This article will guide you on how to create a citizen survey about transparency and communication. Specific can help you build a smart, conversational survey in seconds—just generate your own survey and get started today.
Steps to create a survey for Citizens about transparency and communication
If you want to save time, just click this link to generate a survey with Specific. AI does the heavy lifting in seconds, creating surveys that feel natural and capture real insights—no technical knowledge needed.
Tell what survey you want.
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You honestly don't even need to read further—AI will create a citizen survey with expert-level logic and even ask respondents follow-up questions to dig into the “why” behind their answers, all automatically. If you’re looking for a flexible AI survey generator for any topic, you can always create a custom survey from scratch too.
Why do citizen surveys on transparency and communication matter?
Building trust with citizens hinges on clear, open communication from local governments and organizations. Well-designed surveys don’t just check a box—they're a real bridge for transparency and community involvement. Think about this: 41% of people in OECD countries believe they could have a say in community decisions that affect their area [1]. That’s almost half of the population feeling their voice could actually move the needle!
If you’re not running these surveys, you’re missing out on:
Opportunities to engage citizens directly on decisions that impact their lives
Honest feedback on local policies and leadership style
Pinpointing where communication channels break down or build trust
Citizens who feel heard are more likely to be satisfied with their community, and governments that listen actively tend to be trusted more deeply [2]. There’s also a financial upside—municipalities that bring citizens into budget talks see as much as a 39% increase in local tax collection compared to those that don’t [3]. The benefits of citizen feedback and recognition are clear, and missing out might mean losing both trust and tangible resources.
What makes a great survey on transparency and communication?
It’s not enough to toss out a generic poll or a clunky form. To really capture the voice of your citizens, you want your survey to be:
Clear and unbiased: Every question should avoid loaded language and ambiguity.
Conversational and accessible: Respondents need to feel comfortable, so the tone should be friendly—closer to a chat with a neighbor than an official form.
Inclusive and concise: Use simple language and cover what matters most to your community.
Let’s lay it out clearly:
Bad Practices | Good Practices |
|---|---|
Loaded or leading questions | Neutral words, open-ended responses |
Measure your survey’s success by both the quantity and the quality of responses. The sign of a great citizen survey is a high completion rate paired with thoughtful, actionable answers.
Types of questions for a citizen survey about transparency and communication
There’s no single “right” question type, but combining a few makes your survey robust.
Open-ended questions are perfect when you want richer stories and not just numbers. They work best as your starter for new topics, or when you’re after honest, context-rich feedback. For example:
In your own words, how would you describe the communication between local officials and the public?
What’s one thing the community could do to improve transparency?
Single-select multiple-choice questions help you sort responses if you need clearer, structured data. Great when you need to quantify trends or group people. Here’s one example:
How satisfied are you with the information you receive from your local government?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question is a fast way to measure overall citizen sentiment and loyalty. It’s crucial when you want a benchmark to track over time—generate an NPS survey for citizens about transparency and communication here. For example:
On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend your local government’s communication practices to others?
Followup questions to uncover "the why". If you want authentic insights—not just quick answers—always ask followups. For example, if someone says they're dissatisfied, you want to know what led to that emotion. AI can handle this automatically. Here’s what that could look like:
Can you share a specific incident that made you feel this way?
What change would most improve your satisfaction?
If you want inspiration on more question types, or to dive deeper into the best questions for citizen surveys about transparency and communication, you’ll find tons of examples and practical tips there.
What is a conversational survey—and why does it matter?
Conversational surveys feel more like a chat than a form. That’s what Specific does best—taking your questions and turning them into a back-and-forth that feels natural to real respondents.
Here’s why that’s a game-changer compared to traditional surveys:
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated (Conversational) Surveys |
|---|---|
Static forms | Dynamic, adapts to responses |
Why use AI for citizen surveys? Using an AI survey builder means you get expert-level survey design instantly, with the bonus of true interactivity. The respondent’s “voice” doesn’t get lost—AI acts as a smart interviewer, making it way easier for participants to open up. Plus, the experience is smoother for both the person creating and the person taking the survey.
If you’re curious how to craft one from scratch, there’s a handy article breaking down how to create a survey step by step, including tips on conversational tone and followup logic. And if you want seamless, best-in-class conversational surveys, Specific is built exactly for this kind of use case.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are where the magic happens in conversational surveys. Instead of generic answers, you get deeper, context-rich responses—so your data isn’t just thick, it’s actually meaningful. Are you still using old-school forms with no followups? You’re missing the big picture. Specific’s AI asks smart, tailored follow-ups in real time—just like a skilled interviewer.
If you skip smart follow-ups, here’s what you might see:
Citizen: "I feel left out of decisions."
AI follow-up: "Could you share an example where you felt excluded from the process?"
With no follow-up, you’re left guessing. But with AI-powered conversation, you get the real story—in context. You can read all about how Specific’s automated AI followup feature works to boost insights and save manual effort.
How many followups to ask? Usually, 2-3 is the sweet spot—enough to dig deep but not exhaust the respondent. With Specific, you can set this up to skip to the next topic once you have the info you need.
This makes it a conversational survey—it adapts, digs for detail, but doesn’t get stuck in a script. Natural, human, efficient.
Smart survey response analysis, conversational feedback, AI-powered insights—with lots of text and freeform feedback, AI makes analysis painless. Learn how to make sense of all those answers using AI for survey analysis.
Automated followups are still new for many organizations—if you haven’t tried it, generate a conversational survey and see the difference firsthand.
See this transparency and communication survey example now
Create your own citizen survey about transparency and communication. With Specific, you get conversational surveys that dig deeper, collect better feedback, and make analysis just as effortless—start engaging your community right away.