Here are some of the best questions for an ex-cult member survey about education needs, plus tips for shaping your questions to get insightful responses. We’ve seen how tools like Specific make it effortless to build a high-quality, conversational survey in seconds—even for nuanced topics like this one.
Best open-ended questions for education needs in ex-cult member surveys
Open-ended questions are perfect when you want people to share their stories, specific needs, or pain points—often in their own words. They’re especially valuable for ex-cult members, whose educational journeys may be interrupted or unique. When depth and nuance matter most, go open-ended for richer, unexpected insights.
What educational opportunities do you feel you missed during your time in the cult?
How has your experience affected your confidence in academic settings?
What subjects or skills are you most interested in learning or improving now?
Can you describe any barriers you face in pursuing education today?
What support would be most helpful to you as you continue your education?
How do you prefer to learn—online courses, group settings, one-on-one, etc.?
What are your long-term educational or career goals?
How comfortable do you feel accessing resources like tutoring, libraries, or counseling?
Have you experienced any stigma or discrimination in educational spaces?
What advice would you give to educators or organizations supporting ex-cult members?
Fact: AI surveys consistently achieve higher completion rates than traditional surveys—up to 70–90% vs. only 10–30%—due largely to their conversational nature and adaptability. This is especially vital when working with sensitive communities like ex-cult members, where trust and comfort are essential for honest sharing. [1]
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for ex-cult member education needs surveys
Single-select multiple-choice questions work best when you want to quantify needs, spot trends, or kick off a deeper conversation. For ex-cult members, they offer a starting point that feels simple and safe—ideal for potentially sensitive topics where a blank field may feel intimidating. Plus, they give you clean data for quick analysis.
Question: What is your highest level of education completed since leaving the cult?
Primary/elementary school
Some high school
High school diploma or GED
Some college or vocational training
College degree (2- or 4-year)
Postgraduate degree
Other
Question: What is your biggest current barrier to continuing your education?
Financial cost
Lack of support or guidance
Emotional or psychological challenges
Uncertainty about where to start
Time constraints
Other
Question: Which type of educational support would you find most helpful right now?
One-on-one mentorship
Group workshops or classes
Online self-study resources
Counseling or mental health support
Other
When to follow up with "why?" In practice, after a respondent picks an option (like “Financial cost”), a good follow-up is asking why that particular barrier matters to them. For example: "Can you tell us more about how financial cost has prevented you from pursuing education so far?" This conversational probing uncovers details you’d otherwise miss—and AI-driven surveys like those from Specific automate this in real time, which boosts response quality and engagement. [2]
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include “Other” for these audiences—unique situations are common, and this signals that you’re truly listening. The AI can ask, “What did you have in mind?” and surface barriers or needs you may not have considered. Those responses often drive the most actionable insights for programs or policy improvements.
Should you use NPS-style questions with ex-cult member education needs?
NPS (Net Promoter Score) asks respondents on a scale from 0–10 how likely they are to recommend a program, resource, or organization. For ex-cult member education needs, it’s a smart way to gauge overall satisfaction with available support or resources. It gives you a standardized metric to track improvements, while the follow-ups gather powerful feedback from critics and fans alike. You can generate an NPS survey for ex-cult members in one click—ideal for organizations wanting a clear pulse on their impact.
Pro tip: Pair the NPS score with an open text box—"What is the primary reason for your score?"—to get actionable context behind the number.
The power of follow-up questions
The real magic starts when you combine smart, targeted follow-up questions with your survey. We’ve written about this in our explainer on automatic AI follow-up questions—they clarify, probe, and uncover real reasons that drive each person’s answers. For ex-cult members, this is essential: their educational experiences are often anything but straightforward, and real understanding comes from digging beneath the first layer.
Ex-cult member: "I want to finish my education but it just feels overwhelming."
AI follow-up: "What about returning to education feels most overwhelming for you right now? Is it the registration process, classwork, or something else?"
How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2-3 thoughtful follow-ups are enough to get full context, while still making it easy for respondents to move on when ready. Specific lets you adjust this, so you can collect just the right amount of context for your research goals.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a cold, linear questionnaire, your survey feels like a curious human conversation. That’s a powerful way to show empathy—and get better insights.
AI survey analysis is easy: With tools like AI-driven survey response analysis, you can search, summarize, and explore those open-ended replies in minutes. No need to manually code themes or wrestle with spreadsheets.
All these features—especially follow-ups—are part of what makes AI-powered, conversational surveys a breakthrough for complex communities like ex-cult members. If you haven’t tried it yet, generate a survey and see how automated follow-ups change the game.
How to write prompts for ChatGPT to create an ex-cult member education needs survey
Want to get great question ideas from ChatGPT or another AI survey generator? Start with a focused prompt like:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for ex-cult member survey about education needs.
But context is king: always provide more background. Try specifying your goal, audience, and any relevant pain points. Like this:
I am designing a survey to understand the education needs and barriers faced by adults who left high-control religious groups. Suggest 10 open-ended questions, ensuring sensitivity and a supportive tone.
Once you have some initial questions, ask the AI to group and refine them:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Then choose categories that seem most important or interesting. For example, if you want to go deep on “emotional barriers,” prompt:
Generate 10 questions that specifically explore the emotional and psychological barriers ex-cult members face in pursuing education.
This prompt chaining approach lets you quickly build a tailored, sensitive, and comprehensive survey in minutes. If you want a shortcut, Specific’s AI survey builder enables this kind of deep customization via a friendly chat UI.
What is a conversational survey, and why does it matter?
A conversational survey is more than just a chatbot form with questions. It adapts in real time—asking follow-ups, clarifying, and responding like a good interviewer. This is vital for audiences like ex-cult members, who may need extra space, empathy, or encouragement to share openly.
By contrast, traditional surveys are rigid: you set questions and hope for clear answers, but nuanced issues are lost or ignored due to fixed options or lack of clarification.
Manual Survey Creation | AI Survey Generation (Conversational) |
|---|---|
Manual drafting of questions and logic | Describe your needs; AI drafts tailored questions |
Fixed sequence, no follow-ups | Digs deeper with smart, contextual follow-ups |
Slow, labor-intensive response collection | Fast, engaging and mobile-friendly experience |
Weeks to analyze open-ended data | Instant summaries and chat-with-AI functionality |
Why use AI for ex-cult member surveys? Because the needs, anxieties, and dreams of this group simply can't be captured by rigid forms. Conversational, AI-generated surveys get better engagement (completion rates up to 70–90% vs. the industry average of 10–30% [1]) and produce richer, higher-quality data—which is crucial when people’s lives, aspirations, and reintegration depend on your findings. [2]
If you want a step-by-step process, see our guide to creating a survey for ex-cult member education needs. Specific offers best-in-class experiences for both survey creators and respondents, keeping feedback smooth, safe, and conversational—and making it easy to iterate, edit questions, or adjust engagement as community needs evolve. Try comparing your own draft with an AI survey example to see the difference.
See this education needs survey example now
Ready to explore practical questions and conversational survey design that meets ex-cult members where they are? See how Specific’s AI-powered survey builder makes it simple to craft, refine, and deeply analyze education needs surveys for even the most nuanced audiences.