What makes a good questionnaire

Stages of a questionnaire:

1. Define your research question2. Formulate your questions3. Formulate your responses4. Design the layout5. Test the questionnaire – Refine6. Design your coding scheme7. Upload online, or print8. Analyse data and report

Define your research question

O Important to define your research question, study population, and the objectives at the beginning

OWhat audience do you cater for?

O Previous studies have shown that people are more responsive to questionnaires that cover issues that are relevant to them

Formulate your questions

O Studies have shown that the wording of questions has an important influence on the responses that are given

O It is important to remember that the average reading age in the UK is around 12 years

O More difficult questions will either produce an inaccurate response or the respondent will give up and fail to complete the questionnaire

O Better response rate is achieved if general questions precede specific questions

Formulate your questions

O Use simple languageO Avoid jargonO Keep questions short and specificO Avoid ambiguitiesO Avoid double-barrelled questions (“and”, “or”)O Avoid double negativesO Do not overload the respondent's memoryO Avoid hypothetical questionsO Do not make assumptions

Formulate your responsesO Questions can be divided into open-ended questions, or

closed questionsO Open-ended questions are useful for identifying a range of

possible responses where no previous data exist. Open-ended questions also give the people an opportunity to state their own views about a topic

O The main disadvantage of open-ended questions: they take longer to complete – may be left unanswered. It is also more difficult to code the responses than closed questions

O Closed questions are quicker to complete and easier to code.

Responses can be presented as simple yes/no choices

Design the layout

O Important to capture people’s attention and make them interested in completing the questionnaire

O Good idea to use at least a size 14 font size for the questions and to avoid too many questions onto a page

O If many questions, divide questionnaire into sections O Separate each question from the next with a line will

also help to make the questionnaire easier to readO Important that you give clear instructions at the

beginning and throughout the questionnaire

Test the questionnaire

O First, identify the range of possible responses for each question

O Do they examine the full scope of your research question?

O Ask a friend or colleague to help you O Go through the questions together to identify potential

problemsO After each session, amend the questionnaire before re-

testing

Design Coding Scheme

O Coding is the process of converting questionnaire data into meaningful categories to facilitate analysis

O For example: numbering the response tick boxes for each question

O Test your coding scheme and data entry process during the testing phase

Upload online or print

O Make sure that database is setup correctly

O All links are working

O Test on different Operating Systems and browsers

O Print on high quality paper

O Use bright colours for front and back of questionnaire but questions should be on white background

Analyse data and report

O When reporting, explain the purpose or aim of the research

O Describe in detail how the research was doneO Describe and justify the methods and tests used for data

analysisO Present the results of the researchO Interpret and discuss the findingsO Present conclusions and recommendations

Increasing response rate

O Design a questionnaire that is easy to navigateO Clear questions and structure the questionnaire in

sectionsO Do not ask too many questions – attention is limitedO If you have to ask many questions, state the number of

questions beforehandO Stress anonymity of the questionnaireO Make the e-mail request personal. Genuine request –

do not spam!O Send reminders to people who have not respondedO Add additional info (pages left, percentage completed)

Conclusion

O Define a research questionO Meet research objectivesO Make it clear for respondent (instructions)O Use simple language – avoid grammar errorsO Do not overload the respondent’s memoryO Organise the questionnaireO Test the questionnaireO Do not make assumptions