staff. | 7 | 8 |
| The availability of staff. | 8 | 7 |
| The availability of staff. | 9 | 27 |
| The availability of staff. | 10 | 39 |
From this CSAT Score Bar Chart, you could identify how student viewed your organization.
In the coming section, we’ll learn how to present survey results with the help of a video tutorial.
In the following video, you will learn how to visualize and present survey results with the help of one of the best survey graphs.
In the coming section, we’ll address the following question: what are the main objectives of a survey?
You don’t want to miss this.
A survey can help you learn what motivates and pushes your target respondents.
Also, you’ll learn what is important to them by gathering meaningful opinions and comments.
A Conducive survey environment creates trust and increases response rates.
A survey allows you to spark conversations with your target audience.
You’ll gather significant insights into their goals, dreams, fears, problems, etc.
A survey can provide you with reliable insights you can share with top management to aid in decision-making.
You won’t be shooting darts in the dark by conducting a survey and analyzing the findings using graphs, such as Likert and CSAT Score Charts.
Why?
These charts can provide insights you can use to create a compelling data story.
You’re sending a message that you care about your target audience’s experience by asking for their perception and opinions.
Building trust can easily help you create a community of loyal brand evangelists.
Instead of assuming your business failed to deliver, you’ll have objective feedback to gauge performance.
Remember, you don’t have to be the judge and jury of your performance. Let your target audience decide. After all, it’s all about their needs.
Tools, such as Google and Microsoft Forms, make surveys less expensive.
You don’t have to spend money. Also, you’ll save a lot of time.
Traditional methods, such as paper-filled survey questions, are prone to error and non-participation.
For example, survey data gathered via forms must be input into your database manually, which is an error-prone task.
A survey comprises questions that aim to extract specific data from a particular group.
The tool can help you to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings.
In other sectors, such as advertising and finance, surveys are widely used to probe the deeply felt needs of consumers (audiences).
A survey can help you learn what motivates and pushes your target respondents.
Also, you’ll learn what is important to them by gathering meaningful opinions and comments. A conducive survey environment creates trust and increases response rates.
Secondly, a survey allows you to spark conversations with your target audience.
To create compelling survey data stories, you need charts designed purposely for that.
Why?
A dense spreadsheet of survey responses probably isn’t the best way to sell your points or push a recommendation.
Besides, Microsoft PowerPoint slides with just a few data points are unlikely to persuade some of your more analytical stakeholders.
This is where survey-oriented charts come in. You can use these charts as backdrops for your data stories.
Some of the survey-based charts we recommend include:
Google Sheets lacks charts (mentioned above) for visualizing survey data.
We’re not advising you to do away with the Google Sheets.
So, what’s the solution?
We recommend you install an add-on, such as ChartExpo, to access survey-based charts.
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