GOOD MORNING

QUESTIONNAIRE
DESIGN

Dr. Deepthi Athuluru

I –M.D.S
PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY
CONTENTS

 Introduction

 Types of survey questionnaires

 Ideal qualities of a Questionnaire

 The steps preceding questionnaire design

 Conclusion

 References
 INTRODUCTION
 “Research is a quest for knowledge through diligent
search or investigation or experimentation aimed at
the discovery & interpretation of new knowledge”
 Research problem comprises of various steps each
being mutually exclusive
 Steps include:
The research design
 Problem definition

 Hypothesis generation

 Decision on the types of the study appropriate to

the problem
 Decision on the method of data gathering

 Development of an analysis plan

 Data collection

 Performance of analysis

 Drawing conclusions and recommendations

 The method of data collection is one of the important
steps in the research process.

 Questionnaire is one such tool used to collect

information which can cover almost all practical issues

 Questionnaires are extensively used in surveys and

forms the backbone of the survey procedure
 The questionnaire was invented by Sir Francis
Galton, a British anthropologist, explorer and
statistician, invented questionnaires in the late
1800s
 DEFINITION
 “A questionnaire is a research instrument
consisting of a series of questions and other
prompts for the purpose of gathering information
from respondents.” (Wikipedia)

 Questionnaire: A measuring device used to query a

population/sample in order to obtain information
for analysis.

 A questionnaire is simply a list of mimeographed

or printed questions that is completed by or for a
respondent. (Health Research Methodology 2nd ed.
2001 WHO)
 Preparing a questionnaire or a form is one of the
most delicate moments of the entire work. If
insignificant information is asked and important
information is omitted, results will be irrelevant and
of little use. Before starting preparing a
questionnaire or a form it is important know that:
 1. It is necessary to distinguish among key
variables, explicative and structure variables:
 Key variables are those which describe the topic
under investigation, for example if the study is relative to
cancer, key variables will be relative to cancer.
 Explicative variables are all those variables which
might be correlated (linked) to the key variables, for
example in the case of cancer it could be the
environment, stress, food, and so on.
 Structure variables are age, sex, education,
profession; variables which are usually used to describe
the sample of the study.
WHEN TO USE QUESTIONNAIRE?

 When resources and money are limited

 When it is necessary to protect the privacy

of the participants

 When corroborating other findings

WHY IS A QUESTIONNAIRE IMPORTANT
 A questionnaire is the main means of collecting
quantitative primary data
 A questionnaire enables quantitative data to be
collected in a standarized way so that data are
internally consistent and coherent for analysis.
 A questionnaire ensures standardization and
comparability of the data across interviewers,
increases speed and accuracy of recording, and
facilitates data processing
 Characteristics of a questionnaire
 Elicits information from respondents

 Results can be tabulated

 Standardized across respondents

 Understandable to respondents
A GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE MUST:

 obtain the most complete and accurate information

possible.

 Is organized and worded to encourage respondents to

provide accurate, unbiased and complete information.

 make it easy for respondents to give the necessary

information and for the interviewer to record the answer,
and it should be arranged so that sound analysis and
interpretation are possible.

 keep the interview brief and to the point and be so

arranged that the respondents remain interested
throughout the interview.
ADVANTAGES OF QUESTIONNAIRE
 Low cost even when the universe is large and is widely
spread geographically.
 It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in
respondents own words.
 Respondents have adequate time to give well thought
out answers
 Respondents who are not easily approachable can also
be reached conveniently.
 Large samples can be made use of and thus the results
can be made more dependable and reliable.
DISADVANTAGES OF QUESTIONNAIRE
 Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires
 It can be used only when respondents are educated and co-
operating.
 The control over the questionnaire may be lost once it is sent
 It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly
representative
 There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of
replies altogether to certain questions
 This method is likely to be the slowest of all
 Respondents may misinterpret a question, thereby limiting the
validity of the results
HOW TO OVERCOME
 Pilot testing the questionnaire with individuals who are
similar to the sample population who have been chosen to
participate in the study can minimize the disadvantage.

 These individuals can alert the investigator to any unclear

items.

 After reviewing the results from the pilot study the

researcher can revise the questionnaire accordingly before
distribution to the population sample.
 Clear instructions should be provided for respondents

explaining how to complete the questionnaire and

requesting that all items be answered completely.

 TYPES OF SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES
 The design of a questionnaire will depend on
whether the researcher wishes to collect
exploratory information (i.e. qualitative
information for the purposes of better
understanding or the generation of hypotheses on a
subject) or quantitative information (to test
specific hypotheses that have previously been
generated).
 Exploratory questionnaires: If the data to be
collected is qualitative or is not to be statistically
evaluated, it may be that no formal questionnaire is
needed. One might prepare a brief guide, listing
perhaps ten major open-ended questions, with
appropriate probes/prompts listed under each.
 Formal standardized questionnaires: If the
researcher is looking to test and quantify hypotheses and
the data is to be analyzed statistically, a formal
standardized questionnaire is designed.
They are generally characterized by:
 Prescribed wording and order of questions, to ensure that
each respondent receives the same stimuli.
 Prescribed definitions or explanations for each question, to
ensure interviewers handle questions consistently and can
answer respondents' requests for clarification if they occur
 Prescribed response format, to enable rapid completion of
the questionnaire during the interviewing process.
FORMS OF QUESTIONNAIRE
 The general form of questionnaire can be three types.
 Structured

 Semistructured

 Unstructured
STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE
 Structured questionnaires are those questionnaires in which
there are definite, concrete and pre-determined questions.
 The questions are presented with exactly the same wording
and in the same order to all respondents.
 Resort is taken to this sort of standardization to ensure that all
respondents reply to the same set of questions
 Structured questionnaires have fixed alternative questions in
which responses of the informants are limited to the stated
alternatives
 A highly structured questionnaire is one in which all questions
and answers are specified and comments in the respondents
own words are held to minimum.

 Structured questionnaires are simple to administer and

relatively inexpensive to analyse.

 They are used in large interview programmes (anything over

30 interviews and more likely over 200 interviews in number)
and may be carried out over the tele- phone, face-to-face or
self completion depending on the respondent type, the content
of questionnaire and the budget.
SEMI-STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRES

 Semi-structured questionnaires comprise a mixture of closed and

open questions.

 They are commonly used in research where there is a need to

accommodate a large range of different responses from

companies.

 The use of semi-structured questionnaires enables a mix of

qualitative and quantitative information to be gathered.

 They can be administered over the telephone or face-to-face.

UNSTRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRES

 Unstructured questionnaires are made up of questions that

elicit free responses.

 These are guided conversations rather than structured

interviews and would often be referred to as a “topic guide”.

 The topic guide is made up of a list of questions with an

apparent order but is not so rigid that the interviewer has to

slavishly follow it in every detail.

 There are no hard-and-fast rules about how to design a
questionnaire, but there are a number of points that can
be borne in mind:
1. A well-designed questionnaire should meet the research
objectives.
2. It should obtain the most complete and accurate
information possible.
3. A well-designed questionnaire should make it easy for
respondents to give the necessary information and for
the interviewer to record the answer, and it should be
arranged so that sound analysis and interpretation are
possible.
4. It would keep the interview brief and to the point and be
so arranged that the respondent(s) remain interested
throughout the interview.
 IDEAL QUALITIES OF A QUESTION
 One that yields a truthful, accurate answer
 One that asks for one answer on one dimension

 One that accommodates all possible contingencies of

response
 One that uses specific, simple language

 One that has mutually exclusive response options

 One that produces variability in response

 One that minimizes social desirability

 One that is pretested

THE STEPS PRECEDING QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
Even after the exploratory phase, two key steps remain to
be completed before the task of designing the
questionnaire should commence.
 The first of these is to articulate the
questions/objectives that research is intended to
address.
 The second step is to determine the hypotheses around
which the questionnaire is to be designed.
There are nine steps involved in the
development of a questionnaire:
1. Decide the information required.
2. Define the target respondents.
3. Choose the method(s) of reaching your target
respondents.
4. Decide on question content.
5. Develop the question wording.
6. Put questions into a meaningful order and format.
7. Check the length of the questionnaire.
8. Pre-test the questionnaire.
9. Develop the final survey form.
1. DECIDING ON THE INFORMATION REQUIRED
 It should be noted that one does not start by writing
questions. The first step is to decide 'what are the
things one needs to know from the respondent in
order to meet the survey's objectives?' should
appear in the research brief and the research
proposal.
2. DEFINE THE TARGET RESPONDENTS

 Demographic characteristics

 Job or social category

 Other relevant characteristics

 Secondary audiences:
 • Demographic characteristics, such as age, sex,
religion, urban/rural residence, income level, social
class, education, employment status, and ethnic or
language group;
 • Job or social category, such as policymakers,
doctors, nurses, factory workers, religious leaders
or university students
 • Job or social category, such as policymakers,
doctors, nurses, factory workers, religious leaders
or university students;
 • Other relevant characteristics: Some individuals
or groups may be disproportionately affected by TB,
such as persons living with HIV/AIDS, imprisoned
people, homeless populations, drug users, or family
members of people with TB;
 • Secondary audiences: Your secondary
audiences may include allies who can influence or
provide access to your primary audience, such as
community leaders or health authorities.
 Knowledge, attitudes and health-seeking practices
may vary substantially among population groups,
and according to social, cultural or economic
characteristics.
3. CHOOSE THE METHOD(S) OF REACHING TARGET
RESPONDENTS

 Face-to-Face Interview

 Telephone Interviews

 Mail Questionnaires

 Internet Questionnaire
A. Face-to-Face Interview
 Face-to-face interviews or personal interviews are
surveys conducted in person by an interviewer who
usually travels to the person being surveyed.
 • Pros—High response rates; can clarify questions, if
necessary; control over respondent selection; can use
longer, more complex questionnaire; and easier to
motivate the respondent.
 • Cons—High costs, time-consuming, and more
administrative requirements (i.e., selecting and training
interviewers, contacting respondents, travel
arrangements). Also, there is a tendency for
respondents to give socially acceptable answers.
B. Telephone Interviews
 Telephone interviews are usually conducted from a
central office that places telephone calls to selected
households or businesses.
 • Pros—Good response rates, fast, some anonymity for
respondents in answering questions, and control over
respondent selection. If a comprehensive list of the target
population is available, the likelihood of obtaining a
representative sample is high.
 • Cons—Questions must be short and not complex;
cannot control interruption by others in household/ office;
hard to find persons at home, and those that are at home
may resent intrusion; there is mounting displeasure
among households receiving unsolicited telephone calls;
requires training and quality control monitoring of the
interviewers; and is usually difficult to target a specific
geographical location.
C. Mail Questionnaires
 Mail questionnaires are written surveys that are sent through
the mail to selected members of the population to be
surveyed.
 • Pros—Good response rates with rigorous follow-up
procedures, relatively easy to obtain a listed population and
locate respondents, can avoid interviewer bias and distortion,
answers unlikely to be socially influenced, easy to administer
and relatively low costs, can cover a wide geographical area,
and more manageable for handling large samples.
 • Cons—Questionnaire may be given to someone else to fill
out or may not reach the desired respondent; most difficult
type of questionnaire to design; hard to interpret open-ended
questions; cannot control sequence in which respondents
answer questions; and time consuming, given periodic mail-
out requirements.
D. Internet Questionnaire
 An Internet questionnaire is a form of a written survey.
Respondents may be invited to participate in the survey
through email or because they visit a particular web
page.
 • Pros—Fast to conduct and tabulate, some software
products allow questionnaires to be customized
depending on the respondent’s answers, avoids
interviewer bias and distortion, answers unlikely to be
socially influenced, easy to administer, and relatively low
costs.
 • Cons—Information transferred via the Internet may not
be confidential; poor control over respondent selection;
follow-up difficult to conduct; difficult to obtain probability
sample; and, like mail surveys, this is the most difficult
type of questionnaire to design.
4. DECIDE ON QUESTION CONTENT
There are a series of questions that should be posed
as the researchers develop the survey questions
themselves:
a) "Is this question sufficient to generate the required
information?“
b) "Can the respondent answer the question correctly?“
c) "Are there any external events that might bias
response to the question?“
d) "Do the words have the same meaning to all
respondents?"
For example, "How many members are there in your
family?" There is room for ambiguity in such a question
since it is open to interpretation as to whether one is
speaking of the immediate or extended family.
e. "Are any of the words or phrases loaded or leading in
any way?"
f. "Are there any implied alternatives within the question?"
g. "Will the question be understood by the type of
individual to be interviewed?“
h. "Is there any ambiguity in my questions?"
i. "Are any words or phrases vague?"
j. "Are any questions too personal or of a potentially
embarrassing nature?"
k. "Do questions rely on feats of memory?"
5. DEVELOP THE QUESTION WORDING

a) Contingency questions/cascade format

b) Matrix questions

c) Closed ended questions

 Dichotomous, where the respondent has two

options
 Nominal-polytomous, where the respondent has
more than two unordered options
 Ordinal-polytomous, where the respondent has
more than two ordered options
 (Bounded)Continuous

d) Open ended questions

Contingency questions/cascade format – several questions have
been used to scale a response to the unasked but real
understanding question. A question that is answered only if the
respondent gives a particular response to a previous question.
This avoids asking questions of people that do not apply to them
(for example, asking men if they have ever been pregnant)
Eg. 1. Do you use tobacco?
(a) Yes (Go to 1a Question) (b) No (Go 2 Question)
1 (a) How many packs of tobacco do you use?
(a) ≥ 10 packs (b) 10 - 5 packs (c) ≤ 5 packs per day
2. Do you use alcohol?
(a) Yes (b) No.
 Matrix questions - Identical response categories are
assigned to multiple questions. The questions are placed
one under the other, forming a matrix with response
categories along the top and a list of questions down the
side. This is an efficient use of page space and
respondents’ time.
CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS
 Closed ended questions - Respondents’ answers are
limited to a fixed set of responses. Four types of
response scales for closed-ended questions are
distinguished:
 Dichotomous, where the respondent has two options
 Nominal-polytomous, where the respondent has more
than two unordered options
 Ordinal-polytomous, where the respondent has more
than two ordered options
 (Bounded)Continuous, where the respondent is
presented with a continuous scale. Examples of types of
scales include the Likert scale, semantic differential
scale, and rank-order scale
d) Open ended questions
 Completely unstructured - For example, “What is your
opinion of questionnaires?”
 Word association - Words are presented and the
respondent mentions the first word that comes to mind.
 Sentence completion - Respondents complete an
incomplete sentence. For example, “The most important
consideration in my decision to buy a new house is . . .”
 Story completion - Respondents complete an
incomplete story.
 Picture completion - Respondents fill in an empty
conversation balloon.
 Thematic apperception test - Respondents explain a
picture or make up a story about what they think is
happening in the picture
Advantages of Closed ended questions:

 It provides the respondent with an easy method of

indicating his answer - he does not have to think about
how to articulate his answer.

 It 'prompts' the respondent so that the respondent has to

rely less on memory in answering a question.

 Responses can be easily classified, making analysis very

straightforward.

 It permits the respondent to specify the answer

categories most suitable for their purposes.
Disadvantages of Closed ended questions:

 They do not allow the respondent the opportunity to

give a different response to those suggested.

 They 'suggest' answers that respondents may not

have considered before.
Advantages of Open ended questions:

 They allow the respondent to answer in his own words,

with no influence by any specific alternatives suggested
by the interviewer.

 They often reveal the issues which are most important

to the respondent, and this may reveal findings which
were not originally anticipated when the survey was
initiated.

 Respondents can 'qualify' their answers or emphasise

the strength of their opinions.
Disadvantages of Open ended questions:
 Respondents may find it difficult to 'articulate' their responses i.e. to
properly and fully explain their attitudes or motivations.
 Respondents may not give a full answer simply because they may
forget to mention important points. Some respondents need
prompting or reminding of the types of answer they could give.
 Data collected is in the form of verbatim comments - it has to be
coded and reduced to manageable categories. This can be time
consuming for analysis and there are numerous opportunities for
error in recording and interpreting the answers given on the part of
interviewers.
 Respondents will tend to answer open questions in different
'dimensions'. For example, the question: "When did you purchase
your tooth brush?", could elicit one of several responses, viz:
"A short while ago".
"Last month".
"When I lost my last tooth brush".
"When I bought the monthly groceries".
6. PUTTING QUESTIONS INTO A MEANINGFUL
ORDER AND FORMAT

 According to the three stages theory (also

called the sandwich theory),
initial questions should be screening and rapport
questions.
Then in the second stage you ask all the research
specific questions.
In the last stage you ask demographic questions.
 Opening questions

 Question flow

 Question variety

 Closing questions
 Opening questions: Opening questions should be easy
to answer and not in any way threatening to THE
respondents. The first question is crucial because it is
the respondent's first exposure to the interview and sets
the tone for the nature of the task to be performed. If
they find the first question difficult to understand, or
beyond their knowledge and experience, or
embarrassing in some way, they are likely to break off
immediately. If, on the other hand, they find the opening
question easy and pleasant to answer, they are
encouraged to continue
 Question flow: Questions should flow in some kind of
psychological order, so that one leads easily and
naturally to the next. Questions on one subject, or one
particular aspect of a subject, should be grouped
together. Questions should flow logically from one to the
next. The researcher must ensure that the answer to a
question is not influenced by previous questions.
Questions should flow from the more general to the
more specific. Questions should flow from the least
sensitive to the most sensitive. Questions should flow
from factual and behavioural questions to attitudinal and
opinion questions. Questions should flow from unaided
to aided questions.
 Question variety: Respondents become bored quickly
and restless when asked similar questions for half an
hour or so. It usually improves response, therefore, to
vary the respondent's task from time to time. An open-
ended question here and there (even if it is not
analysed) may provide much-needed relief from a long
series of questions in which respondents have been
forced to limit their replies to pre-coded categories.
Questions involving showing cards/pictures to
respondents can help vary the pace and increase
interest.
 Closing questions
It is natural for a respondent to become increasingly
indifferent to the questionnaire as it nears the end.
Because of impatience or fatigue, he may give careless
answers to the later questions. Those questions,
therefore, that are of special importance should, if
possible, be included in the earlier part of the
questionnaire. Potentially sensitive questions should be
left to the end, to avoid respondents cutting off the
interview before important information is collected.
7. PRESENTATION AND LAYOUT OF THE
INTERVIEW FORM

 Use of booklets
 Simple, clear formats

 Creative use of space and typeface

 Use of colour coding

 Interviewer instructions
8. PILOTING / PRE-TESTING THE
QUESTIONNAIRES

 whether the questions as they are worded will

achieve the desired results
 whether the questions have been placed in the best
order
 whether the questions are understood by all
classes of respondents
 whether additional or specifying questions are
needed or whether some questions should be
eliminated
 whether the instructions to interviewers are
adequate.
Recognizing poor questions through pretests:
1. Lack of order in the answers

2. All or None responses

3. High proportion of don’t-know or don’t understand

answers
4. Great number of qualifications or/irrelevant comment

5. High proportions of refusals to answers

6. Substantial variation in answers when order of

questions has been changed.
BASIC STEPS IN PRE-TESTING:

 (i) Select a sample similar to one that will be considered

in the main study.

 (ii) Instruct questionnaire administrators to note all

respondents remarks regarding instructions or question

wording.

 (iii) Administer the questionnaires.

 (iv) Check Reliability and validity

RELIABILITY
 The reliability refers extent to which a measurement gives
consistent results.

 In pretesting of the questionnaire, one should check

 test retest reliability and

 internal consistency reliability

TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY:
 It is used to assess the consistency of response to the items
in a questionnaire from one time to another.
 In case of a questionnaire assessing the self-rated oral health
status of individuals, it tests if few respondents give erratic
responses at two different times.
Eg: Day 1. What is your opinion about your oral health?
Response. Oral health is very important.
Day 2. What is your opinion about your oral health?
(to the same respondent)
Response. Not so bad
 Then either the respondent is unreliable or the question is
confusing.
 If such responses are obtained from more than 5-10% of
respondent then question is unreliable and considered for
rephrasing.
 On the other hand, the test-retest reliability can be evaluated by
using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) computed based on
a single sample using the one way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
model .
 The value of ICC is considered appropriate if it is at least 0.70
 Internal consistency reliability:

Here one should judge the reliability of the tool by

estimating how well the items that reflect the same

construct yield similar results i.e. how consistent the

results are for different items for the same

construct.
Eg. Impact of dental caries on the activities of daily living.

 In physical domain if respondent says he has pain due to

dental caries and also tells he does not have trouble eating

that means the questionnaire is not framed properly.

 Internal consistency reliability is expressed using the

statistical test Cronbach’a (alpha).

 It is acceptable if value is 80% or above.

 If a questionnaire is unreliable then it can’t be valid

VALIDITY:

 The degree to which a questionnaire measures what it was

intended to measure.

 In questionnaire 4 types of validity should be checked.

 Content validity,

 Face validity,

 Criterion validity and

 Construct validity.
CONTENT VALIDITY:

 It indicates the degree to which the items on the instrument

are representative of the knowledge being tested or

characteristic being investigated.

 Expert judgment is the primary method used to determine

whether a test/tool has content validity.

 No statistical test is employed here.

 Based on the expert opinion, questionnaire would be

modified.
FACE VALIDITY:

 Face validity refers to the degree to which a questionnaire or

test appears to be measuring what it is supposed to measure.

 Eg: Questionnaire about domestic violence training should

have questions related to that issue.

 Face validity can be done using 2 methods:

 interview/probe method and

 bilingual method
1. INTERVIEW/PROBE METHOD:

 The investigator will have a detailed discussion with

them regarding the each item, assessing their

understanding about the question is appropriate to elicit

accurate responses.

 Based on this interview, necessary modifications will be

made in the tool and subsequently interview may be

done to decide the final version.

BILINGUAL METHOD

 It is employed if the tool is translated in to a

regional language.

 Here a bilingual expert who is well versed in both

the languages is employed to assess the face

validity.
CRITERION VALIDITY
 It refers to the instrument’s capacity to predict a characteristic that is

associated with the characteristic.

 The responses on the questionnaire being developed are checked

against on external criteria or by using gold standard which is direct and

independent measure of what the new questionnaire is designed to

measure.

 In the absence of such a gold standard one can use proxy measures like

clinical examination or direct questions to respondents.

 Depending on the nature of the data collected, criterion validity can be
subdivided into
 Concurrent validity and
 Predictive validity.

 Concurrent validity: the measurement and the criterion refer to the same
point in time.
 Eg: visual inspection of a wound for evidence of infection validated against
bacteriological examination of a specimen taken at the same time.

 Predictive validity: The measurement validity is expressed in terms of its ability to

predict the criterion.
 Academic aptitude test that is validated against subsequent academic performance.
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY

 It refers to the extent to which the new questionnaire conforms

(goes along with) to existing ideas or hypothesis concerning

the concepts/constructs that are being measured.

 This is greatest challenge in questionnaire development.

 Construct validity can further be subdivided into

 convergent validity and

 discriminate validity.
 Convergent validity:
 It is a general agreement between measures where theoretically they
should be related.

 Discriminate validity:
 It is a general disagreement between measures where theoretically
they should not be related.

 Both convergent and discriminate validities will be examined by using the

item-scale correlations;

 Convergent validity indicates correlation between an item and its own

scale.

 Discriminate validity indicates correlation between an item and any of the

other scales
 This can be examined by

 Multi Trait Multi Matrix method (MTMM) and

 Factor analysis.
MULTI TRAIT MULTI MATRIX METHOD
 If a questionnaire is developed from another tool
measuring the same construct, then this method of
checking construct validity is employed
FACTOR ANALYSIS

 This is employed when the tool is a newly developed one that

it is not derived from any gold standard.

 Factor analysis is a complicated statistical procedure used to

estimate where each item in the questionnaire is correctly

reflecting the corresponding theorized construct.

 If the tool has increased construct validity then shows

increased correlation with the corresponding domains.

 Content validity and face validity are checked during the pre

testing.

 Criterion and construct values are checked after the main

study and these are considered when the tool needs to be

validated.

eg. Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14),

Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI),

Oral Impacts of Daily Profile (OIDP).

CONSEQUENCES OF POOR QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN IN
RESEARCH

 Lower response rates

 Question skipping

 Question misunderstanding
QUESTIONNAIRE TRANSLATION AND
PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES EVALUATION

 A questionnaire translation process should focus in

achieving the conceptual equivalence instead of

achieving linguistic equivalence.

 In view of this, the forward –backward-forward

translation technique should be applied

 Forward translation :
 In the first step, two independent professional bilingual translators
are hired to translate the original English version of the questionnaire
into the relevant language.

 A meeting involving the two independent professional bilingual

translators and a member from the research group will be conducted to
review, reconcile and harmonize the forward translation.

 Backward translation
 This reconciled forward translation will then be translated back into
English by another two independent bilingual translators
 Next, the research group together with the professional

forward translators will review and compare the

backward translation with the original English

questionnaire.

 The aim of this process is to reconcile the

questionnaires by producing the final forward

translation.
PRE-TEST (COGNITIVE INTERVIEWS
 Purpose: To show that items in the finalized translated
questionnaire are comprehensive and acceptable.
 Firstly, experts should be invited to review and also provide
feedback on the translated questionnaire.
 Then, a small group of participants should be recruited as
part of this study and they should be informed about the
objective of the study.
 Pre-testing is critical in identifying the problems in the
translated questionnaire. Here interviewer/probe method is
followed
 The research team will critically review the comments provided by participants via

interview method.

 The words and phrases used in the translated questionnaire will be carefully

chosen to avoid any misunderstanding for future participants.

 Researchers may decide to repeat the pre-testing phase of the questionnaire until

the comments from participants are minimized.

 The final product of this process is known as the finalized forward translation.
VALIDATION STUDY
 It is highly recommended to conduct a validation study on the translated

questionnaire to examine its psychometric properties such as the validity

and reliability of the questionnaire.

 The appropriate study design for validation study is cross-sectional with

at least 100 participants.

 These participants should be selected from various social demographic

as well as socio economic background, so that the sample is more

representative of the population.

FIELD TASK

 The venue of the validation study should be

carefully determined, chosen and justified.

 Once the venue has been decided, a formal letter

needs to be sent to the relevant authority in charge
of the chosen venue to inform them about the
objective of the validation study and also asking for
permission to conduct such a study at that venue
CONCLUSION
 As a research tool, questionnaires have a few drawbacks inherently.

 Questionnaire development is an exhaustive and time consuming

process.

 The accuracy of data collected using the tool solely depends on the

subjective perceptions of the respondents.

 Reduced response rates and incomplete responses to self administered

questionnaires make it mandatory that the tool be developed as simple

and respondent friendly as possible.

 In order to maintain the validity and reliability of data collected, it is

important that the tool be as objective as possible.

 Hence it is necessary that they are constructed systematically based on

a sound scientific method since research outcome is directly dependent

on the quality and the completeness of the data collected.

 Despite of the limitations, well constructed questionnaires can form an

integral part of the research process due to its adaptability to a variety of

situations especially when the resources are limited.

REFERENCES:
1. Hulley, Stephen B., et al . Designing Clinical
Research. 3rd ed. 2007.
2. W.H.O. Health research methodology. A guide for
training in research methods. 2nd Ed. 2001
3. Blaxter, Loraine. How to Research. 4th ed.
(2010)
4. Fairfax county Department of Systems Management
for Human Services. “ Survey Questionnaire Design”
April 2003.
5. Ulisse Di Corpo. “How to prepare a questionnaire or
a form” Syntrop 2, pag. 64-68; 2005.
6. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Questionnaire”
7. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“questionnaire construction”petra M Boynton,
Trisha Greenhalgh. “Selecting, designing and
developing your questionnaire” BMJ vol.328 29
May 2004.
8. Suri Sushil, Verma N “Questionnaire Validation
Made Easy” European Journal of Scientific
Research Vol.46 No.2 (2010), pp.172-178