Questionnaire Design

It is not every question that deserves an answer.

Publius Syrus (Roman, 1st century B.C.)

Major Decisions in Questionnaire Design

What should be asked? How should each question be phrased? In what sequence should the questions be arranged? What questionnaire layout will best serve the research objectives? How should the questionnaire be pretested? Does the questionnaire need to be revised?

Phrasing Questions

Open-ended questions Fixed-alternative questions

Questionnaire Design Process

Specify the Information Needed Specify the Type of Interviewing Method Determine the Content of Individual Questions Design the Question to Overcome the Respondents Inability and Unwillingness to Answer Decide on the Question Structure Determine the Question Wording Arrange the Questions in Proper Order

Questionnaire Design Process (continued)

Identify the Form and Layout

Reproduce the Questionnaire

Eliminate Bugs by Pretesting

Types of Questions
Questions

Unstructured

Structured

Multiple Choice

Dichotomous

Scales

The Funnel Approach to Ordering Questions

Broad or General Questions

Narrow or Specific Questions

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 1: Information Needed
Ensure info obtained fully addresses all components of the problem Must have clear idea of the target population

Step 2: Interviewing Method

Ensure that the proper interviewing method is being used given the study objectives

Questionnaire Design Check List Step 3: Individual Questions

Is each question necessary? Is each question unambiguous? Are the proper number of questions needed to measure a particular construct being asked?

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 4: Inability/Unwillingness to Answer
Is the respondent informed? Can the respondent remember? Can the respondent articulate? Is the information sensitive? Make the information request legitimate. Minimize effort required of respondent.

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 5: Question Structure
Use structured questions whenever possible. Response alternatives should include all possible answers. Response alternatives should be mutually exclusive. If, on a particular question, a large % of respondents may be expected to be neutral, include a neutral alternative.

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 6: Question Wording
Use ordinary words. Avoid ambiguous words (usually, probably, normally, etc.) Do not use leading questions. Avoid implicit assumptions. Use positive and negative statements as much as possible.

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 7: Question Order
Qualifying questions first. General questions before specific questions. Use logical order. Demographics?
Beginning of questionnaire End of questionnaire

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 8: Form & Layout
Divide questionnaire into multiple parts Number each question? Precode the questions Keep scale questions in same general vicinity Avoid temptation to fill the blank spaces

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 9: Questionnaire Reproduction
Professional appearance Booklet format for long questionnaires Place directions as close to the questions as possible Expect reproduction errors

Questionnaire Design Check List

Step 10: Pretesting
Always try to pretest first Test everything Pretest sample should be extremely similar to test sample Pretest using same methodology as the main test If make changes to questionnaire, or methodology, pretest again before main test.