This document discusses best practices for designing effective questionnaires. It recommends determining the necessary information, question types, question wording, order, and format. A key part of the process is pretesting the questionnaire to identify and address any issues before full implementation. The goal is to obtain clear, unbiased responses by addressing respondents' abilities and motivations through question structure, wording and layout.

1. Questionnaire Design

2. “It is not every question that
deserves an answer.”
Publius Syrus
(Roman, 1st century B.C.)

3. Major Decisions in Questionnaire
Design
What should be asked?
How should each question be phrased?
In what sequence should the questions be
arranged?
What questionnaire layout will best serve
the research objectives?
How should the questionnaire be pretested?
Does the questionnaire need to be revised?

4. Phrasing Questions
• Open-ended questions
• Fixed-alternative questions

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 on the Question Structure
Determine the Question Wording
Arrange the Questions in Proper Order

6. Questionnaire Design Process
(continued)
Identify the Form and Layout
Reproduce the Questionnaire
Eliminate Bugs by Pretesting

7. Types of Questions
Questions
Unstructured Structured
Multiple
Dichotomous Scales
Choice

8. The Funnel Approach to Ordering Questions
Broad or General Questions
Narrow or Specific Questions

9. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 1: Information Needed
Ensure info obtained fully addresses all
components of the problem
Must have clear idea of the target
population
Step 2: Interviewing Method
Ensure that the proper interviewing method
is being used given the study objectives

10. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 3: Individual Questions
Is each question necessary?
Is each question unambiguous?
Are the proper number of questions
needed to measure a particular
construct being asked?

11. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 4: Inability/Unwillingness to
Answer
Is the respondent informed?
Can the respondent remember?
Can the respondent articulate?
Is the information sensitive?
Make the information request legitimate.
Minimize effort required of respondent.

12. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 5: Question Structure
Use structured questions whenever possible.
Response alternatives should include all
possible answers.
Response alternatives should be mutually
exclusive.
If, on a particular question, a large % of
respondents may be expected to be neutral,
include a neutral alternative.

13. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 6: Question Wording
Use ordinary words.
Avoid ambiguous words (usually, probably,
normally, etc.)
Do not use leading questions.
Avoid implicit assumptions.
Use positive and negative statements as much
as possible.

14. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 7: Question Order
Qualifying questions first.
General questions before specific questions.
Use logical order.
Demographics?
• Beginning of questionnaire
• End of questionnaire

15. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 8: Form & Layout
Divide questionnaire into multiple parts
Number each question?
Precode the questions
Keep scale questions in same general vicinity
Avoid temptation to “fill the blank spaces”

16. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 9: Questionnaire Reproduction
Professional appearance
Booklet format for long questionnaires
Place directions as close to the questions as
possible
Expect reproduction errors

17. Questionnaire Design Check List
Step 10: Pretesting
Always try to pretest first
Test everything
Pretest sample should be extremely similar to
test sample
Pretest using same methodology as the main
test
If make changes to questionnaire, or
methodology, pretest again before main test.