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

Multiple
Choice

Structured

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.