Good questionnaire design is crucial to the success of your survey project. It not only affects the validity and reliability of your results, but affects your response rate as well.
Here are the nine tips for good question design:
1. Keep the language pitched to the level of the respondent.
Interviews given only to specialized respondent can use the terminology with which they are familiar, but interviews given to the general public must use everyday language.
2. Try to pick words that have the same meaning for everyone.
For instance, a questionnaire involving American and British respondents might ask. “How often do you have tea?” Americans would probably think of tea as a drink. The British would likely think of a tea in this question as referring to a light afternoon meal.
3. Avoid long questions
When questions are too long they often become ambiguous and confusing.
4. Do not assume a priori that your respondent possesses factual information or firsthand opinion.
A mother may be able to report what books her child reads, but the child must be questioned to find out how he or she feels about reading those books.
5. Establish the frame of reference you have in mind.
Don’t ask: How many magazines do you read?
Ask: Which magazines do you read?
6. In forming a question, either suggest all possible alternatives to the respondent or don’t suggest any.
Don’t ask: Do you think the husband should help with dressing and feeding children when he’s home?
Ask: Who should dress and feed the children when the husband is home?
7. Protect your respondent’s ego
Don’t ask: Do you know the name of the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
Ask: Do you happen to know the name of the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
8. Questions should be limited to a simple idea or a single reference.
9. Questions need to have a certain pattern of order, preferably grouped by topic.
Those were some tips for making a good questionnaire design. You can also use Surveyo's survey software that comes with some professional preloaded questionnaire designs and templates.
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