The biggest survey trends of the year
SurveyMonkey helps people answer 20 million questions a day. We analyzed the biggest trends of the past year, and compared them with surveys dating back to 2012 to see what’s changed, what’s next, and what it all means for you.
The complete 2023 State of Surveys report
The State of Surveys report examines all the biggest and most important trends of the year, using the millions of SurveyMonkey surveys created in the past few years as its (aggregated and anonymized) data set. We looked at trends among creators (the types of questions people asked) and among respondents (how people answered) to find the ones with the most dramatic growth, change, or impact.
The findings can help you:
- Optimize your surveys based on current preferences and create the best possible survey experience
- Understand overarching social trends and sensitivities
- Learn best practices for getting more survey responses
SOCIAL TRENDS
What the questions we ask say about us
Beyond male and female
The majority (64%) of U.S. surveys that ask about gender now include more than two answer options.
Interest in remote work is fading
It was mentioned in nearly 10% of global surveys in May 2020, but has now declined to near pre-pandemic levels.
But DEI is here to stay
Interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion—shows no signs of waning after nearly doubling in mid-2020.
GENERAL SURVEY TRENDS
How people are asking and answering questions right now
Midweek is best
The majority (55.5%) of surveys are taken midweek (Tuesday-Thursday)—which is more than four times the amount taken on weekends.
Mobile is rising
More than half (57%) of surveys are taken on mobile.
People like to keep it short
Globally, nearly half (48%) of all surveys are only one page.
Survey Methodology
Key trends
Percentages were calculated by dividing the number of surveys with questions containing specific keywords (like “coronavirus” or “diversity”) by the total number of surveys fielded on the SurveyMonkey platform. This data was collected between January 2019 and November 2022.
Rise of mobile
Device usage was calculated by dividing the number of survey responses taken on a specific device by the total number of responses submitted on the SurveyMonkey platform. The device usage looked at was collected between November 2020 to November 2022.
Gender inclusion
Percentages were calculated by dividing the number of surveys with a gender question that contains specific criteria (e.g. number of answer options or use of specific keywords) by the total number of surveys containing a gender question. A question was considered a “gender question” if it contained the words "male," "female," "woman," or "man" as answer options. The data was examined was collected between January 2012 and November 2022.
Survey templates
Rankings of the most popular templates were based on the number of times a template had been deployed in 2022. This data was collected from January 2022 to November 2022, and only templates shown on SurveyMonkey.com were included in the rankings.
Get the full analysis
Uncover more survey trends and learn the resulting best practices in our full 2022 report.