DESIGNING QUESTIONNAIRE

In this article on creating questionnaires, we explain what makes a good one,

how to construct the ideal set of questions, and how to use questionnaires effectively
in research. You have the option to download our experimental design guide for free at
the end of the book for use when developing studies and experiments in the future.

Table of Contents

 What are questionnaires?

 Question everything – what makes a good questionnaire?
Open and Closed Questionnaire Formats
 Six steps to good questionnaire design
#1: Identify your research aims and the goal of your questionnaire
#2: Define your target respondents
#3: Develop questions
#4: Choose your question type
#5: Design question sequence and overall layout
#6: Run a pilot

Typically, you would merely ask someone if you wanted to learn something about
them. Maybe you would gather together as a group if you wanted to pose a few
questions for a group of people. They would receive a questionnaire if you wanted to
conduct research on the responses.

A key component of research is the use of questionnaires. Although there are many
other methods for learning about what people believe, feel, and do, asking is still the
most effective way to learn about their explicit thoughts.

What are questionnaires?

A questionnaire is a list of written questions that can be created for a scientific study
in order to collect standardized data on people's beliefs, preferences, experiences,
intentions, and behavior. Although historically they have been compared to surveys in
that they do not gather huge amounts of data for additional analysis, the phrases are
now frequently used interchangeably (and many research studies also combine both).

While questionnaires offer a relatively inexpensive, quick, and effective way to get a lot
of data, designing a questionnaire is a multistage process that calls for consideration
of several factors at once in order to gather the data you need. Exactly why is that so?

There are different levels of depth and ways to ask questions depending on the type of
knowledge you are trying to learn.

Given the same subject, it is likely that several researchers would create separate
questionnaires that range greatly in the questions they choose to ask, how they ask
them, how they use open-ended questions, and how long they are.

Question everything – what makes a good questionnaire?

Basically, well-designed questionnaires have a strong framework that enables the
same kinds of data to be collected from a large number of respondents in a consistent
manner and allows for quantitative data analysis.

Open and Closed Questionnaire Formats

The design of your questionnaire will, among other things, rely on whether you opt for
an open format to gather exploratory data or a closed format to get quantitative data.

Advantages of open format:

 Permits you to investigate a variety of potential topics related to your research

query.
 Aids in understanding a subject and the development of hypotheses about it.

Advantages of closed format (multiple choice):

 Simple and quick to finish

 Ensures that all respondents are exposed to the same stimuli
 Results are simple to quantify and report

How do you proceed from here? The key is preparation and planning. Although the
design of a questionnaire may appear straightforward at first, there are several
elements you want to be sure you get right. Before you can choose the precise wording
of your questions, you must first establish the objectives of your study, identify the
people you will be interviewing, and plan everything accordingly. We walk you through
the steps in detail below.

Six steps to good questionnaire design

#1: Identify your research aims and the goal of your questionnaire

What kind of data are you hoping to collect through your questionnaire? What is your
primary goal?

Ideally, you can use pre-existing questionnaires that have been verified by published
research (or perhaps just take a few concepts from them). This can happen quite
frequently in psychology research because there is so much research being done in so
many different areas.

Though it's not always the case, this can happen very frequently. For instance, it
could be challenging to locate or employ pre-existing questionnaires for business
purposes. In this situation, you could still be able to get ideas from earlier research,
but you'll probably need to take more care in the subsequent phases.

#2: Define your target respondents

It is obvious that not everyone can be tested, and it is conceivable that there must be
certain limitations regarding the target population of your questionnaire. To make
your study as strong as possible, it's important to carefully choose your groups.

Another thing to think about is whether you want to administer your questionnaire to
many groups at different times over a longer period of time (longitudinal design) or to
numerous groups at once (cross-sectional design).

Unlike the latter, which offers insights into group differences, the former lets you see
how the group's questionnaire responses vary over time.

#3: Develop questions

Every questionnaire is built on well-chosen questions. They need to be worded in a

way that avoids any ambiguities or misconceptions in order to be effective.

Analyzing data from a survey where respondents have made mistakes, chosen the
wrong responses, or haven't been able to read or understand the questions at all is
frequently futile.

Whether you want to distribute a questionnaire to young people, adults, or even senior
participants, it makes a big difference. Given that many participant groups may find it
excessively exhausting to complete lengthy questionnaires with a large number of
items in small print and complex language, it is vital to take their cognitive,
attentional, and sensory abilities into account.

Additionally, keep in mind that the wording must be completely understandable by

anyone completing the questionnaire; avoid using jargon or technical language.

#4: Choose your question type

There are many different ways to phrase inquiries. The majority of the questions in
exploratory surveys are open-ended, allowing respondents to select any response (this
makes sense anytime you strive to comprehend the subjects related to your research
issue).

Comparatively, closed-ended questions from quantitative questionnaires are more

common and are predefined by the researcher as multiple-choice answers or rating
scales (like the Likert scale).

Here’s one example:

Open question:

“What did you like about the webinar?”

Closed question:
“The webinar was useful.”

[ ] Strongly agree
[ ] Agree
[ ] Cannot decide
[ ] Disagree
[ ] Strongly disagree

Both sorts of questions, as is typically the case, have advantages and disadvantages
that are important to take into account when creating a questionnaire design that
works for you.

You can use a variety of alternative question formats in your questionnaire in addition
to open-ended and closed-ended ones.
#5: Design question sequence and overall layout

It's time to improve the questionnaire's overall flow and structure after individually
tweaking each item.

Do the questions flow naturally into one another? Are your follow-up inquiries
positioned properly? Do participants have the option to skip questions that don't relate
to them, if necessary?

#6: Run a pilot

For evaluation and optimization purposes, this stage is essential. Before moving
forward, every questionnaire should be sent to a sample that accurately represents
your target population.

You can spot problems with reading, understanding, language, and general
organization when piloting. To better understand the pilot participants' experiences, it
might be beneficial to talk with them about the questionnaire. To ensure that the
desired analytic techniques can be used to the data, don't forget to statistically
examine your pilot data.

It is hoped this guide helps you set out your questionnaire or survey design.

Good luck!!!