1 / 13

What makes a good questionnaire

What makes a good questionnaire. Stages of a questionnaire:. Define your research question Formulate your questions Formulate your responses Design the layout Test the questionnaire – Refine Design your coding scheme Upload online, or print Analyse data and report.

prince
Download Presentation

What makes a good questionnaire

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. What makes a good questionnaire

  2. Stages of a questionnaire: • Define your research question • Formulate your questions • Formulate your responses • Design the layout • Test the questionnaire – Refine • Design your coding scheme • Upload online, or print • Analyse data and report

  3. Define your research question • Important to define your research question, study population,and the objectives at the beginning • What audience do you cater for? • Previous studies have shown that people are more responsive to questionnaires that cover issues that are relevantto them

  4. Formulate your questions • Studies have shown that the wording of questions has an importantinfluence on the responses that are given • It is important to remember that the average readingage in the UK is around 12 years • More difficult questions willeither produce an inaccurate response or the respondentwill give up and fail to complete the questionnaire • Better response rate is achievedif general questions precede specific questions

  5. Formulate your questions • Use simple language • Avoid jargon • Keep questions short and specific • Avoid ambiguities • Avoid double-barrelled questions (“and”, “or”) • Avoid double negatives • Do not overload the respondent's memory • Avoid hypothetical questions • Do not make assumptions

  6. Formulate your responses • Questions can be divided into open-ended questions, orclosed questions • Open-ended questions are useful for identifying a rangeof possible responses where no previous data exist. Open-endedquestions also give the people an opportunity to state theirown views about a topic • The main disadvantage of open-endedquestions: they take longer to complete – may be left unanswered. It is also more difficult to code the responsesthan closed questions • Closed questions are quicker to complete and easier to code.Responses can be presented as simple yes/no choices

  7. Design the layout • Important to capturepeople’s attention and make them interested in completingthe questionnaire • Good idea to use at leasta size 14 font size for the questions and to avoidtoo many questions onto a page • If many questions, divide questionnaire into sections • Separate each question from the next with a linewill also help to make the questionnaire easier to read • Important that you give clear instructions atthe beginning and throughout the questionnaire

  8. Test the questionnaire • First, identify the rangeof possible responses for each question • Do they examine the full scope of your research question? • Ask a friend or colleague to help you • Go through the questions togetherto identify potential problems • After each session, amend the questionnaire before re-testing

  9. Design Coding Scheme • Coding is the process of converting questionnaire data intomeaningful categories to facilitate analysis • For example: numbering the response tick boxes for each question • Test your coding schemeand data entry process during the testing phase

  10. Upload online or print • Make sure that database is setup correctly • All links are working • Test on different Operating Systems and browsers • Print on high quality paper • Use bright colours for front and back of questionnaire but questions should be on white background

  11. Analyse data and report • When reporting, explain the purpose or aim of the research • Describe in detail how the research was done • Describe and justify the methodsand tests used for data analysis • Present the results of theresearch • Interpret and discuss the findings • Present conclusionsand recommendations

  12. Increasing response rate • Design a questionnaire that is easy to navigate • Clear questions and structure the questionnaire in sections • Do not ask too many questions – attention is limited • If you have to ask many questions, state the number of questions beforehand • Stress anonymity of the questionnaire • Make the e-mail request personal. Genuine request – do not spam! • Send reminders to people who have not responded • Add additional info (pages left, percentage completed)

  13. Conclusion • Define a research question • Meet research objectives • Make it clear for respondent (instructions) • Use simple language – avoid grammar errors • Do not overload the respondent’s memory • Organise the questionnaire • Test the questionnaire • Do not make assumptions

More Related