How to Design a

Questionnaire /
Survey

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 Questionnaires

Standardized/structured instrument
Unstructured instrument
Focus on closed ended/open-ended
questions

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 Types of surveys
Mail:
cheapest, wide coverage,
standardized, low response rate,
Telephone:
medium cost, wide coverage,
medium response rate,
standardization depends on
interviewer
Face to face:
most expensive, coverage depends
on personal contact, highest response 3
 Designing a
questionnaire

Is a questionnaire appropriate?
Identify the resources that are
available
Decide what information you need
Select items for inclusion
Design the individual questions
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Design the Individual Questions

Number of question should be as few

as possible
Questions should be logically arranged
Questions should be short and simple
Sensitive question should be avoided
Question that requires calculation
should be avoided
Instruction to the informant

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 Design the Individual Questions
Contd
Use of correct spelling, punctuation and
grammar style .
Use of specific questions. For example,
"did you read a newspaper yesterday?",
instead of "did you read a newspaper?".
Avoiding the use of technical terms and
jargon. An exception to this rule are
questions that are made for a specific
group of respondents, who regularly use
jargon, e.g., doctors, lawyers and
researchers.

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Design the Individual Questions
Contd
Avoiding negative phrasing, e.g.,
"should the school not be
improved?". This can lead to
confusion and cost more effort to
answer the question correctly.

Avoiding words and expressions

with multiple-meanings.

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 Types of questions
Open-ended questions
What? Why? How?
No predetermined responses given
Able to answer in own words
Useful for exploratory research and to
generate ideas
Flexible
Requires skill in asking questions and
interpreting results
Answers can lack uniformity and be
difcult to analyze 8
 Open-ended questions-

Example

What do you think about the quality of the products

sold in the International Trade Fair?
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________

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 Types of questions
Close-ended questions

Designed to obtain predetermined

responses
(Yes/No; True/False; strongly agree-
strongly, disagree, etc..)
Easy to count and analyze
Easy to interpret
May not have catered for all possible
answers
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Closed-ended questions-

Example
The quality of the products sold in
International trade fair is quite good:
Strongly Agree
agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree

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 Filter questions

Filter questions useful to ensure

respondents only answer relevant
parts of questions
Unfiltered:
If you use a medical software
program,
which one do you use?

Filtered:
Do you use a medical software
program? No - jump to next question
Yes - which one? 12
 Getting the question right

Example of a Bad Question with Inconsistent Answer Choices

How many hours a day do you spend doing

homework?

()0 to 1 hour
()120 to 180 minutes
()4 to 5 hours
()more than 5 hours

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 Getting the question right
Ask only one question at a time (the double barreled
question)

This is a very common mistake in survey questionnaires and

one that will severely impact the results of your data. When
you are writing a question, you must make sure that you are
only asking one question at a time.

Here is an example of a double-barreled question:

Bad Question: Double- Good Question
barreled Question
How have teachers and students How have teachers at your school reacted
at your school responded to the new 45-minute lunch period?
to the new 45-minute lunch ()Satisfied
period? ()Unsatisfied
()Satisfied How have students at your school reacted
()Unsatisfied to the new 45-minute lunch period?
()Satisfied
()Unsatisfied

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 Getting the question right
Make sure the questions are unbiased
( Not leading question)
When developing survey
questionnaire, surveyor has to make
certain that s/he is asking the
questions in a neutral way, i.e. that
s/he is not leading respondents
toward a particular answer. This may
seem simple, but when questions
are written one will often find that
the way one phrases the question
may reflect ones underlying
opinion. 15
 Getting the question right
Example of a Leading
Question
Bad Question: Leading Good Question: Neutral

Do you think that the new How do you feel about the
cafeteria lunch menu new cafeteria lunch menu
offers a better variety of compared to the old one?
healthy foods than the old
one? ()The new menu offers a
better variety of healthy foods
()Yes ()The old menu offers a
()No better variety of healthy foods
()No Opinion ()The selections are similar
()No opinion
 Getting the question right
Asking questions that can be answered by
Respondents

Make sure that the questions you are asking are

questions that people will be able to answer. The most
common mistake is to ask questions that most people
simply cannot remember. Here is an example:

How much did you spend on entertainment last month?

()$0 - $10
()$11 - $20
()$21 - $30
()over $30

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 Getting the question right
Asking questions that can be answered
by Respondents
While this question appears to be perfectly
acceptable, it is unlikely that many people will really
remember how much they spent on entertainment.
Most responses will probably be guesses rather than
actual numbers, and many respondents may become
frustrated trying to calculate in their heads how much
they spent. If a guess is all that surveyor is looking for,
then simply rephrasing the question to the following
will make it much easier for the respondent.
How much do you estimate you spent on
entertainment
in the last year?
()$0 - $10
()$11 - $20
()$21 - $30 18
 Layout of
Questionnaire
Just as important as wording
Aim for a professional look

Tips:
Cover letter/introductory page giving study
title, organization, aims of the survey
Enough space for open-ended questions
Font large enough to read without strain
Consistent and clear instructions
Dont split questions or answers across pages
Enough white space

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 Pre-testing a questionnaire

Pre-testing
Discuss it with colleagues
Pilot it with the target group

Evaluate and modify on basis of

pilot
Conduct survey, including
protocol for maximizing
response rates
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