Questionnaire construction

Questionnaire construction regards questionnaires. It is a series of questions asked to individuals to obtain statistically useful information about a given topic.^[1] When properly constructed and responsibly administered, questionnaires become a vital instrument by which statements can be made about specific groups, or people, or entire populations.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are frequently used in quantitative marketing research and social research. They are a valuable method of collecting a wide range of information from a large number of individuals, often referred to as respondents, it can be students, workers or any person whom you require information from.

Adequate questionnaire construction is critical to the success of a survey. Inappropriate questions, incorrect ordering of questions, incorrect scaling, or bad questionnaire format can make the survey valueless, as it may not accurately reflect the views and opinions of the participants. A useful method for checking a questionnaire and making sure it is accurately capturing the intended information is to pretest among a smaller subset of target respondents.

Questionnaire construction issues

• Know how (and whether) you will use the results of your research before you start. If, for example, the results won't influence your decision or you can't afford to implement the findings or the cost of the research outweighs its usefulness, then save your time and money; don't bother doing the research.
• The research objectives and frame of reference should be defined beforehand, including the questionnaire's context of time, budget, manpower, intrusion and privacy.
• How (randomly or not) and from where (your sampling frame) you select the respondents will determine whether you will be able to generalize your findings to the larger population.
• The nature of the expected responses should be defined and retained for interpretation of the responses, be it preferences (of products or services), facts, beliefs, feelings, descriptions of past behavior, or standards of action.
• Unneeded questions are an expense to the researcher and an unwelcome imposition on the respondents. All questions should contribute to the objective(s) of the research.
• If you "research backwards" and determine what you want to say in the report (i.e., Package A is more/less preferred by X% of the sample vs. Package B, and y% compared to Package C) then even though you don't know the exact answers yet, you will be certain to ask all the questions you need - and only the ones you need - in such a way (metrics) to write your report.
• The topics should fit the respondents’ frame of reference. Their background may affect their interpretation of the questions. Respondents should have enough information or expertise to answer the questions truthfully.
• The type of scale, index, or typology to be used shall be determined.
• The level of measurement you use will determine what you can do with and conclude from the data. If the response option is yes/no then you will only know how many or what percent of your sample answered yes/no. You cannot, however, conclude what the average respondent answered.
• The types of questions (closed, multiple-choice, open) should fit the statistical data analysis techniques available and your goals.
• Questions and prepared responses to choose from should be neutral as to intended outcome. A biased question or questionnaire encourages respondents to answer one way rather than another.^[2] Even questions without bias may leave respondents with expectations.
• The order or "natural" grouping of questions is often relevant. Prior previous questions may bias later questions.
• The wording should be kept simple: no technical or specialized words.
• The meaning should be clear. Ambiguous words, equivocal sentence structures and negatives may cause misunderstanding, possibly invalidating questionnaire results. Double negatives should be reworded as positives.
• If a survey question actually contains more than one issue, the researcher will not know which one the respondent is answering. Care should be taken to ask one question at a time.
• The list of possible responses should be collectively exhaustive. Respondents should not find themselves with no category that fits their situation. One solution is to use a final category for "other ________".
• The possible responses should also be mutually exclusive. Categories should not overlap. Respondents should not find themselves in more than one category, for example in both the "married" category and the "single" category - there may be need for separate questions on marital status and living situation.
• Writing style should be conversational, yet concise and accurate and appropriate to the target audience.
• Many people will not answer personal or intimate questions. For this reason, questions about age, income, marital status, etc. are generally placed at the end of the survey. This way, even if the respondent refuses to answer these "personal" questions, he/she will have already answered the research questions.
• "Loaded" questions evoke emotional responses and may skew results.
• Presentation of the questions on the page (or computer screen) and use of white space, colors, pictures, charts, or other graphics may affect respondent's interest or distract from the questions.
• Numbering of questions may be helpful.
• Questionnaires can be administered by research staff, by volunteers or self-administered by the respondents. Clear, detailed instructions are needed in either case, matching the needs of each audience.

Methods of collection

Method	Benefits and cautions
Postal	Low cost-per-response. Mail is subject to postal delays, which can be substantial when posting remote areas or unpredictable events such as natural disasters. Survey participants can choose to remain anonymous. It is not labour-intensive.
Telephone	Questionnaires can be conducted swiftly. Rapport with respondents High response rate Be careful that your sampling frame (i.e., where you get the phone numbers from) doesn't skew your sample, For example, if you select the phone numbers from a phone book, you are necessarily excluding people who only have a mobile phone, those who requested an unpublished phone number, and individuals who have recently moved to the area because none of these people will be in the book. Are more prone to social desirability biases than other modes, so telephone interviews are generally not suitable for sensitive topics[3][4]
Electronic	This method has a low ongoing cost, and on most surveys costs nothing for the participants and little for the surveyors. However, Initial set-up costs can be high for a customised design due to the effort required in developing the back-end system or programming the questionnaire itself. Questionnaires can be conducted swiftly, without postal delays. Survey participants can choose to remain anonymous, though risk being tracked through cookies, unique links and other technology. It is not labour-intensive. Questions can be more detailed, as opposed to the limits of paper or telephones. {Respicius, Rwehumbiza (2010)} This method works well if the survey contains several branching questions. Help or instructions can be dynamically displayed with the question as needed, and automatic sequencing means the computer can determine the next question, rather than relying on respondents to correctly follow skip instructions. Not all of the sample may be able to access the electronic form, and therefore results may not be representative of the target population.
Personally administered	Questions can be more detailed and obtains a lot of comprehensive information, as opposed to the limits of paper or telephones. However, respondents are often limited to their working memory: specially designed visual cues (such as prompt cards) may help in some cases. Rapport with respondents is generally higher than other modes Typically higher response rate than other modes. Can be extremely expensive and time-consuming to train and maintain an interviewer panel. Each interview also has a marginal cost associated with collecting the data. Usually a convenience (vs. a statistical or representative) sample so one cannot generalize the results. However, use of rigorous selection methods (e.g. those used by national statistical organisations) can result in a much more representative sample.

Types of questions

1. Contingency question – A question that is answered only if the respondent gives a particular response to a previous question. This avoids asking questions of people that do not apply to them (for example, asking men if they have ever been pregnant).
2. Matrix questions - Identical response categories are assigned to multiple questions. The questions are placed one under the other, forming a matrix with response categories along the top and a list of questions down the side. This is an efficient use of page space and respondents’ time.
3. Closed ended questions - Respondents’ answers are limited to a fixed set of responses. Most scales are closed ended. Other types of closed ended questions include:
   • Yes/no questions - The respondent answers with a "yes" or a "no".
   • Multiple choice - The respondent has several option from which to choose.
   • Scaled questions - Responses are graded on a continuum (example : rate the appearance of the product on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most preferred appearance). Examples of types of scales include the Likert scale, semantic differential scale, and rank-order scale (See scale for a complete list of scaling techniques.).
4. Open ended questions - No options or predefined categories are suggested. The respondent supplies their own answer without being constrained by a fixed set of possible responses. Examples of types of open ended questions include:
   • Completely unstructured - For example, "What is your opinion on questionnaires?"
   • Word association - Words are presented and the respondent mentions the first word that comes to mind.
   • Sentence completion - Respondents complete an incomplete sentence. For example, "The most important consideration in my decision to buy a new house is . . ."
   • Story completion - Respondents complete an incomplete story.
   • Picture completion - Respondents fill in an empty conversation balloon.
   • Thematic apperception test - Respondents explain a picture or make up a story about what they think is happening in the picture

Question sequence

• Questions should flow logically from one to the next.
• The researcher must ensure that the answer to a question is not influenced by previous questions.
• Questions should flow from the more general to the more specific.
• Questions should flow from the least sensitive to the most sensitive.
• Questions should flow from factual and behavioral questions to attitudinal and opinion questions.
• Questions should flow from unaided to aided questions.
• According to the three stage theory (also called the sandwich theory), initial questions should be screening and rapport questions. Then in the second stage you ask all the product specific questions. In the last stage you ask demographic questions.

Marketings

• Computer-assisted telephone interviewing
• Computer-assisted personal interviewing
• Automated computer telephone interviewing
• Official statistics
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Questionnaires
• Questionnaire construction
• Paid survey
• Data Mining
• NIPO Software
• DIY research
• SPSS
• Marketing
• Marketing Research
• Scale
• Statistical survey
• Quantitative marketing research

References

1. Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, s.v. "questionnaire," http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/questionnaire (accessed May 21, 2008)
2. Timothy R. Graeff, 2005. "Response Bias," Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, pp. 411-418. ScienceDirect.
3. Frauke Kreuter, Stanley Presser, and Roger Tourangeau, 2008. "Social Desirability Bias in CATI, IVR, and Web Surveys: The Effects of Mode and Question Sensitivity", Public Opinion Quarterly, 72(5): 847-865 first published online January 26, 2009 doi:10.1093/poq/nfn063
4. Allyson L. Holbrook, Melanie C. Green And Jon A. Krosnick, 2003. "Telephone versus Face-to-Face Interviewing of National Probability Samples with Long Questionnaires: Comparisons of Respondent Satisficing and Social Desirability Response Bias". Public Opinion Quarterly,67(1): 79-125. doi:10.1086/346010.