2. What is a Questionnaire?
A Questionnaire is a formalized set of questions for
obtaining information from respondents.
oIt must translate the information needed into a set of specific questions that the
respondents can and will answer.
oA questionnaire must uplift, motivate and encourage the respondent to become
involved in the interview, to cooperate, and to complete the interview.
oA questionnaire should minimize response error.
Objectives
3. Questionnaire Advantages
o Low cost in terms of time, labor, and wealth
o Free from interviewer bias
o Respondents have adequate time to think through their answers
o Respondents who are not easily approachable can also be reached conveniently
o Large samples can be used, or the field of inquiry is wide
4. Questionnaire Disadvantages
o Low rate of return
o Respondents need to be educated person and cooperative
o Inbuilt inflexibility (Supplementary questions can not be asked as questions are fixed)
o Possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of items
o This method is slow
o Its response is uncertain
o If the questionnaire is challenging, it may not be responded
5. Questionnaire Design Process
Specify the
information needed
Specify the Type of
Interviewing Method
Determine the
content of Individual
Questions
Design the Question to
overcome the
respondent’s Inability
and Unwillingness to
answer
Decide the question
structure
Determine the
question wording
Arrange the
questions in proper
order
Identify the Form
and Layout
Reproduce the
Questionnaire
Eliminate Bugs by
Pre-Testing
6. Steps in Questionnaire Design
1. Determine what information is required:
o Translate research objectives into a research question.
o How Variables are going to be measured.
o Think through the techniques that will give meaning to the data.
2. What type of questionnaire to be used in the survey:
o Personal interview with a questionnaire
o Telephone interview
o Mail Survey
o Observation method
7. Steps in Questionnaire Design
3. Evaluate the question content:
o Does the respondent understand the question
o Does the respondent have the information desired?
o Will respondent give the information
o Are several questions needed instead of one
o Determine question/response format
o Should we use ordinal scaled questions?
o Should we use multiple choice questions?
o Decide on the wordings of the questions.
o Avoid leading questions
o Avoid unbalanced questions
o Avoid barreled questions
o Avoid questions that involve estimation
8. Steps in Questionnaire Design
4. Decide on question sequence and logical order:
o Leading Questions
o Qualifying Questions
o Warm-up Questions
o Specific Questions
o Demographic Questions
5. Determine the physical characteristics of the form.
6. Pretest, revise and final the form.
9. Types of Questions
Open-ended
oRespondent can answer in own words
oNo preset choices
oUsed where the range of answers is very wide or unknown
oUsed to expand on or explain answers to previous questions
oTime-consuming to code and data input
oAvoid using too many open-ended questions
oAvoid using it in the end
10. Types of Questions
Closed-ended
oRespondent is made to choose the answer from predefined responses.
oMost common forms are;
• Dichotomous
• Multiple Choice
• Scale or Rating
• Ranking
• Quantity
11. Overcoming Inability to answer
oA “Don’t Know” option appears to reduce uninformed responses without reducing the response
rate.
oRespondents may be unable to articulate certain types of responses, e.g., Describe the
atmosphere of a departmental store.
oRespondents should be given aids, such as pictures, maps or descriptions to help them
articulate their responses.
oMost respondents are unwilling to devote a lot of effort to provide information.
12. Choosing Questions Wording
oDefine the issues in terms of who, what, when, where, why, and way.
oUse ordinary words. Words should match the vocabulary level of the respondents.
oAvoid ambiguous words: usually, normally, frequently, often regularly, etc.
oAvoid implicit alternatives that are not explicitly expressed in the options.
oUse positive or negative statements.
oRespondents should not have to make generalizations or compute estimates.
13. Determine the Order of Questions
oOpening questions should be interesting, simple, and non-threatening.
oQualifying questions should serve as the opening questions.
oBasic information should be obtained first, followed by the classification, and, finally,
identification information.
oDifficult, sensitive, or complex questions should be placed late in the sequence.
oQuestions should be asked in logical order.
oBranching questions should be designed carefully to cover all possible contingencies.
14. Form and Layout
oDivide a questionnaire into several parts.
oThe questions in each part should be numbered, particularly when branching questions are
used.
oThe questionnaires should preferably be pre-coded.
oThe questionnaires themselves should be numbered serially.
