Chapter Fourteen Questionnaire Development

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Chapter FourteenQuestionnaire Development

• Angela Gillis Winston Jackson
• Nursing Research Methods and interpretation

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Questionnaire Design

• General Guidelines
• Types of Questions Illustrated
• Steps and Rules for Questionnaire Design
• Rules for Ordering, Formatting, Presenting

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General Guidelines

• Consult respondent
• Keep it short
• Precise measurement

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Types of Questions Illustrated

• Precoded, single choice questions
• 4. What year of schoolare you in?
  Freshman------------ -- 1?
  Sophomore---------- - - - 2?
  Junior-----------------3?
  Senior------------- - - -4?

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Single Choice Question
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Open-ended Questions
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Open-ended Questions
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Use open-ended when...

• Too many response categories (yr. of birth)
• you dont wish to impose categories on respondent
• really consulting respondent
• qualitative--source of quotations
• determining appropriate categorization
• change-in-pace for respondent

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Presence-absence questions
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Rank Ordering Questions
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Likert Style Questions
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Tips for Likert Style Questions

• and alert avoid multidimentional
• strongly agree always on right side
• avoid double negatives--use direct negative
  statements
• vary strength of wording to produce variation
  in response
• make all respondents feel comfortable

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Steps in Questionnaire Design

• List variables
• Anticipate how analysis will be done
• write wordings on index cards (one per Q)
• review conceptual definitions
• develop wordings

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Developing wordings

• Simple wordings, common understanding
• watch for and alert
• vary wording to produce variation in replies
• avoid difficult tasks--KISS
• use existing wording if comparative study
• take edge off sensitive questions
• no speculation on hypothesis

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Develop Wordings (2)

• Be precise--but not overly
• Pre-test questionnaire
• Pilot study

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Ordering the Questions

• Introduce--use blurb to introduce survey and to
  assure confidentiality and anonymity
• ease them into it
• key and repeated questions at 1/3 point
• group questions by type--dont jerk around

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Formatting the Questions

• begin conditioning respondents
• anticipate computer data entry
• vary placement of response categories
• clearly indicate branching
• dont squeeze
• distinctive look

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Question Styles
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Question Styles (2)
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Branching Questions
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Sample Questionnaires

• There are 150 (or so) questionnaires on the
  Website for the text. These include those used in
  surveys developed with students for Sociology
  Nursing 300 projects. You can look them up by
  topic or by author.
• See www.stfx.ca/people/agillis
• Click on FA Davis Book