Questionnaire+Design

 How wording affects answers Why Avoid These Words?  • These words: all, any, anybody, best, ever, every, never, etc. are all EXTREME ABSOLUTES… • They place respondents in a situation where they must either fully agree or they must completely disagree with the extreme position in the question.  • //Do you always observe traffic signs?// • //Would you say all drugs are bad?// Four “Do’s” of Questionnaire Wording  1. The question should be focused on a single issue or topic. “What type of hotel do you stay in on a trip?”  • Pleasure or business trip? En route or final destination?  2. The question should be brief. “Considering all of the possible options for reproducing photocopies of your important documents, have you ever considered owning a professional Xerox copier in your own home?” ● The 4 Do’s of Questionnaire Wording  3. The question should be grammatically simple, if possible.  • First of all to what companies does that scheme apply? <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.56in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.56in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> 4. The question should be crystal clear. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.56in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • Do you drink tea or coffee? Yes___ No___ <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 46pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">• <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 46pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.67in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> 1. The question should not “lead” the respondent to a particular answer. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.1in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • “Don’t you see any problem with using credit cards for online purchases?” <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.67in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> 2. The question should not have “loaded” wording or phrasing. Use universal beliefs <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.1in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • Since our Founding Fathers gave us the right to bear arms, shouldn’t we strike down gun control laws? <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 30pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.67in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed;">• <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 46pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.67in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;"> 3. The question should not be “double-barreled.” <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 24pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.67in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.67in; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you think there is an honest market for the product, and do you think the product will sell powerfully? <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 46pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.58in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.58in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> 4. The question should not use words that overstate the condition…do not use “dramatics.” <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.02in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.58in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • “Would you buy sunglasses that protect your eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays that cause blindness?”  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 80%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.58in; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.58in; unicode-bidi: embed;">• <span style="direction: ltr; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #675e47; font-family: cambria; font-size: 46pt; language: en-us; letter-spacing: -1pt;">What is wrong with each question? <span style="color: #675e47; font-family: cambria; font-size: 32pt; language: en-us; letter-spacing: -1pt;">Individual Question Wording <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; line-height: 90%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • “//Do’s//” for all questions <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; line-height: 90%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.7in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • Keep it __ //focused on a single topic// __ •• Keep it __ //brief// __ •• Keep it __ //grammatically simple// __ ••• Keep it __ //crystal clear// __ <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 28pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Individual Question Wording <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: cambria; font-size: 30pt; language: en-us; letter-spacing: -1pt; textshadow: auto;">“//Do not’s//” for all questions <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; language: en-us; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.7in; margin-top: 0pt; punctuationwrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • Don’t ask __ //leading questions// __ •• Don’t ask __ //loaded questions// __ •• Don’t ask __ //double-barreled questions// __ •• Don’t use __ //overstated questions// __ <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 46pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Screening Questions <span style="color: black; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 46pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; line-height: 80%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">Example: If you were conducting research on factors consumers use in selecting a new car, wouldn’t you only want to talk to persons who have recently selected a new car? If you were doing a study to determine the potential for an exercise class targeting college students, wouldn’t you only want to talk to college students? Screening or qualifying questions are asked to ensure you are talking to your target population. <span style="color: #675e47; direction: ltr; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 46pt; letter-spacing: -1pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Question Flow · **Open-Ended Response Questions**

o Advantages There are many advantages when dicussing open-ended response questions. One advantage is that it works well when you are exploring new ideas and don't really know what to expect from the respondents. Another is that this form allows you to get more insight into the respondents thoughts and ideas about a topic. [] Gabe Ismert o Drawbacks The main disadvantage of using open-ended resopnse questions is that they are very difficult to code. Therefore the results have to be interpreted by the researcher before they can be analyzed, which presents opportunity for biases to emerge. This whole process is also very time consuming, which is a drawback as well. [] -Maddie Baltz

o Types

· **Closed-Ended Response Questions**

o Advantages There are many advantages dealing with closed-ended questions. They are easily analyzed, the researchers can be more specific with their questions, and it is less expensive because you are receiving the responses faster. Closed- ended questions are better for computer analysis and the response rate has been proved to be higher with surveys that have closed-ended questions within them than surveys that only use open-ended questions. http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/com4a2a1.cfm Maggie Buchmiller

o Drawbacks There are also disadvantages when dealing with closed-ended questions. "A limitation of closed-ended questions is the assumption that the researcher knows enough about the phenomenon being studied and about the respondents' perceptions to be able to build an appropriate and sensitive set of categories."It can be hard to develop questions and response categories. Also one of the biggest drawbacks is there is less depth and substance. Finally it may force invalid responses. http://www.blurtit.com/q228078.html JoEllen Keyser

· **Categorical Response Questions**

o Types

o Advantages

o Drawbacks

· **Metric Response Questions**

o Types

o Advantages

o Drawbacks

** · Operational Definition**

** · Scale Development**

o Why it’s important

o Reliability

o Validity

o Balanced vs. Unbalanced

· **How to choose which type of scale**

** · How wording affects answers** Sometimes survey questionnaires fail to achieve their objectives due to presence of errors. Random error is the most common cause for diminished survey questionnaire reliability, and occurs when questions are poorly worded, or presented leading to inaccurate or uninterpretable answers. For example: A survey questionnaire of small business owners asked, "How has business activity changed during the past year?" The response options were: A better way to word this would be: During the past year, my company's sales revenue has We can see in the second example that the question is very specific. The respondents are asked to evaluate their company's sales revenue rather than rate business activity, which could refer to sales revenue, profit, number of employees, etc. Secondly, the scale in the second question is evenly distributed versus the first one, which is biased towards the positive end of the scale. [] Brett McConniff
 * Increased a lot
 * Increased somewhat
 * Increased a little
 * Decreased
 * Increased significantly
 * Increased slightly
 * Decreased slightly
 * Decreased significantly

** · Words to avoid**

-all

-always

-any

-anybody

-best

-ever

-every

-most

-never

-worst Wording can affect answers. When any of the above words can alter an answer from a respondent because they can generalize the question or universalize it. For example, If you ask 'Have you ever used the layaway service?' you are asking if they have ever in their lifetime used the service. A better way to phrase it is 'Do you use the layaway service?' Margaret Mainey

** · Four “Do’s” of Questionnaire Wording** -question should be focused on a single issue or topic -question should be brief -question should be grammatically simple, if possible -question should be crystal clear It really is mandatory to make sure that you follow these four simple steps when wording your questionnaires because if not you could get misleading answers that will not give you the answers that you need to get and your data could be very ineffective. Fernando Galvan

** · Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording** -question should not lead the respondent to a particular answer -question should not have loaded wording or phrasing, use universal beliefs -question should not be double-barreled -question should not use words that overstate the condition, do not use dramatics When writing the questionnaire you must avoid these four specifications so that you do not confuse the respondent or get skewed data. Avoiding these will allow you to get quality information for your client. For example asking the question 'Do you think that smoking is bad for you because it leads to lung cancer?', would be a question that uses dramatics and would lead the respondent to answer it in a certain way. Adam Pink

** · Types of Questions**

** · Question Flow** -warm up questions -transitions -skip questions -classification and demographic questions (In class notes) Questions should flow in some kind of psychological order making it easily to flow from one question to the next. Questions on one subject, or one particular part of a subject, should be grouped together. Respondents may feel it disconcerting to keep moving from one topic to another, or to be asked to return to some subject they thought they gave their thoughts on earlier. http://www.fao.org/docrep/W3241E/w3241e05.htm Brent Arnold

** · Precoding** Precoding prepares information for later analysis. It helps the researchers transform the survey answers into data that can be analyzed. One method is to set numerical values for categorical answers. The numerical values will be added to the database and broken down to observe trends. https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/sjadams/www/week%204.pdf Aaron Brown

** · Pretest**

A pretest is a dry run of the questionnaire. You give it to a small number of respondents from your target audience before the "real thing." It is used to help work the kinks out of your questionnaire, such as catching poor wording or other sorts of errors.

Angela Nelson