Nodejs 2023/2024 Survey Data - Preliminary Feedback #321

Hiya! I’ve been digging into the 2023 and 2024 Node.js Next 10 Years Survey data and have some preliminary suggestions for the forthcoming iteration.

TLDR:

1. Multiple choice options need to be exhaustive and mutually exclusive.
2. You should limit open ended response options where possible (simplifies cleaning and expands analytical options).
3. For the 2025 survey, consider adding ordinal multiple choice options that fall in a defined spectrum; i.e., very easy (1) to very difficult (5). Almost all current survey questions are limited to nominal responses and fewer analytical options..
4. Question: For the 2023/2024 survey data, do you have any interest in parsing out how a respondent’s home country/region is related to technical priorities, etc.?
5. Possible new question for 2025 survey: ‘What’s your native language?’

Context (numbers correspond with above points):

1. E.g., for the ‘what type of organization do you work for’ question. There is overlap between the response options ‘company’ and ‘big tech’. e.g. If you work for Amazon or Facebook, this fits both response options. Also, the ‘University’ response option should be expanded to include education in general. Some people filled in ‘other’ and then wrote education-related answers in the open response prompt (academia, research institute).
2. For the 2023 survey data, ‘where do you live?’ was open-ended and respondents wrote cities, countries, abbreviations… anything really.
3. For some fixed-choice multiple choice questions, can new items be added so that the response categories fit a defined, ordinal spectrum?
   I.e., from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) or very easy (1) to very difficult (5). Ordinal ranges open up additional non-parametric analytical approaches. The current dataset is pretty much limited to chi squared and thematic analysis.
4. For the 2023/2024 survey data, do you have any interest in parsing out respondent’s home country? E.g., seeing if country/region of user has any correlation with technical priorities, etc.? If so, I’ll take a deeper dive into comparing country with the other response options.
5. Possible new question to consider adding to the 2025 Survey: ‘What’s your native language?’ Would be helpful for exploring any patterns re: language and Nodejs challenges/recurring issues.

@sheplu @marco-ippolito