Here are some of the best questions for a college graduate student survey about thesis and dissertation support, plus tips on how to design them clearly. With Specific, you can build a tailored survey in seconds—get the insights you need faster, and dig deeper with smart follow-ups.
Best open-ended questions for graduate students: thesis & dissertation support
Open-ended questions let graduate students share challenges, successes, and suggestions in their own words. This approach uncovers nuances and helps you discover problems (or bright spots) you never expected. Use these when you want context, authentic experiences, or feedback for improvement.
What has been your biggest challenge during your thesis or dissertation process?
Can you describe a time when you felt well-supported by your advisor or committee?
What kind of support would have made your research journey smoother?
How do you currently seek help or resources when you hit a roadblock?
Tell us about your experience with available workshops or training sessions related to academic writing.
What’s one thing you wish your department did differently to support thesis/dissertation students?
Who do you turn to first when you need guidance for your thesis or dissertation?
If you could create one new support resource or service, what would it be?
How has feedback (from advisors or peers) helped—or hindered—your progress?
Can you share an example where administrative processes created extra stress during your thesis or dissertation?
Open-ended questions like these are where graduate students open up. In recent years, students have increasingly leaned on digital tools for academic collaboration and support: 86% reported using AI tools regularly in a 2024 survey—a trend that highlights just how rapidly the research landscape is shifting [1].
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for thesis and dissertation support
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you need quantifiable data, or want to prompt survey takers with approachable options. They’re a great way to start a conversation: sometimes, it’s less intimidating to select an answer than to write one out from scratch. Use them early to map patterns—then dive deeper with custom follow-ups.
Question: Which area of thesis/dissertation support do you find most lacking?
Writing and structuring
Access to data or research tools
Advisor or committee guidance
Mental health and well-being resources
Other
Question: How often do you attend department-sponsored workshops or support sessions?
Weekly
Monthly
Once per semester
Never
Question: Who do you rely on most for feedback on your writing?
My advisor
Peers/fellow students
University writing center
Online resources or forums
Other
When to followup with “why?” Adding a quick "why?" after a multiple-choice answer is powerful. If a student selects “advisor or committee guidance” as their biggest challenge, you might follow up with: “Why do you feel support from your advisor wasn’t enough?” This gives you both numbers and the reasons behind them—key to improving support systems.
When and why to add the “Other” choice? Always include “Other” when you suspect your options might miss specific pain points or unique contexts. The open-ended follow-up lets students explain—surfacing new insights you never anticipated.
NPS for thesis and dissertation support: does it make sense?
NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a widely-used tool for gauging loyalty or satisfaction: “How likely are you to recommend our thesis/dissertation support services to a fellow graduate student?” It’s simple for busy students to answer, yet provides a big-picture indicator for how well you’re really supporting them. For college graduate students navigating the stress of big academic milestones, NPS can reveal both systemic strengths and glaring gaps. Try a ready-made NPS survey for graduate support in moments.
The power of follow-up questions
If you’re reading about survey best practices, don’t skip the power of follow-up questions. One distinct advantage of using automated AI-powered followups is how naturally they dig deeper, clarify, and bring specifics into focus. Open-ended questions are good, but the magic happens when you ask smart follow-ups, on the fly, just like a seasoned interviewer. Specific’s AI does just that: based on the respondent’s answer and context, it generates relevant follow-ups in real time.
Student: “I wish the writing center had more flexible hours.”
AI follow-up: “What days or times would make it easier for you to attend support sessions?”
Student: “Advisor support is inconsistent.”
AI follow-up: “Could you describe a specific instance when you felt let down by advisor support?”
How many followups to ask? Generally, 2–3 targeted follow-ups per answer are enough to capture context—without fatiguing respondents. Specific lets you set limits, so once the response is complete, it smoothly moves to the next question.
This makes it a conversational survey: The back-and-forth means it feels like a helpful conversation, not a static form. This increases participation and elicits richer detail with less effort from each respondent. It's one of the core reasons why conversational surveys outperform traditional forms on engagement.
AI analysis, themes, and insights are instant: Even though follow-up questions lead to lots of open-ended responses, AI response analytics make sifting through qualitative data a breeze. Summaries, themes, and even drilling down into segments happen with a click—no more manual coding and highlight piles.
Automated, context-aware follow-up is a new approach—one you can try for yourself: generate a live survey and experience the power of conversational feedback in real time.
Crafting prompts for ChatGPT and AI survey design
If you want to come up with great questions for thesis/dissertation support surveys, the right prompt is everything. Start broad—then get specific by layering context into your instructions. You can also go step-by-step: generate questions, categorize, then go deeper.
Begin with a focused prompt like:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for college graduate student survey about thesis and dissertation support.
But whenever possible, add context about you and your needs. For example:
I am an assistant director at a graduate studies office. Our goal is to improve services for Master's and PhDs working on their theses/dissertations. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to understand barriers, helpful supports, and ideas for impactful resources.
Once you have a list, move to organization:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Pick categories that resonate (like “advisor support” or “mental health support”) and drill down:
Generate 10 questions about advisor and committee support for thesis and dissertation students.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like a natural chat, not a lifeless form. You engage with the participant in real time—adapting questions, asking natural follow-ups, and keeping the tone human. This is the core of AI-generated conversational surveys: they mimic human interaction, which increases response rates and gives you deeper insight. Traditional, manual survey builders offer pre-set logic at best, but they lack that effortless, chat-like flexibility.
Manual Survey Builder | AI Survey Generator (Conversational) |
|---|---|
Write & edit questions by hand | Describe your goal, AI suggests questions instantly |
Responses are usually static, flat | Dynamic, adaptive follow-ups—a real conversation |
Difficult to analyze qualitative data | AI summarizes and distills feedback themes |
High effort to build and iterate | Rapid design, instant edits via AI-powered survey editor |
Why use AI for college graduate student surveys? Nearly every graduate student today is familiar with AI tools—92% used them in 2024, up dramatically from prior years, and over half cite saving time and improving work quality as top reasons [3]. For a tech-forward, time-pressed audience like this, an AI survey example—especially one that’s conversational—fits their daily communication style and gets you faster, more honest feedback.
Specific delivers a best-in-class conversational survey experience, smoothing every part of the feedback cycle for both you (the creator) and your graduate student respondents. If you want to learn more, check our detailed guide on how to create a thesis/dissertation support survey—it walks you through, step by step.
See this thesis and dissertation support survey example now
Get inspired by AI-generated, conversational survey questions that dig deep and feel truly relevant. See how fast you can uncover actionable insights from graduate students—in a format that feels as easy as texting a friend.