QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

It is not every question that deserves an answer. Publilius Syrus (Roman,1st century B.C.)

A QUESTIONNAIRE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE QUESTIONS IT ASKS

A GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE APPEARS

As Easy To Compose As Does A Good Poem But It Is Usually The Result Of Long, Painstaking Work

DEVELOPING A QUESTIONNAIRE
No Hard Or Fast Rules Only Guidelines

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

Question Sequence
Order

Bias Funnel Technique Filter Bias

Question Layout

STRATEGIC CONCERNS OF INSTRUMENT DESIGN

What type of data is needed to answer the research question? What communication approach will be used? Should the questions be structured, unstructured, or some combination? Should the questions be disguised or undisguised?

LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

TYPES OF MEASUREMENT QUESTIONS?

Classification
Sociological-demographic variable to profile groups

Administrative
Identify participant, interview location and condition to study patterns

Target
Questions specific to the study Structured or Unstructured

APPROPRIATE QUESTION CONTENT

Should this question be asked?

Purposeful

vs Interesting

Is the question of proper scope and coverage?

Incomplete

or Unfocused

Multiple Questions Precision

Does

the question ask precisely what we want and need to know?

APPROPRIATE QUESTION CONTENT

Can the participant adequately answer this question, as asked?

Time

for thought

Participation at the expense of accuracy

Filter

questions Screen questions

Presumed Knowledge
Profile

of respondents

APPROPRIATE QUESTION CONTENT

Recall and memory Decay

Overtax

the respondents recall ability

Balance (General vs Specific) Objectivity Will the participant willingly answer this question, as asked?

Sensitive

questions

QUESTION WORDING CRITERIA

Is the question stated in terms of a shared vocabulary?

Unambiguous

Does the question contain unsupported assumptions? Frame of reference Biased wording Is the question correctly personalized? Are adequate alternatives presented within the question?

TYPES OF RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Free-response Dichotomous Multiple-choice Checklist Rating Ranking

FREE-RESPONSE STRATEGY

What factors influenced your enrollment in Metro U? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

13-14

DICHOTOMOUS RESPONSE STRATEGY

Did you attend the A Day at College program at Metro U?

Yes No
13-15

MULTIPLE CHOICE RESPONSE STRATEGY

Which one of the following factors was most influential in your decision to attend Metro U? Good academic standing Specific program of study desired Enjoyable campus life Many friends from home High quality of faculty

13-16

CHECKLIST RESPONSE STRATEGY

Which of the following factors influenced your decision to enroll in Metro U? (Check all that apply.) Tuition cost Specific program of study desired Parents preferences Opinion of brother or sister Many friends from home attend High quality of faculty

13-17

RATING RESPONSE STRATEGY

Strongly influential Somewhat influential Not at all influential

Good academic reputation Enjoyable campus life Many friends High quality faculty Semester calendar

13-18

RANKING
Please rank-order your top three factors from the following list based on their influence in encouraging you to apply to Metro U. Use 1 to indicate the most encouraging factor, 2 the next most encouraging factor, etc. _____ Opportunity to play collegiate sports _____ Closeness to home _____ Enjoyable campus life _____ Good academic reputation _____ High quality of faculty

13-19

13-20

SUMMARY OF SCALE TYPES

Type Restrictions Rating Scales
Simple Category Scale Multiple Choice SingleResponse Scale Multiple Choice MultipleResponse Scale (checklist) Likert Scale

Scale Items One or more many

Scale points 2

Data Type

Needs mutually exclusive choices

Nominal

Needs mutually exclusive choices; may use exhaustive list or other

Nominal

Needs mutually exclusive choices; needs exhaustive list or other

many

Nominal

Needs definitive positive or negative statements with which to agree/disagree Needs definitive positive or negative statements with which to agree/disagree

One or more One or more

5 7 or 9

Ordinal Ordinal

Likert-type Scale

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN OPTION:

Use the set of questionnaire that already done by the previous researcher Develop your own questionnaire

need to do a PILOT TEST

PILOT TEST

or formative test; an initial run of a study (e.g. an experiment, survey, or interview) for the purpose of verifying that the test itself is wellformulated.

KEY REASONS TO PILOT TEST

Questions able to be administered in a real world environment by interviewers or selfreported, depending on method used, and can then assess: Respondent understanding of question meaning Appropriateness of response categories
Question clarity

-Adequacy of instructions - Effectiveness of data capture

DESIRED RESULTS OF PILOT TESTING

Need for change identified in question design, wording or instructions Effectiveness of operational procedures tested Do the questions asked do what was intended, and are they likely to provide the output data required?