This document provides guidance on designing questionnaires. It discusses the different types of questions, including open-ended questions that allow free responses and closed questions that provide response options. It outlines best practices for formulating clear, unbiased questions and sequencing questions logically. The document also covers formatting questionnaires, translating them if needed, and testing the design through a review process. The overall goal is to create a questionnaire that efficiently collects accurate data to meet study objectives.

1. Questionnaire
Aman Ullah

2. ALERT: The materials included in this
presentation was actually taught by
Dr. Tasleem Akhtar
in the contact session of Master in
Health Research at Khyber medical
university, Peshawar, Pakistan

3. Questionnaires
• A data collection tool

4. Questionnaires
• TYPES OF QUESTIONS
1. Open-ended questions
2. Closed questions.

5. Open-Ended Questions permit free
responses which should be recorded in
the respondents’ own words.
Such questions are useful for obtaining
in-depth information on:
•Facts with which the researcher is not
very familiar
•Opinions, attitudes and suggestions of
informants
•Sensitive issues.

6. Partially categorised questions
In interviews questions are often asked as
open-ended questions, but to facilitate
recording and analysis, some answers
can be pre-categorised.

7. For example:
‘How did you become a member of the
Village Health Committee?’
•Volunteered
•Elected at a community meeting
•Nominated by community leaders
•Nominated by health staff
•Other (specify)

8. Closed Questions have a list of possible
options or answers from which the
respondents must choose.
Closed questions are most commonly
used for background variables such as
age, marital status or education,
Closed questions may also be used to get
the respondents to express their opinions
or attitudes by choosing rating points on a
scale.

9. For example:
What is your opinion on the following
statement:
‘Children with learning disorders should
be educated in special schools?’
•Strongly agree
•Agree
•No opinion
•Disagree
•Strongly disagree

10. Steps in Designing a Questionnaire/
Interview Guide
Step 1: Content
Take your objectives and variables as a
starting point.
Decide what questions will be needed to
measure or (in the case of qualitative
studies) to define your variables and reach
your objectives.

11. Step 2: Formulating questions
•Formulate one or more questions that will
provide the information needed for each
variable.
•Take care that questions are specific and
precise enough so that different
respondents don’t interpret them
differently.

12. •Check whether each question measures one
thing at a time.
For example: the question, ‘Do you think that the
war situation leads to mental problems that
require treatment by health staff?’ brings three
topics, which should be split up in
mental problems resulting from the war,
treatment required, and who should provide the
treatment.

13. Double Barrel Question

14. •Avoid leading questions.
A question is leading if it suggests a certain
answer.
For example: the question, ‘Do you think that
people have to give bribes at hospital X to be
seen by a doctor?’ hardly leaves room for ‘no’ or
for other options.
A better question would be: ‘Do all patients have
equal access to a doctor in hospital X?

15. Sometimes, a question is leading because it
presupposes a certain condition. For example:
‘What action did you take the last time your
child had diarrhoea?’ presupposes the child has
had diarrhoea.
A better set of questions would be: ‘Has your
child ever had diarrhoea?’ (If yes:) ‘When was
the last time?’ ‘Did you do anything to treat it?’
(If yes:) ‘What?’

16. •Avoid words with double or vaguely defined
meanings or that are emotionally laden. Concepts
such as dirty (clinics), lazy (patients), or unhealthy
(food), for example, should be omitted.
•Ask sensitive questions in a socially acceptable
way:

17. Step 3: Sequencing the questions
•Design your interview schedule or
questionnaire to be ‘informant friendly’.
The sequence of questions must be logical for the
informant and allow, as much as possible, for a
‘natural’ conversation, even in more structured
interviews
Use simple, everyday language.

18. Step 4: Formatting the questionnaire
Attach a separate, introductory page explaining
the purpose of the study,
requesting the informant’s consent to be
interviewed and
assuring confidentiality of the data obtained.

19. Each questionnaire has a heading and space to
insert the number, date and location of the
interview,
Layout is such that questions belonging together
appear together visually. If the questionnaire is
long, you may use subheadings for groups of
questions.
Sufficient space is provided for answers to open-
ended questions, categories such as ‘other’ and
for comments on pre-categorised questions.

20. •Boxes for pre-categorised answers are placed
in a consistent manner (e.g., on the right half of
the page).
Your questionnaire should not only be
Informant - but also Researcher Friendly!

21. Step 5: Translation
If interviews will be conducted in one or more
local languages, the questionnaire should be
translated in order to standardise the way
questions will be asked.
After having it translated you should have it
retranslated into the original language by a
different person.

22. When developing the questionnaire, you
should reconsider the variables you have
chosen and, if necessary, add, drop or
change some.
You may even change some of your
objectives at this stage.

23. Questions/Suggestions
khurramthalwi@hotmail.com