Questionnaire Design

Facilitated by Elizabeth Wiredu/Albert Awopone

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Course Aim

The aim of this course is to facilitate

the design of valid questionnaire to
support good data collection and the
subsequent analysis.

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 Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
Identify the principles that will guide the design of a
good questionnaire.
Learn how to put a good design together.
Examine how response types determine the choice of
summaries and statistics you could generate on your
data.
Critique a poorly designed questionnaire.
Create a sample good questionnaire from scratch.
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 Questionnaire
What is questionnaire?

When to use questionnaire?

Is validated questionnaire the solution?

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 The Framework
Pose the research question.
Develop and write the questionnaire,
and do validity checks.
Summarise and analyse data.
Interpret and report findings.
 Stage 1- Pose the Research Question
Funnel the research question down into specific key
questions or objectives which will then be grouped as
themes.
Write down the hypotheses and the conclusions you
want to arrive at.
Establish the relationships, comparisons, trends,
patterns or summaries you wish to make.

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 Stage 2- Develop and Write the
Questions
Formulate each key question into a theme and
choose which variables you must collect data on.

Decide how each variable is to be measured i.e.

how to frame the question (open/closed) and its
response set.

Get help from your literature reviews.

Stage 2- Questions Designs
Factual Information
Simple dichotomy
Simple numeric
Simple choice
Opinion and Attitude Information
Likert categorical choice
Anchor scale
Rank order
Mixed Designs
Multiple choice
Matrix design
 Examples of Closed Questions Design
Dichotomous Simple Choice

Questions??? Questions???
Response: Response:
Exceeded expectations
Yes No
Met expectations
Male Female Fell short of expectations

Likert Scale Anchor Scale

Questions??? Questions???
Response: 1-directional design:
Very satisfied On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is virtually
Somewhat satisfied no pain and 10 is excruciating pain.
Undecided
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied 2-directional design:
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is highly
unsatisfied and 5, highly satisfied.

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 Examples of Closed Questions Design
Multiple Choice Matrices

Which of the following Please rate your purchase decision

products do you own? (select based on the following characteristics
all that applies)
V. Important Will Consider Not Important
Pen drive Reliability
Price
Computer
Features
Printer
The look
Fax machine Functionality
Scanner
Digital camera

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 Opened Question Design Example

Open ended question???

Do you think smoking and wound-healing are
linked, and if so, how? Please write your response in
the box below.

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 Stage 2- Questions Designs
Wording
Phrase your questions in positive tone

Logical Arrangement, Appearance, and Layout

Ambiguity and Imprecision

Acronyms, Jargons, Technical Language

Assumption

Memory and Knowledge

Double Questions or complex and heavy loaded questions

Leading Questions

Wording Answers before the Questions

Subjective Questions

Vague Questions
 Reliability and Validity
Reliability. A questionnaire is considered to be reliable if
the results of a study can be reproduced at different
times using the same questionnaire under a similar
methodology.
Use test-retest method to check reliability
Validity refers to whether the questions (questionnaire)
are measuring what they are supposed to measure.
Validity checking: use pre-test

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 Stage 2- Sampling
How much sample do you need?.
Decide on the appropriate Sampling Method(s)
Simple Random
Stratified Random
Systematic Sampling
Cluster Sampling
Quota Sampling.

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 Pay attention to the following during the
planning stage
Have you budgeted for non-response by
sending (10-40%) more to protect your
specified sample size for your power
calculation?
Have you carefully considered the ethics of the
research, e.g. questions you should not ask? The
protection of the respondents data?
Have you cleared access to your respondents?
Are you going to use software to summarise and
analyse the responses? If so, do you know how to use
the software or have you got access to support? 15
 Pay attention to the following
design issues:
Themes and their logical arrangement
Place a text box under each theme to ask for an

overall opinion about the theme

Avoid Any comment/suggestion question at the very

end. It does not work!

Clear instructions to reduce response error

Navigation adopt question numbering and goto

jumps, etc.
Appearance, layout and sequence

Logical, inclusive/complete response sets

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Piloting the Questionnaire
Proofreading and Editing
Pre-test piloting

Feedback prompts

Do you believe other people may have difficulty in answering this

questionnaire? If so, which question in particular may pose a problem?
Given the purpose of my study outlined in the introduction section, would you
suggest a question, may perhaps be added or removed to enhance the study?
How long did it take you to complete the questionnaire?
Did you read the instructions?
Were the instructions clear and neatly emphasised?
Did you object to answering any of the questions?
Was the layout of the questionnaire clear, logical and attractive?
Is there any question that the wording could be enhanced or clarify?
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 Stage 3- Summarising and Analysing the data
Summarise and organise the data
Look for common and unusual patterns, trends,
differences, features in the data
Relate the data to the research question
Undertake appropriate statistical analyses of the data
Clearly communicate the relevant findings
Access the limitations of the study

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Stage 4- Interpretation and Reporting of Findings

Relate the findings to the research

question
Draw appropriate conclusions

Compare and contrast findings with

those of other relevant research

Suggest future research question leading

on from here.
 Introduction to the Questionnaire
A short introduction explaining:

The purpose of your research.

How this study will benefit the respondent directly or indirectly.
State official backing or sponsorship if any.
A note of appreciation to the respondent for their contribution
to your study.
Confidentiality if applicable and Data protection statement.
Contacting information if respondent wish to make a contact.
The introduction letter MUST be part of the questionnaire and
also the separate covering letter.
 Concluding Note
A short concluding note containing:
A note of appreciation to the respondent
for their contribution to your study
Returns address
Returns deadline

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 Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Can I use tick boxes for all the questions?
Answer: It depends on your intended statistical analysis. E.g. if you
intend to do a comparative testing (Ttest/ANOVA) you will need the
dependent variable to be a continuous data (scale or ordinal
measure) and the factor variable, categorical data (choice response).
Question: After the data is collected, can it be manipulated to allow
certain statistics?
Answer: It is possible to regroup continuous variables into
categorical, or even reduce categories of a categorical variable to
take advantage of certain statistics. However, it is not possible to
convert categorical variable to continuous variable.

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 What Next? - Practical Session
Evaluate a sample questionnaire
Group Feedback and Discussion of the
sample questionnaire
Create a questionnaire from scratch
Examine the design of your questions and the
summaries or statistical analysis opportunities
available.

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 How can I help you?
We provide:
Questionnaire design feedback.
A guide to summary statistics and
inferential statistical analysis.
Assistance with reporting the
statistics for publication.

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