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1. English for Academic and
Professional Purposes
Quarter 2 – Module 5:
Designing, Testing, and
Revising Survey
Questionnaires
2. Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work
of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or
office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit.
Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of
royalties.
Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders.
Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from
their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim
ownership over them.
Published by the Department of Education
Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio
Printed in the Philippines by Department of Education – Schools Division of Bataan
Office Address: Provincial Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan
Telefax: (047) 237-2102
E-mail Address: bataan@deped.gov.ph
SENIOR HS MODULE DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Author : Liwayway E. Pega
Co-Author-Content Editor : Rea A. Pangilinan
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3. English for Academic
and Professional
Purposes
Quarter 2 – Module 5:
Designing, Testing, and
Revising Survey
Questionnaires
4. Introductory Message
For the facilitator:
Welcome to English for Academic and Professional Purposes– Grade 11
Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module on Writing the Reaction
Paper/Review/Critique!
This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by
educators both from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or
facilitator in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum
while overcoming their personal, social, and economic constraints in schooling.
This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and
independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also
aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.
In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:
As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them
to manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and
assist the learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
For the learner:
Welcome to the English for Academic and Professional Purposes– Grade 11
Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module on Writing the Reaction
Paper/Review/Critique!
The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often
used to depict skill, action, and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create
and accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a
learner is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant
competencies and skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in
your own hands!
Notes to the Teacher
This contains helpful tips or strategies
that will help you in guiding the learners.
5. This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning resource while being an
active learner.
This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:
What I Need to Know This will give you an idea of the skills or
competencies you are expected to learn in
the module.
What I Know This part includes an activity that aims to
check what you already know about the
lesson to take. If you get all the answers
correct (100%), you may decide to skip this
module.
What’s In This is a brief drill or review to help you link
the current lesson with the previous one.
What’s New In this portion, the new lesson will be
introduced to you in various ways such as a
story, a song, a poem, a problem opener, an
activity or a situation.
What is It This section provides a brief discussion of
the lesson. This aims to help you discover
and understand new concepts and skills.
What’s More This comprises activities for independent
practice to solidify your understanding and
skills of the topic. You may check the
answers to the exercises using the Answer
Key at the end of the module.
What I Have Learned This includes questions or blank
sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process
what you learned from the lesson.
What I Can Do This section provides an activity which will
help you transfer your new knowledge or
skill into real life situations or concerns.
Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your
level of mastery in achieving the learning
competency.
Additional Activities In this portion, another activity will be given
to you to enrich your knowledge or skill of
the lesson learned. This also tends retention
of learned concepts.
6. Answer Key This contains answers to all activities in the
module.
At the end of this module you will also find:
The following are some reminders in using this module:
1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of
the module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.
2. Do not forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your
answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not
hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are
not alone.
We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning
and gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!
References This is a list of all sources used in
developing this module.
7. What I Need to Know
This module is designed and created to help you become familiar with the concept
of survey questionnaire and how to design, test, and revise questionnaire (CS-
EN11/12A-EAAP-lle-j-7).
By the end of this module you should be able to:
1. define a questionnaire;
2. compare and contrast the two types of questionnaire; and
3. design, test, and revise survey questionnaires.
8. What I Know
Let us have a short activity to see what you already know the about the topic. Read
each statement below carefully. On your answer sheet, write TRUE or FALSE for
each of the following statements.
1. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for
the purpose of gathering information from respondents.
2. Without a clear definition of the aim, it is clear what data you should collect.
3. A questionnaire ensures standardization and comparability of the data across
interviewers, increases speed and accuracy of recording, and facilitates data
processing.
4. Make the interview long and be equivocal that the respondents may be
challenged to think critically of their answers.
5. Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made more
dependable and reliable.
9. Lesson
1
Designing, Testing, and
Revising Survey
Questionnaires
What’s In
Before we start exploring the topic, let us find out if you can distinguish a
well-written survey question from a confusing one. Write YES if the question is
good, and NO if otherwise.
1.How short was Napoleon?
2.How would you describe Napoleon’s height?
3.Do you think special car seats should be required for infant passengers?
4.Should concerned parents use infant car seats?
5.How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the pay and work benefits of your
current job?
What’s New
Surveys are an effective way to collect data from your customers. They are helpful
in evaluating your offerings and finding ways to make changes for the better. Yet,
some people struggle with survey design and creation and create surveys that
aren’t giving them the most accurate results.
Notes to the Teacher
This module prepares the learners for them to be able to
design, test, and revise survey questionnaires within the
standards of writing academic papers.
10. Answer the sample survey below then assess it using the rubric below. Write your
score in every criterion in your answer sheet. If the total score is 28, then it is a
good survey questionnaire.
What is It
How to Write a Reaction Paper?
•
•
•
•
•
•
11. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• A reaction or response paper requires the writer to analyze a text, then develop
commentary related to it.
Category
Rating
Score
4 3 2 1
Purpose Purpose is stated
clearly.
Purpose is stated
somewhat clearly.
Purpose is stated
vaguely.
Purpose is
not stated.
Clarity of
questions
Questions are crystal
clear, and a person
would not have to
ask for clarification.
Questions are very
clear, and a person
might have to ask for
clarification.
Questions are
somewhat clear, and
a person would have
to ask for
clarification.
Questions
are confusing
and
ambiguous.
Choice of
responses
Every person would
be able to choose
from the responses.
Most people would
be able to choose
from the responses.
Few people would be
able to choose from
the responses.
No one would
be able to
choose from
the
responses.
12. Layout The selection of
graphics, line styles,
and arrangement
options enhances the
layout and meaning
of the survey.
The selection of
graphics, line styles
and arrangement
options mostly
enhance the layout
of the survey.
The selection of
graphics, line styles
and arrangement
options sometimes
enhance the layout
of the survey.
The selection
of graphics,
line styles
and
arrangement
options do
not enhance
the layout of
the survey.
Content All essential
questions are
properly addressed.
Most of the essential
questions are
properly addressed.
Some of the essential
questions are
properly addressed.
One or fewer
essential
questions are
addressed.
Spelling/
Grammar
All words are spelled
correctly. Grammar,
punctuation, spacing
and word usage are
appropriate.
Most words are
spelled
correctly. Grammar,
punctuation, spacing
and word usage are
mostly appropriate.
Most words are
spelled
correctly. Grammar,
punctuation, spacing
and word usage have
some errors.
Numerous
spelling
errors.
Grammar,
punctuation,
spacing and
word usage
have a
number of
errors.
Utility Easy to use and
pleasant to look at.
Easy to follow. Choppy, but gets the
job done.
Difficult to
follow and is
jumbled.
Total Score
What is It
Questionnaire: Definition, Examples, Design and Types
By Saul McLeod, updated 2018
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the
purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires can be thought
of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone,
computer or post.
Questionnaires provide a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining large
amounts of information from a large sample of people. Data can be collected
relatively quickly because the researcher would not need to be present when the
questionnaires were completed. This is useful for large populations when interviews
would be impractical. However, a problem with questionnaires is that respondents
13. may lie due to social desirability. Most people want to present a positive image of
themselves and so may lie or bend the truth to look good, e.g., learners would
exaggerate revision duration.
Questionnaires can be an effective means of measuring the behavior, attitudes,
preferences, opinions and intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects more
cheaply and quickly than other methods. An important distinction is between open-
ended and closed questions. Often a questionnaire uses both open and closed
questions to collect data. This is beneficial as it means both quantitative and
qualitative data can be obtained.
Closed Questions
Closed questions structure the answer by only allowing responses which fit into
pre-decided categories. Data that can be placed into a category is called nominal
data. The category can be restricted to as few as two options, i.e., dichotomous (e.g.
“yes” or “no” “male” or “female”) or include quite complex lists of alternatives from
which the respondent can choose (e.g., polytomous).
Closed questions can also provide ordinal data (which can be ranked). This often
involves using a continuous rating scale to measure the strength of attitudes or
emotions. For example, strongly agree / agree / neutral / disagree / strongly
disagree / unable to answer. Closed questions have been used to research type A
personality (e.g., Friedman & Rosenman, 1974), and also to assess life events
which may cause stress (Holmes & Rahe, 1967), and attachment (Fraley, Waller, &
Brennan, 2000).
Strengths
• They can be economical. This means they can provide large amounts of
research data for relatively low costs. Therefore, a large sample size can be
obtained which should be representative of the population, which a
researcher can then generalize from.
• The respondent provides information which can be easily converted into
quantitative data (e.g., count the number of 'yes' or 'no' answers), allowing
statistical analysis of the responses.
• The questions are standardized. All respondents are asked exactly the same
questions in the same order. This means a questionnaire can be replicated
easily to check for reliability. Therefore, a second researcher can use the
questionnaire to check that the results are consistent.
Limitations
• They lack detail. Because the responses are fixed, there is less scope for
respondents to supply answers which reflect their true feelings on a topic.
Open Questions
Open questions allow people to express what they think in their own words. Open-
ended questions enable the respondent to answer in as much detail as they like in
their own words. For example: “Can you tell me how happy you feel right now?” If
you want to gather more in-depth answers from your respondents, then open
questions will work better. These give no pre-set answer options and instead allow
the respondents to put down exactly what they like in their own words.
14. Open questions are often used for complex questions that cannot be answered in a
few simple categories but require more detail and discussion.
Lawrence Kohlberg presented his participants with moral dilemmas. One of the
most famous concerns a character called Heinz who is faced with the choice
between watching his wife die of cancer or stealing the only drug that could help
her.
Participants were asked whether Heinz should steal the drug or not and, more
importantly, for their reasons why upholding or breaking the law is right.
Strengths
• Rich qualitative data is obtained as open questions allow the respondent to
elaborate on their answer. This means the research can find out why a person
holds a certain attitude.
Limitations
• Time-consuming to collect the data. It takes longer for the respondent to
complete open questions. This is a problem as a smaller sample size may be
obtained.
• Time-consuming to analyze the data. It takes longer for the researcher to
analyze qualitative data as they have to read the answers and try to put
them into categories by coding, which is often subjective and difficult.
However, Smith (1992) has devoted an entire book to the issues of thematic
content analysis the includes 14 different scoring systems for open-ended
questions.
• Not suitable for less educated respondents as open questions require
superior writing skills and a better ability to express one's feelings verbally.
Questionnaire Design
With some questionnaires suffering from a response rate as low as 5%, it is
essential that a questionnaire is well designed. There are a number of important
factors in questionnaire design.
Aims
Make sure that all questions asked address the aims of the research. However, use
only one feature of the construct you are investigating in per item.
Length
The longer the questionnaire, the less likely people will complete it. Questions
should be short, clear, and be to the point; any unnecessary questions/items
should be omitted.
Pilot Study
Run a small scale practice study to ensure people understand the questions. People
will also be able to give detailed honest feedback on the questionnaire design.
Question Order
Questions should progress logically from the least sensitive to the most sensitive,
from the factual and behavioral to the cognitive, and from the more general to the
more specific.
15. The researcher should ensure that the answer to a question is not influenced by
previous questions.
Terminology
There should be a minimum of technical jargon. Questions should be simple, to the
point and easy to understand.
The language of a questionnaire should be appropriate to the vocabulary of the
group of people being studied. Use statements which are interpreted in the same
way by members of different subpopulations of the population of interest.
For example, the researcher must change the language of questions to match the
social background of respondents' age / educational level / social class / ethnicity
etc.
Presentation
Make sure it looks professional, include clear and concise instructions. If sent
through the post make sure the envelope does not signify ‘junk mail.’
Ethical Issues
The researcher must ensure that the information provided by the respondent is
kept confidential, e.g., name, address, etc. This means questionnaires are good for
researching sensitive topics as respondents will be more honest when they cannot
be identified. Keeping the questionnaire confidential should also reduce the
likelihood of any psychological harm, such as embarrassment. Participants must
provide informed consent prior to completing the questionnaire, and must be aware
that they have the right to withdraw their information at any time during the
survey/ study.
Problems with Postal Questionnaires
The data might not be valid (i.e., truthful) as we can never be sure that the right
person actually completed the postal questionnaire.
Also, postal questionnaires may not be representative of the population they are
studying?
• This is because some questionnaires may be lost in the post reducing the
sample size.
• The questionnaire may be completed by someone who is not a member of the
research population.
• Those with strong views on the questionnaire’s subject are more likely to
complete it than those with no interest in it.
•
Benefits of a Pilot Study
A pilot study is a practice / small-scale study conducted before the main study. It
allows the researcher to try out the study with a few participants so that
adjustments can be made before the main study, so saving time and money. It is
important to conduct a questionnaire pilot study for the following reasons:
• Check that respondents understand the terminology used in the
questionnaire.
• Check that emotive questions have not been used as they make people
defensive and could invalidate their answers.
• Check that leading questions have not been used as they could bias the
respondent's answer.
Ensure the questionnaire can be completed in an appropriate time frame.
16. DESIGNING A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
Questionnaire research design proceeds in an orderly and specific manner. Each
item in the flow chart depends upon the successful completion of all the previous
items. Therefore, it is important not to skip a single step. Notice that there are two
feedback loops in the flow chart to allow revisions to the process and questionnaire.
Questionnaire Research Flow Chart
Design Methodology
Determine Feasibility
Develop Instruments
Select Sample
Conduct Pilot Test
Revise Instruments
Conduct Research
Analyze Data
Prepare Report
Establishing Goals. The first step in any survey is deciding what you want to learn.
The goals of the project determine whom you will survey and what you will ask
them. If your goals are unclear, the results will probably be unclear.
Selecting Your Sample. There are two main components in determining whom you
will interview. The first is deciding what kind of people to interview. Researchers
often call this group the target population. If you are trying to determine the likely
success of a product, the target population may be less obvious. Correctly
determining the target population is critical. If you do not interview the right kinds
of people, you will not successfully meet your goals. The next thing to decide is
how many people you need to interview. Statisticians know that a small,
representative sample will reflect the group from which it is drawn. The larger the
sample, the more precisely it reflects the target group.
Avoiding a Biased Sample. A biased sample will produce biased results. Totally
excluding all bias is almost impossible; however, if you recognize bias exists, you
can intuitively discount some of the answers Interviewing Methods.
Once you have decided on your sample you must decide on your method of data
collection. Each method has advantages and disadvantages.
17. Personal Interviews. An interview is called personal when the Interviewer asks the
questions face-to-face with the Interviewee. Personal interviews can take place in
the home, at a shopping mall, on the street, outside a movie theatre or polling
place, and so on.
Telephone Surveys. Surveying by telephone is the most popular interviewing
method in the USA. This is made possible by nearly universal coverage (96% of
homes have a telephone).
Computer Direct Interviews. These are interviews in which the Interviewees enter
their own answers directly into a computer Email Surveys.
Email surveys are both very economical and very fast. More people have email than
have full Internet access. This makes email a better choice than a Web page survey
for some populations. Email surveys are limited to simple questionnaires.
Internet/Intranet (Web Page) Surveys. Web surveys are rapidly gaining popularity.
They have major speed, cost, and flexibility advantages, but also significant
sampling limitations. These limitations make software selection especially
important and restrict the groups you can study using this technique.
Questionnaire Design
General Considerations
1. The first rule is to design the questionnaire to fit the medium. People
responding to mail or Web surveys cannot easily ask “What exactly do you mean by
that?” if they do not understand a question. Personal questions are sometimes best
handled by mail or computer, where anonymity is most assured.
2. KISS - keep it short and simple.
3. Start with an introduction or welcome message. A good introduction or
welcome message will encourage people to complete your questionnaire. When
practical, state who you are and why you want the information in the survey.
4. Allow a “Don't Know” or “Not Applicable” response to all questions, except to
those in which you are certain that all respondents will have a clear answer
Researchers use three basic types of questions: multiple choice, numeric open
end and text open end. Examples of each kind of question follow:
18. Question Types. Researchers use three basic types of questions: multiple choice,
numeric open end and text open end. Examples of each kind of question follow:
Rating Scales and Agreement Scales are two common types of questions that
some researchers treat as multiple choice questions and others treat as numeric
open end questions. Examples of these kinds of questions are:
Question and Answer Choice Order
There are two broad issues to keep in mind when considering question and answer
choice order. One is how the question and answer choice order can encourage
people to complete your survey. The other issue is how the order of questions or the
order of answer choices could affect the results of your survey.
Ideally, the early questions in a survey should be easy and pleasant to answer.
These kinds of questions encourage people to continue the survey. Grouping
together questions on the same topic also makes the questionnaire easier to
answer.
19. Whenever possible leave difficult or sensitive questions until near the end of your
survey. If people quit at that point anyway, at least they will have answered most of
your questions.
Other General Tips
Keep the questionnaire as short as possible. More people will complete a shorter
questionnaire, regardless of the interviewing method. If a question is not necessary,
do not include it.
Start with a Title (e.g., Leisure Activities Survey). Always include a short
introduction - who you are and why you are doing the survey.
Reassure your respondent that his or her responses will not be revealed to your
client, but only combined with many others to learn about overall attitudes.
Include a cover letter with all mail surveys. The most effective cover letters and
invitations include the following elements: Ask the recipient to take the survey.
Explain why taking it will improve some aspect of the recipient's life (it will help
improve a product, make an organization better meet their needs, make their
opinions heard). Appeal to the recipient's sense of altruism ("please help"). Ask the
recipient again to take the survey.
The overriding consideration in questionnaire design is to make sure your
questions can accurately tell you what you want to learn. The way you phrase a
question can change the answers you get. Try to make sure the wording does not
favor one answer choice over another.
Pre-test the Questionnaire
The last step in questionnaire design is to test a questionnaire with a small number
of interviews before conducting your main interviews. Ideally, you should test the
survey on the same kinds of people you will include in the main study. If that is not
possible, at least have a few people, other than the question writer, try the
questionnaire. This kind of test run can reveal unanticipated problems with
question wording, instructions to skip questions, etc. It can help you see if the
interviewees understand your questions and give useful answers.
If you change any questions after a pre-test, you should not combine the results
from the pre-test with the results of post-test interviews. Choosing sensible
questions and administering surveys with sensitivity and common sense will
improve the quality of your results dramatically.
More information available from:
http://www.surveysystem.com/sdesign.htm#goals
20. 5 COMMON SURVEY QUESTION MISTAKES THAT WILL RUIN YOUR DATA
(Updated: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/5-common-survey-mistakes-
ruin-your-data/)
You may already know the questions you want to ask in your survey, but how you
write your survey questions can be the difference between a good and a bad survey.
How a question is written can alter your respondent’s perspective on an issue as
well as unintentionally force them to answer a question inaccurately.
A well-written survey question allows your respondents to answer truthfully
without being pulled to one side or the other. In other words, the questions
shouldn’t leave them feeling confused about which option to select.
So before you put pen to paper and start writing your questions, be sure to avoid
these 5 common survey mistakes:
1. Don’t write leading questions
Top survey mistake #1: Questions should never be worded in a way that’ll sway the
reader to one side of the argument. Usually you can tell a question is leading if it
includes non-neutral wording.
Bad Question: How short was Napoleon?
The word “short” immediately brings images to the mind of the respondent. If the
question is rewritten to be neutral-sounding, it can eliminate the leading bias.
Good Question: How would you describe Napoleon’s height?
Leading questions can also be the cause of unnecessary additions to the question.
Bad Question: Should concerned parents use infant car seats?
The term “concerned parents” leads the respondent away from the topic at hand.
Instead, stay focused by only including what is needed in the question.
Good Question: Do you think special car seats should be required for infant
passengers?
2. Avoid loaded questions
21. Loaded questions are questions written in a way that forces the respondent into an
answer that doesn’t accurately reflect his or her opinion or situation. This key
survey mistake will throw off your survey respondents and is one of the leading
contributors to respondents abandoning surveys.
Bad Question: Where do you enjoy drinking beer?
By answering this question, the respondent is announcing that they drink beer.
However, many people dislike beer or will not drink alcohol and therefore can’t
answer the question truthfully.
Usually, loaded questions are best avoided by pretesting your survey to make sure
every respondent has a way to answer honestly.
In the case of the example above, you may choose to ask a preliminary question on
whether the respondent drinks beer and use skip logic to let people who don’t drink
beer pass over the questions that don’t apply to them.
3. Stay away from double-barreled questions
What is a double-barreled question? It’s one of the most common survey mistakes.
And it’s when you force respondents to answer two questions at once. It’s also a
great way to ruin your survey results.
Survey questions should always be written in a way that only one thing is being
measured. If a single question has two subjects, it’s impossible to tell how the
respondent is weighing the different elements involved.
Bad Question: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the pay and work benefits
of your current job?
In the case of the example above, it makes sense to break the question into two;
satisfaction with pay and satisfaction with work benefits. Otherwise, some of your
respondents will be answering the question while giving more weight to pay, and
others will answer giving more weight to work benefits.
Good Questions: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the pay of your current
job? How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the work benefits of your current
job?
It’s also easy to double-barrel a question by giving more than one group for the
respondent to consider.
22. Bad Question: How useful will this textbook be for students and young
professionals in the field?
Now the respondent is forced to give a single answer for both parties. Instead break
the question into two; one measuring usefulness for students and one measuring
usefulness for professionals.
Good Questions: How useful will this textbook be for students? How useful will this
textbook be for young professionals in the field?
4. Absolutely do not use absolutes in questions
Absolutes in questions force respondents into a corner where they can’t give useful
feedback. These questions usually have the options Yes/No and include wording
such as “always,” “all,” “every,” “ever,” etc.
Bad Question: Do you always eat breakfast? (Yes/No)
Read literally, the example above would force almost any respondent to answer
“No.” Even then, there would be some respondents who would interpret the
question as asking whether they always eat a full breakfast when they have a
chance.
The inflexibility of absolutes makes questions too rigid to be used in a survey.
Instead, the question should have a variety of options that people will feel more
comfortable choosing from.
Good Question: How many days a week do you usually eat breakfast? (Every day/
5-6 days/ 3-4 days/ 1-2 days/ I usually don’t eat breakfast)
5. Be clear by speaking your respondent’s language
Regardless of who’s taking your survey, use clear, concise, and uncomplicated
language while trying to avoid acronyms, technical terms or jargon that may
confuse your respondents. And make sure to provide definitions or examples if you
need to include tricky terms or concepts. That way, you can be certain that almost
anybody can answer your questions easily, and that they’ll be more inclined to
complete your survey.
Bad Question: Do you own a tablet PC?
Good Question: Do you own a tablet PC? (e.g. iPad, Android tablet)
Bad Question: What was the state of the cleanliness of the room?
23. Good Question: How clean was the room?
Generally, you should strive to write questions using language that is easily
understood. Certain sample groups, however, may have a knowledge base that can
make the use of more difficult terms and ideas a viable option.
Ask yourself if your respondents have a deep understanding of certain events,
terms, and issues dealt with in the survey. The more you can focus on writing good
questions, as opposed to explaining things in common terms, the better.
For example, if you are surveying patients in a hospital, you’ll want to avoid using
medical jargon. However, if your survey sample is made up of doctors, it makes
sense to ask more specialized questions and use higher level medical vocabulary.
By avoiding these five-common survey-writing mistakes, your survey should run
like a well-oiled machine, your data will be more accurate, and your respondents
will exit your survey feeling great because they’ve shared honest and accurate
feedback. Triple win! So put your writing cap on and get to creating those
questions.
What’s More
Now that you have known about survey questionnaires and how to design it, you
may now do well in the following activities.
A. WRITING A SURVEY: Decide which criteria have been violated in the writing of
this survey question. Rewrite the question to make it a good survey item.
(IT Module: Unit 1 Lesson 11 Pathways to Prosperity Network 9 @
https://ptopnetwork.jff.org/sites/default/files/IT%20L11.pdf)
1) Why do you enjoy listening to music?
Criteria violated
Rewritten question
2) How satisfied are you hearing music you like but you do not know the title of?
Criteria violated
Rewritten question
3) Experts believe that all consumers should comparison shop. Do you agree?
Criteria violated
Rewritten question
24. 4) The government should force you to pay higher taxes.
Criteria violated
Rewritten question
5) The product is wonderful.
___ Strongly Agree___ Agree ___Disagree ___Strongly Disagree
Criteria violated
Rewritten question
B. Beside each question number, provide a positive comment and constructive
criticism. “Good job” or “bad question” is not constructive criticism. Use the
features of good survey questions to give feedback. An example of constructive
criticism is “remove the leading words from this question so it is more neutral.”
Question 1: Why do you enjoy listening to music?
Positive comment
Constructive criticism
Question 2: How satisfied are you hearing music you like but you do not know the
title of?
Positive comment
Constructive criticism
Question 3: Experts believe that all consumers should comparison shop. Do you
agree?
Positive comment
Constructive criticism
Question 4: The government should force you to pay higher taxes.
Positive comment
Constructive criticism
Question 5: The product is wonderful.
Positive comment
Constructive criticism
What I Have Learned
Now that you have done various activities to practice, let us see what you have
learned. Complete the statement below based on your learning from the previous
activities and discussion.
25. 1. A is a research instrument consisting of a series of
questions for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.
2. The two major types of questionnaires are:
and .
3. KISS means .
4. By avoiding , your survey should run like a well-oiled
machine, your data will be more accurate, and your respondents will exit
your survey feeling great because they have shared honest and accurate
feedback.
5. _______________________questions are questions written in a way that forces
the respondent into an answer that does not accurately reflect his or her
opinion or situation.
What I Can Do
Choose only one of the given situations below then create your own questionnaire.
(Minimum of 10 questions)
A. You are planning to do a survey of people who suffered a heart attack. You want
to find out the prevalence of anxiety and depression, and to identify the factors
associated with these. Participants will be given a questionnaire at routine
follow-up outpatient visits.
Key predictors include
• time since the attack
• further coronary admissions since the attack
• presence and severity of angina
• socioeconomic status
• marital status
• the person’s perception of their health status
The aim of the survey, then, is to measure depression and to record each of the risk
factors.
B. You want to make a survey of how teenagers cope with the new normal. You
want to find out the prevalence of anxiety and depression for being not able to
go out with friends, attend parties, do hiking, and the like, as they use to do
before the pandemic.
C. You want to make a survey on the preparedness of the learners on the new
education setting.
D. You are free to think of your own topic. Be sure to follow guidelines in
constructing your questions.
26. Assessment
Directions: Create a survey and obtain information on the traits of at least 40
individuals. The survey will be assessed using the rubric below. Please submit your
survey in the form it will be implemented (i.e., pencil-and-paper, web-based, etc.).
Category
Rating
Score
4 3 2 1
Survey
Participants
A range of
participants
surveyed.
(Age, gender,
race, etc.)
Only two
differences
among the
participants
Only one
difference
among the
participants
All
participants
are the same
age, gender,
and race.
Questions
(Spelling/
Grammar)
Questions
are crystal
clear
and a person
would not
have to ask
for
clarification.
All words
are spelled
correctly.
Grammar,
punctuation,
spacing and
word usage
are
appropriate
Questions
are very
clear and a
person
might have
to ask for
clarification.
Most words
are spelled
correctly.
Grammar,
punctuation,
spacing and
word usage
are mostly
appropriate.
Questions
are
somewhat
clear and a
person
would
have to ask
for
clarification.
Most words
are spelled
correctly.
Grammar,
punctuation,
spacing and
word usage
have some
errors.
Questions
are confusing
and
ambiguous.
Numerous
spelling
errors.
Grammar,
punctuation,
spacing
and word
usage have a
number of
errors.
Traits
Surveyed
Student
surveyed a
variety of
traits,
including
genetic
disorders or
anomalies.
Student
surveyed a
few traits,
including a
genetic
disorders or
anomalies.
Student
surveyed a
few traits,
but nothing
interesting.
Student
surveyed one
trait.
27. Discussion
Questions
Intellectual
questions
based of off
survey
results.
Interesting
but easy
questions
based off of
survey
results.
Difficult or
confusing
questions
or
questions
not related
to survey
results.
Random
questions not
related to
survey or
results.
Total Score
Additional Activities
Imagine that the manager of a designer clothing store believes that certain types of
people are more likely to visit their store and purchase their clothing than others.
To decipher which segment groups are most likely to be their customers, the
manager could design a survey for anyone who has been a visitor. This survey
could include closed-ended questions on gender, age, employment status, and any
other demographic information they’d like to know. Then, it would be followed by
questions on how often they visit the store and the amount of money they spend
annually. Since all the questions are closed-ended, the store manager could easily
quantify the responses and determine the profile of their typical customer. In this
case, the manager may learn that her most frequent customers are female
students, ages 18-25. This knowledge would allow her to move forward with an
action plan on how to cater to this niche better or break into other target
demographics. Make a sample questionnaire out of this situation. Use the rubrics
in What’s New to assess your questionnaire.
29. References
• https://canvas.hull.ac.uk/courses/367/pages/report-structure
• McLeod, S. A. (2018). Questionnaire: definition, examples, design and types.
Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/questionnaires.html
• https://www.statpac.com/surveys/
• https://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/Research_Methods_for_Business_Students/25
2/64739/16573194.cw/content/index.html
• https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/5-common-survey-mistakes-ruin-
your-data/
• https://surveytown.com/top-8-challenges-with-designing-accurate-surveys/
• https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/5-common-survey-mistakes-ruin-
your-data/
• https://ptopnetwork.jff.org/sites/default/files/IT%20L11.pdf
• https://www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?modulei
nstanceid=48026&dataid=131556&FileName=Survey%20Rubric.pdf
What’s
More:
1)
Why
do
you
enjoy
listening
to
music?
Criteria
violated:
This
question
assumes
that
all
people
enjoy
listening
to
music.
Rewritten
question:
Do
you
enjoy
listening
to
music?
With
a
follow-up
question
that
asks
why.
2)
How
satisfied
are
you
hearing
music
you
like
but
you
do
not
know
the
title
of?
Criteria
violated:
This
question
could
be
worded
a
lot
better
to
make
it
clearer.
It
is
also
not
grammatically
correct
–
it
ends
with
a
preposition,
of.
Rewritten
question:
How
satisfied
are
you
hearing
music
to
which
you
do
not
know
the
title?
3)
Experts
believe
that
all
consumers
should
comparison
shop.
Do
you
agree?
Criteria
violated:
The
inclusion
of
the
opinions
of
experts
makes
it
seem
that
one
is
dumb
if
he
or
she
disagrees.
Rewritten
question:
Consumers
should
comparison
shop.
4)
The
government
should
force
you
to
pay
higher
taxes.
Criteria
violated:
The
word
‘force’
is
leading
towards
a
certain
answer.
It
is
a
strong
word.
Rewritten
question:
Should
taxpayers
pay
higher
taxes?
5)
The
product
is
wonderful.
___
Strongly
Agree___
Agree
___Disagree
___Strongly
Disagree
Criteria
violated:
This
is
NOT
a
Likert
scale
question;
the
Likert
scale
requires
numbers.
Rewritten
question:
The
product
is
wonderful.
(Circle
the
number
that
represents
your
answer.)
Strongly
Disagree
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly
Agree
30.
31. For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:
Department of Education – Region III,
Schools Division of Bataan - Curriculum Implementation Division
Learning Resources Management and Development Section (LRMDS)
Provincial Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan
Telefax: (047) 237-2102
Email Address: bataan@deped.gov.ph