Preparing a questionnaire

By Dr Supriya Phadnis
For
Term 3
Research Methodology
GIM
Pre-requisite for a good questionnaire
• Language should be concise : should be direct to produce uniform
understanding
• Short sentences
• No uncommon phrases and expressions
• Should have clear mention of time frame when question is related to
specific period
• No use of subjective words…. “Good” “Bad” etc
• Sequence of questions should make sense
• Non-sensitive and easy answer questions should be first
• Difficult and sensitive questions should be last
• Amount of writing/typing should be least (closed ended questions)
Types of questions
• Exploratory questionnaire (Qualitative research)
• If the data to be collected is qualitative or is not to be statistically evaluated.
• Formal questionnaire may restrict the discussion and prevent a full
exploration of views and processes.
• Brief guide with open ended questions
• Formal standardized questionnaire (Quantitative research)
• To test and quantify hypotheses and the data is to be analyzed statistically
• Open ended questions
• Closed ended questions
Open Format Questions
• Give an opportunity to express their opinions in a free-flowing
manner.
• Don’t have predetermined set of responses.
• An ideal questionnaire would include an open-ended question at the
end of the questionnaire that seeks feedback and/or suggestions for
improvements from respondents.
• Example - state your opinion about the quality of services provided by
….primary health centre.
• Leading questions : How are you dealing with the pandemic
situation?
• Recall and process questions : What do you remember about your
husband’s reaction when you first got to know about your child’s
diagnosis?
• Funneling : Tell me about your most recent holiday. What did you see
while you were there? Were there any good restaurants? Did you try
some local delicacies?
Closed format questions
• Multiple choice questions, where respondents are restricted to choose
among any of the given multiple choice answers
• no fixed limit as to how many multiple choices should be given
• Major advantage :the ease at performing preliminary analysis
• Yes/No questions also included
• Example :
• Did you use government health services in last one year?
• Yes
• No
• Which facility did you go to avail the services?
• Sub-Centre
• Primary Health Centre
• Rural Hospital
• District Hospital
• Leading questions : Questions that force your audience for a particular type
of answer
• How would you rate the experience at the district hospital
Fair Good Very good Excellent
• Importance questions: the respondents are asked to rate the importance of
a particular issue, on a rating scale of 1 to 5.
• Government health protection schemes are
Extremely Important Very Important Somewhat Important
Not Very Important Not at all Important
• Likert questions : help to ascertain how strongly respondents agree to a
particular statement.
• COVID-19 pandemic has a strong negative impact on mental health of people
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or Disagree
Disagree Strongly Disagree.
• Dichotomous Questions: Simple questions that ask respondents to answer
in a yes or no. There is no scope for a middle perspective.
Things to avoid….
• Uncomfortable Questions : Do you run a private practice after the
duty hours?
• Positive/Negative connotation Questions :Don’t you think using an
ambulance for staff transportation should be avoided?
• Hypothetical questions : If you were the prime minister of the country
what would be the public health policy you would have
implemented?
Development of the questionnaire
• Decide the information required.
• Define the target respondents.
• Choose the method(s) of reaching your target respondents.
• Decide on question content.
• Develop the question wording.
• Put questions into a meaningful order and format.
• Check the length of the questionnaire.
• Pre-test the questionnaire.
• Develop the final survey form.
Putting questions to the meaningful manner…
• Opening questions : should be easy to answer and not in any way
threatening to the respondents.
• Question flow : should flow in some kind of psychological order, so
that one leads easily and naturally to the next.
• Question variety : Change the type of question time to time to avoid
boredom
• Closing questions : Potentially sensitive questions should be left to
the end, to avoid respondents cutting off the interview before
important information is collected.
Piloting the questionnaire
• Impossible to say whether questionnaire is going to achieve the
desired results….until actually used.
• Hence pre-test the questionnaire before it is used in a full-scale
survey, to identify any mistakes that need correcting.
• The purpose of pre-testing the questionnaire is to determine
whether…
• Questions as they are worded will achieve the desired results
• Questions have been placed in the best order
• Questions are understood by all classes of respondent
• Additional or specifying questions are needed or whether some questions
should be eliminated
• Instructions to interviewers are adequate
Work in class!!!
A study to determine peoples choices and preferences regarding movies
Objective:
1. To determine most favorite genre preferred
2. To determine most effective mode of publicity of the movie
3. To determine the important factor in the movie that makes people prefer
specific movies
4. To determine the mean frequency of watching a movie
5. To document most preferred place to watch the movie
6. To determine if there is any difference within these choices as per the
age, sex and profession of population.