Designing a Questionnaire:Getting the Words Right

C. N Haigh, 2015

Design Considerations

Questionnaire Design

Considerations

 

The Purpose: Ideas and Information about ....Topics) ....

The Respondents: Whose ideas and information? (Population / sample)

The Item Topics:

Types of Items:Closed – dichotomous, multiple choice, rating, rankingOpen – unstructured, completion, associationContingency – filter, skip

Item Order:- Opening / closing- Logical / psychological- Group, clustering- Variety

Item Typography and Format:

Questionnaire Introduction:- Purpose- Rationale, benefits- Instructions- Confidentiality, Anonymity- Reporting back

Administration:- Personal- On-line- Mail

Pre-testing:- Psychometric - Piloting

Non-respondent Follow-up:

The Item Words:

Our Consideration – Choosing the Words

Key Criteria: The words

 

• ‘fit’ the ideas and information that we are seeking

• are familiar and meaningful

• provide clear direction re how to respond

• request a response that is feasible and can be made

readily.

Task

Design an item

Identify item(s) topic: Staff engagement in professional development during 2013.

Identify sub-topics:•Professional capabilities developed through PD activity during 2013.

•Forms of PD activity engaged in.

•Self-initiated - mandatory PD activity.

•Time allocated to specific forms of PD activity.

•Impact of specific activities on current role knowledge and actual practice.

•Preferred PD activities.

•Reasons for preferences.

•Obstacles to engaging in preferred PD activities.

•Factors that facilitate engagement in preferred activities.

•Capabilities that intend to develop further during 2013.

•PD activities likely to engage in to develop these capabilities.

Task

Design an Item

Identify item type

Types of Items:

Closed – dichotomous, multiple choice, rating, ranking

Open – unstructured, completion, association

Contingency – filter, skip

Task

Design an Item

If rating/scale item

Choose scale

For helpful examples of scales

http://studentresearch.ucsd.edu/_files/assessment/resources/survey_response_options_2015-02-05.pdf

http://www.stlhe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Survey-Response-Scales.pdf

and advice

https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/likert-scale/

Task

Design an Item

Choose the words

See ‘10 tips’

e.g.

Use familiar, unambiguous and precise words

– Avoid words that are vague, general rather than specific, or likely to be

ambiguous (family members, income, regularly, reading activities)

– Be specific re when, where, timeframe etc.

– Avoid unfamiliar technical terms, jargon (unless defined the first time used)

– Avoid acronyms, abbreviations (unless written in full the first time used)

Task

Design an Item

Trial items

Always trial items with people who are representative of the population/sample you will be gathering data from.

Do they fulfill the key criteria?

If necessary, modify items and trial again.

Your experiences – designing and responding to questionnaires

Other helpful tutorials/resources

Questionnaire and Survey Design Tutorial - https://www.statpac.com/surveys/

How to create a Survey (Survey Monkey Help Centre) http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-to-create-a-survey

Survey Design tutorials 1 – 11 YouTube (Survey Monkey)

Successful questionnaire designhttp://mycourse.solent.ac.uk/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=116236