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Developing Questionnaires

Developing Questionnaires . The Art and Science of Questionnaire Design. Preliminary Considerations. What information is required? What are your hypotheses? What relationships are being investigated? What data collection method will be used? Structure, Disguise? Mail/telephone…?

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Developing Questionnaires

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  1. Developing Questionnaires The Art and Science of Questionnaire Design

  2. Preliminary Considerations • What information is required? • What are your hypotheses? • What relationships are being investigated? • What data collection method will be used? • Structure, Disguise? • Mail/telephone…? • Who are the target respondents?

  3. Questionnaires should achieve 2 objectives: • Reduce Non-response a) respondent-friendly questionnaires b) establish trust c) provide rewards d) reduce costs • Reduce Measurement error a) question wording/understanding b) questionnaire layout

  4. Make Sure the Questions are Understandable • Use Natural and Familiar Language 1) Simple language • Work…..employment • Most important….top priority • Your answers ….. Your responses to this questionnaire 2) Language that the target market uses 3) Choose as few words as possible to ask the question 4) Use Complete Sentences to ask the question

  5. Make Sure Questions Are Understandable, cont’d • Does the question require an answer from every person? • Do respondents have the information needed to answer the question? • filter questions • Do you need more than one question?

  6. Make Sure Questions are Understandable, Cont’d • Can respondent’s remember the information • Avoid generalizations • Telescoping error • Recall loss • Is it too much work to get the information • May want to settle for an approximate answer

  7. Make Sure Questions are Understandable, Cont’d • Avoid Ambiguous Words • DO NOT USE: • …

  8. No Double-Barreled Questions • A question that calls for two responses • Easy to spot when there is an “and” • But can take other forms too • Example:Should the city build a new swimming pool that includes lap lanes that is not enclosed for winter use? AND

  9. Avoid Bias • No loaded questions • Examples… • Watch for sequence bias (aka. Halo effects) • (ex norm or even-handedness)

  10. Getting Answers to Sensitive or Embarrassing Questions • State behavior is not unusual. • Phrase how others might act. • Soften the Wording • (e.g., shoplifted vs taken something without paying; drug users vs used recreational drugs…) • Use categorical response format rather than open-ended. • Early or late in the questionnaire? • early late

  11. Need Mutually Exclusive and Exhaustive Responses • Responses should not overlap • Example: From which one of these sources did you first learn about the hurricane? • Radio • Television • Someone at work • While at home • While traveling to work • Must cover the entire range of options

  12. Response Formats • Open ended--respondent answers in his or her own words • Good points: • Bad points:

  13. Itemized Questions (close-ended) • Fixed alternatives (e.g., dichotomous, multichotomous) • Good points: • Bad points: • MUST PRETEST

  14. Types of Close-ended Questions • Dichotomous • limits the amount of information you get • Multichotomous • beware of order bias • primacy effect • NOTE: some research shows that dichotomous questions are consistent with multichotomous

  15. Questionnaire Flow • Cover letter (see example from ethics lecture) • Sponsor • Importance • Respondents Rights • Reward • First Question – very Important a) _____________ b) _____________ c) _____________ • Demographics last in the questionnaire (but every questionnaire should have them)

  16. Sequencing of Questions • Funnel • Inverted funnel • Keep questions on related topic together • Be very careful with branching (pivot questions) • May want to color code

  17. Layout • Booklets for multi-page questionnaires • Place instructions where information is needed (not at beginning) • Place items with the same response categories into a grid • Ask one question at a time

  18. Layout, cont’d • NUMBER the questions AND answers (even when using answer boxes) • If using boxes, ask respondents to “X” or “color in” – NOT just a check • Increase the size of written elements to attract attention and identify starting point • Identify beginning of new questions in a consistent way • Spacing • Bolding • Capitalize response categories • List answer categories vertically instead of horizontally • Align answer boxes and put consistently to right/left

  19. Layout , cont’d • What is better? • white space • save a page

  20. Pretest the Questionnaire • First with a personal interview • Make corrections • Next using the real method • If you do not pretest, you are being • __________________

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