Questionnaire Design & Development

ground rules to keep in mind before start writing the questionnaire

Each question should relate directly to your survey questionnaire objectives. Every respondent should be able to answer every question (unless instructed otherwise). Each question should be phrased so that all respondents interpret it the same way. Each question should provide answers to what you need to know, not what would be nice to know.

Four main parts of a survey questionnaire

Though each of these parts is different from each other, it is important to understand that all of them are necessary for drafting a good survey questionnaire.
Invitation Introduction Question Type Close / End

Invitation
Invitation involves identifying how you are going to invite your respondents to answer the survey questionnaire. By identifying at least one tangible or intangible benefit to respondents for answering the survey questionnaire will help you compose an invitation that encourages respondents to click through. A tangible benefit could be in the form of money or a gift; whereas an intangible benefit is a chance to voice opinions or contribute to research they view as valuable. Main parts of an invitation: Why the respondents have been selected to respond How long will the survey questionnaire take What benefit will they get for responding How their responses will be used / confidentiality

Introduction
The beginning of the survey questionnaire should include an introduction that clearly states the purpose of the survey. Because web survey questionnaires are self-selecting (i.e., you have no control over who chooses to participate), it is important that your introduction grabs the attention of potential respondents and encourages their participation. It is easy for online survey questionnaire participants to abandon the process, so you must communicate upfront why they should help you with your questions. Failure to do so will decrease the number of participants. The introduction should also include any instructions about completing the survey questionnaire, and an estimate of how much time it will take.

Question types
Based on your feedback objective you have to decide what types of questions will give you the information you need. Structured - Close-ended questions Semi-structured - Open-ended questions

Close / End
To thank their respondents for their time and effort.

Structured Questions CLOSE ENDED

How satisfied or unsatisfied are you with the graduates of the government universities?
Very Unsatisfied <---- > Very Satisfied

How helpful or unhelpful have the sales representatives in providing information about the new product?
Very Unhelpful <------- > Very helpful

How useful, if at all, has the instruction manual provided to you in learning on how to operate the washing machine properly?
Of little usefulness <------- > Very Useful

Structured vs Semi-structured Which to Choose?

Structured, Close ended questions are easier for participants to complete and easier for researchers to analyze. Semi-structured, open-ended questions are harder for participants to complete because it takes much more time to write-in the answers.
If you have a lot of open-ended questions, better to interview in person than ask them to complete a selfadministered survey / questionnaire.

Writing Closed-Ended Survey Questions

Check a Box - Single question with a response set: How frequently, if at all, have you visited the ABC Super Market for the last 3 months?
Did not visit (0 times) 1-3 times 4-6 times 7-9 times 10 or more times

Including all sources of income, what was your gross household income last year?
Less than $25,000 $25,001 to $50,000 $50,0001 to $75,000 $75,001 to $100,000 Greater than $100,000

Using Intensity Scales

Multiple-choice answers to survey questions are sometimes called response sets Intensity scales are better than simple agree or disagree responses, better than simple yes or no responses -Helps to to gage the intensity of feeling: Distinguish between strong feelings from the mediocre/whatever feeling

One-Way Scale: tries to capture a single dimension that goes from low to high with a meaningful middle category
Always or Almost Always Mostly About Half of the Time Occasionally Never or Almost Never

One-Way Intensity Scale

Intensity Scales with a Neutral Middle

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree or Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

Very Effective Generally Effective

Neither Effective Or Ineffective

Generally Ineffective Very Ineffective

Intensity Scales
Definitely Yes Probably Yes Neither Yes or No Probably No Definitely No

Very Often Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Skip Questions
Did you use the library during last month? __Yes ___ No If yes, please answer questions 10-13. If no, please skip to question 14.

Errors in questionnaires
Sometimes survey questionnaires fail to achieve their objectives due to presence of errors. Occurs when questions are poorly worded, or presented leading to inaccurate or un-interpretable answers. For example: A survey questionnaire of small business owners asked, "How has business activity changed during the past year?" The response options were: Increased a lot Increased somewhat Increased a little Decreased

A better way to word this would be: During the past year, my company's sales revenue has Increased significantly Increased slightly Decreased slightly Decreased significantly
We can see in the second example that the question is very specific. Secondly, the scale in the second question is evenly distributed versus the first one, which is biased towards the positive end of the scale.