questionnaire and form design

Chapter 10

To collect quantitative primary data, the researcher must design a questionnaire or an observation form. A questionnaire has three objectives.

1. It must translate the information needed into a set of specific questions the respondents can and will answer.
2. It must motivate respondents to complete the interview.
3. It must minimize response error.

designing a questionnaire is an art rather than a science. The process begins by specifying:

1. the information needed
2. the type of interview method
3. decide on the content of individual questions
4. questions must overcome the respondents inability and unwillingness to answer
5. decide on question structure
6. determine the wording of each question
7. ordering of the questions
8. determine form and layout of the questions
9. determined reproduction methods
10. pre-test
    

Respondents may be unable to answer if they are not informed, cannot remember, or cannot articulate the response. The unwillingness of the respondents to answer must also be overcome. Respondents may be unwilling to answer if the question requires too much effort, is asked in a situation or context deemed inappropriate, does not serve a legitimate purpose, or solicits sensitive information. Then comes the decision regarding the question structure. Questions can be unstructured (open ended) or structured to a varying degree. Structured questions include multiple-choice, dichotomous questions, and scales.

Determining the wording of each question involves defining the issue, using ordinary words, using unambiguous words, and using dual statements. The researcher should avoid leading questions, implicit alternatives, implicit assumptions, and generalizations and estimates. Once the questions have been worded, the order in which they will appear in the questionnaire must be decided. Special consideration should be given to opening questions, type of information, difficult questions, and the effect on subsequent questions. The questions should be arranged in a logical order.

The stage is now set for determining the form and layout of the questions. Several factors are important in reproducing the questionnaire.
These include:

• appearance
• use of booklets
• fitting an entire question on a page
• response category format
• avoiding overcrowding
• placement of directions
• color coding
• easy to read format
• cost

Last but not least is pretesting. Important issues are:

• extent of pretesting
• nature of respondents
• type of interviewing method
• type of interviewers
• sample size
• protocol analysis and debriefing
• editing and analysis

The design of observational forms requires explicit decisions about what is to be observed and how that behavior is to be recorded. It is useful to specify the who, what, when, where, why, and way of the behavior to be observed.

The questionnaire should be adapted to the specific cultural environment and should not be biased in terms of any one culture. Also, the questionnaire may have to be suitable for ministration by more than one method as different interviewing methods may be used in different countries. Several ethical issues related to the researcher respondent relationship and the researcher client relationship may have to be addressed. The Internet and computers can greatly assist the researcher in designing sound questionnaires and observational forms.

Questionnaire -- a structured technique for data collection that consists of a series of questions, written or verbal, that respondent answers
double-barreled question -- a single question that attempts to cover two issues. Such questions can be confusing to respondents and result in ambiguous responses
filter questions -- an initial question in a questionnaire that screens potential respondents to ensure they meet the requirements of the sample
telescoping -- a psychological phenomenon that takes place when an individual telescopes or compress time by remembering an event as occurring more recently than actually occurred
unstructured questions -- open-ended questions that respondent answer in their own words
structured questions -- questions that pre-specify the set of response alternatives and the response format. A structured question could be multiple choice, dichotomous, or a scale
order or position bias -- a respondents tendency to check an alternative merely because it occupies a certain position or is listed in a certain order
dichotomous question -- a structured question was only two response alternatives, such as yes and no
leading question -- a question that gives a respondent a clue as to what answer is desired or leave the responded to answer in a certain way
implicit alternative -- an alternative that is not explicitly expressed
classification information -- socioeconomic and demographic characteristics used to classify respondents
identification information -- a type of information obtained in a questionnaire that includes name, address, and phone number
funnel approach -- a strategy for ordering questions in a questionnaire in which the sequence starts with the general questions that are followed by progressively specific questions, in order to prevent specific questions from biasing general questions
branching questions -- question used to guide an interviewer through a survey of directing the interviewer to different spots on the questionnaire depending on the answer given
pre-coding -- and questionnaire design, assigning a code to every conceivable response before data collection
pretesting -- the testing of the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents for the purpose of improving the questionnaire by identifying and eliminating potential problems