Yearbook surveys and polls are a great way to get a pulse on your school community for a specific year.
Not just any survey will do that, though. Your yearbook poll results will be way, way better if you ask great questions and help people give great answers.
Inside this post, we’ll show you how to do just that. And, as if teaching you how to fish wasn’t enough, we’ve got Atlantic salmon on deck: over 50 of our most fantastic survey questions to get your gears turning. Read on to get them.
How to Write Yearbook Survey Questions
Yearbook survey questions should be low-stakes and, more importantly, fun. They shouldn’t relate to anything that might spark controversy or offend anyone –politics, religion, etc.–
Structurally, you want to create questions that pair obvious inquiry-based words (who, what, where, when, why, how, etc.) with a specific set of responses.
Questions can range from “what was the song of the year” to “best place to buy jeans” to “snacks the cafeteria should start stocking” (though that last one could start a small riot). These are fun questions, great for putting students at ease, and building trust before asking them to share personal opinions and anecdotes.
Recycling the same questions every year isn’t necessarily a bad thing (provided the list you’ve created is full of excellent options). And of course, it goes without saying, you’ll have to change the answers listed to reflect the inevitable cultural changes (hello 20-21 school year changes).
Source Multiple Choice Responses Like a Pro
You’ve got three phenomenal resources at your disposal when it comes to generating the response options for your yearbook survey questions. Let’s take a look at them:
- Last year’s book. As we mentioned earlier, re-using older questions is perfectly fine: using old response-options? Not so much. That being said, they’re a fantastic jumping off point. Maybe Justin Bieber isn’t one of the best male singers this year. Perhaps Chipotle will cede its crown as the go-to pregame dining spot.
- Your staff. You might think you’ve got your finger on the student body’s pulse, but your student staff members are infinitely more plugged in. Grab a couple of pizzas one afternoon and have a brainstorming session to come up with responses. Not only will this help craft great answers, it’ll let you find if your questions actually resonate with students.
- Social media. Simply by paying attention to what’s happening in the student version of the world you can generate oodles of survey response ideas. Look at what’s trending on Twitter or TikTok and start keeping a running list.
When it comes to good multiple choice questions, you want to make sure you limit your responses to no more than 5 choices. Any more than this and students could have a hard time selecting only one. It might also become hard to read when you transfer the results into your yearbook, thereby missing the benefit of capturing this information for your students.
Now, without further adieu, here’s our list of over 50 yearbook survey questions.
Over 50 Yearbook Survey Questions For Better Polls
Perhaps the easiest way to tackle this big list of questions is to divide them up the way we divide all questions: Who, what, when, where, why, and how.
The biggest reason for doing it this way? Doing so gives you a bunch of options when it comes to laying out your yearbook polls spreads.
Who…
- Is the best male singer/band?
- Is the best female singer/band?
- Would you you like to see speak at graduation?
- Was the most memorable performer (student)?
- Was the best actor (professional)?
- Was the best actress (professional)?
- Had the best athletic performance (student)?
- Was your favorite professional athlete?
- Wrote the best book?
- Made you turn off the TV?
What….
- Were the biggest differences between this year and last?
- Is your favorite professional sport?
- Do you wish the cafeteria had served?
- Was the most difficult class you took?
- Was the most memorable quote?
- Subject do you wish you tried harder in?
- Food did you try for the first time?
- Genre of music was most popular?
- Word did you hear most often when roaming the halls?
- TV show was everybody talking about?
- Jingle gets stuck in your head all the time?
- Accessory can you not live without?
- Is your favorite school outfit?
- Is the weirdest trend of the year?
- Decade would you pick to grow up in?
Where…
- Did you go after prom/school?
- WOuld you like to go this summer?
- Would you most like to take a nap in school?
- Would your team go to celebrate a victory?
- Are you happiest?
- Do you like to shop?
- Is the best pizza in town?
- Should there be a field trip to?
- Would you spend a free period?
- Are the school’s most comfortable chairs?
- Did you spend most of your allowance?
When…
- Did senioritis set in?
- Did you submit college applications?
- Did you start considering what you’d like to do after graduation?
- Do you get to school in the morning?
- Did you stay up the latest?
- Are you most productive?
- Do you do your homework?
- Did you cheer the hardest (school event)?
- Was the student body most excited?
- Is it okay to stop playing Pokemon Go/scrolling TikTok?
Why…
- Should school start 30 minutes later?
- Do you want to go to college?
- Do you prefer books to screen-reading?
- Aren’t there more students on the yearbook staff?
- Did [thing] happen on [show]?
How…
- Many books have you read this year?
- Many social media platforms do you use?
- Often do you send Snaps?
- Can teachers better-use technology in the classroom?
- Should the school go about picking new electives?
Got all that? Good.
Great yearbook survey questions (and great multiple choice answers) will help you elevate any polling coverage you might include in your yearbook. Even better? It’ll help you spot trends that can lead to story ideas.
