Questionnaire Design
QUESTIONNAIRES AND OBSERVATION FORMS
Standardise data collection for survey and observation,
respectively.
Ensure comparability of the data, increase speed and
accuracy of recording and facilitate data processing.
Definition
Formalized set of questions for obtaining information
from respondents
OBJECTIVES OF A QUESTIONNAIRE
Translate the information needed into a set of specific
questions that the respondents can and will answer
To uplift, motivate, and encourage the respondent to
become involved in the interview, to cooperate, and to
complete the interview
Questionnaires should minimize response error
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN PROCESS
Specify the information needed
Specify the type of interviewing method
Determine the content of individual questions
Design the questions to overcome the respondent’s inability and unwillingness to answer
Decide on the question structure
Determine the question wording
Arrange questions in proper order
Identify the form and layout
Reproduce the questionnaire
Eliminate bugs by pretesting
SPECIFY THE INFORMATION NEEDED
Consider the constructs
[theory, hypotheses/research question developed
earlier]
Keep in mind the target population and ask questions
appropriately
(eg. Children, rural polpulation)
TYPE OF INTERVIEWING METHOD
Personal interviews
Lengthy, complex and varied questions
Telephone interviews
Short and simple questions
Mail questionnaire
Simple questions, detailed instructions
INDIVIDUAL QUESTION CONTENT
Is the question necessary?
Every question should contribute to the
information needed or serve some specific
purpose.
[questions to develop rapport, questions which disguise
the purpose or sponsorship of the project, questions may
be duplicated for the purpose of assessing reliability or
validity]
INDIVIDUAL QUESTION CONTENT CONT.
Are several questions needed instead of one?
Avoid ambiguity and double barrel questions.
Are you fit and healthy?
Do you prefer to patronise a department store close to
your home or work?
OVERCOMING INABILITY TO ANSWER
Is the respondent informed?
Filter questions are often used to ascertain
familiarity, product use and past experience
Are you the main grocery buyer in the household?
Have you purchased car tyres in the last 3 months?
OVERCOMING INABILITY TO ANSWER CONT.
Can the respondent remember?
Recency effect
The ability to remember events are influenced by
the event itself
time elapsed since the event
presence/absence of other events that would help
memory
OVERCOMING INABILITY TO ANSWER CONT.
Can the respondent articulate?
Respondents may be unable to describe the
situation accurately
Inability to articulate may lead to
respondents ignoring questions
refusing to respond to the rest of the questionnaire
OVERCOMING UNWILLINGNESS TO
ANSWER
Effort required of the respondent
Unwilling to devote a lot of effort to provide
information
Context
Unwilling to respond to questions which are
considered inappropriate for the given context
OVERCOMING UNWILLINGNESS TO ANSWER CONT.
Legitimate Purpose
Unwilling to divulge information which they do
not see as serving a legitimate purpose
Sensitive information
Unwilling to disclose sensitive information
because this may cause embarrassment or
threaten the respondent’s prestige/ self-image
INCREASING THE WILLINGNESS OF RESPONDENTS
Place sensitive topics at the end of the
questionnaire
Preface the question with a statement that the
behaviour of interest is common
Ask the question using the 3rd person technique
Provide response categories rather than asking
for specific figures
CHOOSING QUESTION STRUCTURE
Unstructured questions
Open-ended questions that respondents answer
in their own words
Express general attitude
Interviewer bias is high
Coding is costly and time consuming
What were you expecting by attending this event?
CHOOSING QUESTION STRUCTURE CONT.
Structured questions
Specify the set of response alternatives and the
response format
Types: multiple-choice, dichotomous, or a scale
CHOOSING QUESTION STRUCTURE CONT.
Multiple-choice questions
Respondents are asked to select one or more
alternative
Which of the following people had an influence on your choice
of university?
None
Parents
Friends
Ex-Uni student
Teachers at secondary school
Careers teachers at secondary school
Colleagues
Other please specify………………….
CHOOSING QUESTION STRUCTURE CONT.
Dichotomous questions
Only two response alternatives
Have you stayed in Bombay?
Yes No
CHOOSING QUESTION STRUCTURE CONT.
Scale
Can be comparative or non-comparative
Do you intend to buy a new computer within the next 6
months?
Definitely Probably Undecided Probably Definitely
will not buy will not buy will buy will buy
1 2 3 4 5
CHOOSING QUESTION STRUCTURE CONT.
About structured question
Can be administered quickly
Coding and processing is less costly and less time
consuming
Effort required in designing alternatives
May require exploratory research for determining
choices
Bias response because people pick alternatives
offered
CHOOSING QUESTION WORDING
Define the issue
Define the issue by considering
6 Ws
Use ordinary words
Match the vocabulary level of the respondents
Avoid jargon and technical marketing words
Avoid ambiguous words
The word should have a single meaning which is
known to the respondents
DETERMINING THE ORDER OF QUESTIONS CONT.
Logical order
All questions that deal with a particular
issue/topic should be asked before proceeding to a
new topic
Use branching questions to direct respondents to
other questions
FORM AND LAYOUT
Format, spacing and position are important
A questionnaire can be divided into several parts
All questions should be numbered
Questionnaires are sometimes pre-coded where
each possible response to a question is associated
with a unique number (or letter)
Questionnaire should be serially numbered
PRE-TESTING
Testing the questionnaire on a small sample of
respondents to identify and eliminate potential
problems with [Question content, wording,
sequence, form and layout, question difficulty,
instruction]
After each significant revision of the
questionnaire, another pre-test should be
performed with a different sample
Responses obtained should be coded and analyses
OBSERVATIONAL FORMS
Specify the who, what when, where, why and way
of behaviour to be observed
Offers consistency, structure, completeness