Questionnaire & Form Design

By-
Amlan Meher
Ronit Kumar Jaiswal
Shubham Kumar
Shubhangi Khamkar
 Objectives

• Purpose and objectives of questionnaire

• Process of designing a questionnaire
• Observational form of data collection
• Consideration involved in designing questionnaire
• Social media interface with questionnaire design
 Questionnaire and observation forms
Definition:
A questionnaire is a formalized set of questions for obtaining information from
respondents.

Objectives of questionnaire:
• It must translate the information needed into a set of specific questions that the
respondents can and will answer.
• A questionnaire must uplift, motivate, and encourage the respondent to become
involved in the interview, to cooperate, and to complete the interview.
• A questionnaire should minimize response error.
 Questionnaire design process
1. Specify information needed
2. Specify the type of interview method
3. Determine the content of individual questions
4. Design the questions to overcome the respondent’s inability and unwillingness to answer
5. Decide on the question structure
6. Determine the question wording
7. Arrange the questions in proper order
8. Identify the form and layout
9. Reproduce the questionnaire
10. Eliminate bugs by pre-testing
 Individual question content
• Is the question necessary?
If there is no satisfactory use for the data resulting from a question, that question
should be eliminated.

• Are several questions needed instead of one?

“Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft drink?” (Incorrect; double
barreled question)

“Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty soft drink?” and

“Do you think Coca-Cola is a refreshing soft drink?” (Correct)
 Overcoming inability to answer

1. Is the respondent informed?

2. Can rhe respondent remember?

3. Can the respondent articulate?

 Overcoming unwillingness to answer

• Efforts required of the respondent

• Context
• Legitimate purpose
• Sensitive information
• Increasing the willingness of respondent
 Choosing question structure

• Unstructured questions are open-ended questions that respondents answer in their

own words.
Do you intend to buy a new car within the next six months?

• Structured questions specify the set of response alternatives and the response
format. A structured question may be multiple-choice, dichotomous, or a scale.
 Choosing question wording

• Define the issue

• Use ordinary words
• Use unambiguous words
• Avoid leading or biasing questions
• Avoid implicit alternative
• Avoid implicit assumptions
• Avoid generalization and estimates
 Determining the order of questions
• Opening question

• Type of information

• Difficult questions

• Effect on subsequent questions

• Logical order
 Reproduction of questionnaire
• The questionnaire should be reproduced on good-quality paper and have a professional
appearance.
• Questionnaires should take the form of a booklet rather than a number of sheets of paper
clipped or stapled together.
• Each question should be reproduced on a single page (or double-page spread).
• Vertical response columns should be used for individual questions.
• Grids are useful when there are a number of related questions which use the same set of
response categories.
• The tendency to crowd questions together to make the questionnaire look shorter should be
avoided.
• Directions or instructions for individual questions should be placed as close to the questions
as possible.
 Pretesting

• All the aspects of questionnaire should be tested

• Respondent for pretest and actual survey should be from same population
• Pretest is best done by personal interview
• Variety of interviewers should be used for pretest
• Protocol analysis and debriefing are commonly used procedure for pretesting
• Responses should be analyzed properly
 Questionnaire design check-list
• Specify the information needed
• Specify the type of interviewing method
• Determine the content of individual questions
• Design the questions to overcome the respondents inability and unwillingness to answer
• Decide o n the question structure
• Determine the question wording
• Arrange the questions in proper order
• Identify the form and layout
• Reproduce the questionnaire
• Eliminates bugs by pretesting
 Questionnaire design check-list
• Specify the information needed
• Specify the type of interviewing method
• Determine the content of individual questions
• Design the questions to overcome the respondents inability and unwillingness to answer
• Decide o n the question structure
• Determine the question wording
• Arrange the questions in proper order
• Identify the form and layout
• Reproduce the questionnaire
• Eliminates bugs by pretesting
 Summary
• Specifying the information needed
• Types of interviewing method
• Deciding on content of individual questions
• Overcoming the respondent's inability and unwillingness to answer
• Question structure should be determined
• Wordings of each question should be determined
• Order of the question must be decided
• Determining the form and layout of the questions
• Reproducing the questionnaire
• Pretesting