Questionnaire Design

Prof(Dr.) Harsh Vardhan

27/11/2022
 Objective

 What is a Questionnaire.
 Objective of a Questionnaire.
 What makes an effective Questionnaire.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Questionnaire.
 Questionnaire Design Process.
 Different types of Questions
 How to avoid some common problems and pitfalls

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 Introduction

 It is assumed that:
 A survey will be conducted through a structured Questionnaire.

 Our main task is:

 How to design a Quality Questionnaire?

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 Definition of a Questionnaire

A Questionnaire is a pre-formulated written set of questions to which

respondents record their answers, usually within closely defined
alternatives.

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 More Definitions -What is a Questionnaire?

 A Questionnaire is a structured technique for data collection that consists

of a series of questions written or verbal aimed at extracting necessary
information from the respondents.
 It is a set of questions designed to generate data necessary for
accomplishing the objectives of the research project.
 It is designed to collect necessary personal, demographic, attitudinal and
other relevant information.
 The most important contribution of a questionnaire is to provide
standardization and uniformity in the data gathering process. It
standardizes the words of the questions and their sequence.

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 Objective of a Questionnaire
 It should translate the information needed into a set of specific questions that
the respondent can answer.
 Questionnaire must motivate respondent to get involved in the interview and
cooperate to complete the interview.
 Questionnaire must minimize response error.
Response error arises when respondents give inaccurate answers.
 To maximise the proportion of subjects answering the questionnaire i.e. a high
response rate.
 To ensure that the information obtained is accurate and relevant for our study
and it should be understandable and focussed.

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 Who completes it?
 The respondent - public/professional
 Someone on behalf of the respondent
 The interviewer

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 What makes an effective questionnaire?

An effective questionnaire is highly structured to allow the same types of

information to be simply collected from a large number of people in the
same way so that the data can be analysed quantitatively and systematically.

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 And why do we want one?

A well designed questionnaire:

 Will give you appropriate data which should allow you to answer your
research questions.
 Will minimise potential sources of bias, thus increasing the validity of the
questionnaire.
 It has been seen that people are much more likely to complete a well
designed questionnaire.

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 Assumptions

The use of questionnaires is based on certain assumptions:

 That the individuals will have common understanding of identified issues
and will share general beliefs.
 That understanding and beliefs are shared and can be clearly expressed
and quantified.

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 Before starting…..

 Questionnaire design should be an integral part of the study, not an “add-on”

 Therefore:
 Decide on the goals of the study (for yourself and for others)
 Know the subject – literature, experts
 Know the respondents - (occupation, preferences, educational and
background)
 Know how much – cost, time, sample size, response rate

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 Fundamental Principle

An epidemiological investigation is a scientific loop that tests a hypothesis:

Problem Questions Hypothesis

Answer

Results Study
Epidemiology is the study of factors
affecting the health and illness of populations,
and serves as the foundation and logic of Questionnaire
interventions made in the interest of public health
and preventive medicine. BRM/IIFT/Harsh/7 12
 Advantages of Questionnaires

 Can reach a large number of people relatively easily and economically

(especially by E-mail )
 Provide quantifiable answers
 Relatively easy to analyse

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 Disadvantages of Questionnaires

 May provide only limited insight into the problem:

 Limited response allowed by questions
 You may not have asked the right questions
 Varying response
 The respondent may not understand your question and may interpret it differently
 Postal questionnaires  low response rate
 Hard to chase for missing data - it is essential to get right information in the
first time

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 Good Questionnaire

 A good questionnaire should:

 Answer all research objectives in sufficient depth and breadth;
 ‘Speak’ to respondents in the understandable language and at an
appropriate intellectual level;
 Convenient to be administered - in terms of asking questions and
recording responses;
 Be filled in comfortable time duration before the boredom sets in; and
 Facilitate coding, editing, data entry and data processing.

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 When to Use a Questionnaire

 When the researcher knows precisely what information is needed.

 When large numbers of people are to be reached in different geographical
regions.
 When groups of people can be assembled in a convenient location (e.g.
conference rooms) where the questionnaires can be administered, and
collected immediately.

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 Questionnaire - Designing

 A Questionnaire should be designed in such a manner that responses can

be easily tabulated and translated into findings and recommendations
should relate to the objectives of the research project.
 While designing a questionnaire, one must keep the following
considerations in mind:
 FIRST, does it provide the necessary information that is required for the research
project?
 SECOND, is it designed for the convenience of the respondents?
 THIRD, does it meet coding, editing and data processing requirements of the
research project?

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 Stages in Designing a Questionnaire

 Decide about the aim of the study and the purpose of using a questionnaire
 Decide about the content of the questions
 Decide about the format of the questions
 Decide about the presentation and layout
 Formulate coding schedule (if appropriate)
 Refine the questionnaire

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 Questionnaire Design Process
Specify the information needed
Specify the type of interviewing method
Determine the content of individual questions
Design the questions to overcome the respondent’s inability and unwillingness to answer.
Decide on the question structure
Determine the question wording
Arrange the question in proper order
Identify the form and layout
Reproduce the questionnaire
Eliminate bugs by pre testing

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 Questionnaire Quality and Design:
Basic Considerations
 Questionnaire design is one of the most critical stages in the survey
research process.
 A questionnaire (survey) is only as good as the questions it asks—if u ask a bad
question, get bad results.
 Composing a good questionnaire appears easy, but it is usually the result of
long, painstaking work.
 The questions must meet the basic criteria of relevance and accuracy.

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 The Major Decisions in Questionnaire Design
1. What should be asked?
2. How should each question be phrased?
3 In which sequence should the questions be arranged?
4. What is the right questionnaire layout which will meet the research
objectives?
5. How should the questionnaire be pre-tested? Does the questionnaire
need to be revised?

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 What Should Be Asked?
 Questionnaire Relevancy
 All information collected should address a research question in helping the decision
maker in solving the current business problem.
 Questionnaire Accuracy
 Increasing the reliability and validity of respondent information requires that:
 Questionnaires should use simple, understandable, unbiased, unambiguous, and
non-irritating words.
 Questionnaire design should facilitate recall and motivate respondents to
cooperate.
 Proper question wording and sequencing to avoid confusion and biased answers.

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 Basic Rules
 KISS  Keep It Short and Simple

 Appearance is crucial and it affects:

 Response rate
 Ease of data summarisation and analysis

 Length of questionnaire: shorter  response rates

 Question Order is important:

 Easy  difficult
 General  particular
 Factual  abstract
 Start with closed format questions.
 Start with questions relevant to the main subject.
 Try to avoid starting with demographic and personal questions
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 Basic Rules

 Put the study title in bold on the first page

 Number all items and pages
 Put an identifying mark on all pages
 Put the return address on the questionnaire
 Print directions in bold
 Remember the Unique Identifier

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 Basic Rules

 Group Questions by topic or response options

 Don’t put the most important question at last
 Open with relevant but non-threatening questions
 It is most likely to be completed quickly if questions are well designed,
relevant, logical and short.

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 Content of Questions

 Ask clear and focussed questions

 Literature search; what do we need to know in order to ask the most
relevant and probing questions?
 Demographic information
 Contact information (if it can be provided)

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 Format of Questions

 Ask only for the information you need

 Start with simple questions - get them on your side
 Appropriate for responding audience
 Keep sentences simple and short
 Ask for one piece of information at a time.
 Be precise
 Be appropriate
 Aim always to minimise bias

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 Designing Appropriate Questions...

 Questions may be:

 Open-ended questions
 Closed-ended questions.
 Dichotomous questions
 Multiple choice questions
 Scaled response questions
These questions are designed to capture the intensity of the respondents’ answers.

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 Wording Questions
 Open-ended Response Questions
 Pose some problem and ask respondents to answer in their own words.
 Advantages:
 Are most beneficial in exploratory research, especially when the range of
responses is not known.
 May reveal unanticipated reactions toward the product.
 Are good first questions because they allow respondents to warm up to
the questioning process.
 Disadvantages:
 High cost of administering open-ended response questions.
 The possibility that interviewer bias will influence the answer.
 Bias introduced by articulate individuals’ longer answers.

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 Wording Questions (cont’d)
 Fixed-alternative Questions
 Questions in which respondents are given specific, limited-alternative
responses and asked to choose the one closest to their own viewpoint.
 Advantages:
 Require less interviewer skill
 Take less time to answer
 Are easier for the respondent to answer
 Provides comparability of answers
 Disadvantages:
 Lack of range in the response alternatives
 Tendency of respondents to choose convenient alternative
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 Types of Fixed-Alternative Questions
 Simple-dichotomy (dichotomous) Question
 Requires the respondent to choose one of two alternatives (e.g., yes or no).
 Determinant-choice Question
 Requires the respondent to choose one response from among multiple alternatives
(e.g., A, B, or C).
 Frequency-determination Question
 Asks for an answer about general frequency of occurrence (e.g., often, occasionally,
or never).
 Checklist Question
 Allows the respondent to provide multiple answers to a single question by checking
off items.

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 Format of Questions

Two main question formats

 Closed format  give a ‘fixed’ response
 Open format  allow people to express their views in their own words:
 Describe a recent interesting event?
___________________________________________________________________
_____________________________

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 Open or Closed?
Closed – forced choice
 Simple and quick
 Reduces discrimination against those who are less literate
 Easy to code, record, and analyse results quantitatively
 Easy to report results

Open format – free text

 Allows exploration of issues
 Can be used even if a comprehensive range of alternative choices cannot be compiled
 Interviewer bias is high
 Coding of response is costly and time consuming.
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 Open Questions

 Used to provide fuller information

 Open, free-text form
 Often used in qualitative research, focus groups, at the preliminary and piloting
stage of questionnaires

What do you think is the reason for your illness?

________________________________________________
Do you think service X would make your life easier? If so, in what way? If not,
why not?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________

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 Closed Questions

Different types of closed questions:

1.Straightforward response
What is your age in years? _____ yrs.
How long have you worked for Company X? _____
What is your sex (gender)? MF
Did you stay in Hotel X on 15/04/22? YN
Did you eat dinner in the company’s canteen
on 10/11/22? YN

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 Closed Questions
2. Checklist
Which of the following did you eat for your dinner on 15/11/22?
Chicken 
Paneer 
Salad 
Egg mayonnaise 

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 Closed Questions

3. Adjectival/Adverbial responses

Do you have backache during any of the following activities?

Not at all Slightly Moderately Severely

Walking    
Sitting    
Lying in bed    

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 Closed Questions

4. Numerical rating scale

How useful would you think a community clinic in your area would be?
(please circle)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not at all useful Very useful

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 Closed Questions

5. Visual analogue scale

While at rest, how bad is your backache?

(please mark where on the line below)

No pain Worst pain

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 Closed Questions

6. Ranking scales
Please rank these activities in order of the amount of pain they cause
you. (1 for would pain most and 4 for would pain least)
Sitting 
Running 
Lying in bed 
Walking 

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 Closed Questions
7. Scales for measuring attitude
A local dental clinic would be useful for my community
No, I strongly disagree 
No, I disagree quite a lot 
No, I disagree just a little 
I’m not sure about this 
Yes, I agree just a little 
Yes, I agree quite a lot 
Yes, I strongly agree 

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 Classifying Surveys
by Degree of Structure and Degree of Disguise

Structured Unstructured

Example: Example:
Typical descriptive survey Survey with open-ended
Undisguised with straight-forward, structured questions to discover “new”
questions answers or focus group interview

Example: Example:
Disguised Survey interview to measure Projection techniques used
brand A’s image versus mostly for exploratory research
competitive brands’ images or
brand recall (unaided recall)
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 Guidelines for Constructing Questions
 Avoid Complexity: use simple, conversational language
 Avoid leading and loaded questions

 Avoid ambiguity: be as specific as possible

 Avoid double-barreled questions

 Avoid making assumptions

 Avoid burdensome questions

 Make certain questions generate variance.

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 Double Barreled Questions

 A single question that attempts to cover two issues. Such questions are
confusing and may result in ambiguous response.
 Example -Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft drink? Incorrect
 If answer is yes then it is ok.
 But if answer is no . It may mean coke is not tasty or not refreshing or neither
tasty nor refreshing.
 Instead two different questions should be asked:
 Do you think Coca - Cola is a tasty soft drink? And
 Do you think Coca - Cola is a refreshing soft drink?

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1. Do you believe that private citizens have the right to
own firearms to defend themselves, their families, and
property from violent criminal attack?

Yes No Undecided

2. Do you believe that a ban on the private ownership

of firearms would be significantly reduce the number of
murders and robberies in your community?

Yes No Undecided

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 Tennis

1a. How many years have you been playing tennis on a regular basis?
Number of years: __________

b. What is your level of play?

Novice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1 Advanced . . . . . . . -4
Lower Intermediate . . . . . -2 Expert . . . . . . . . . -5
Upper Intermediate . . . . . -3 Teaching Pro . . . . -6

c. In the last 12 months, has your level of play improved, remained the
same or decreased?

Improved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1 Decreased. . . . . . . -3
Remained the same . . . . . -2

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2a. Is your club is having tennis facilities? Yes . . . . . . . -1
No . . . . . . . -2

b. How many people in your household - including yourself - play tennis?

Number who play tennis ___________

3a. Why do you play tennis? (Please “X”.)

To have fun . . . . . . . . . . -1
To stay fit. . . . . . . . . . . . -2
To be with friends. . . . . . -3
To improve my game . . . -4
To compete. . . . . . . . . . . -5
To win. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -6

b. In the past 12 months, have you purchased any tennis instructional

books or video tapes? Yes . . . . . . . -1
No . . . . . . . -2

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 American Airlines Service Quality

Dear Passenger,

American Airlines is pleased to have you on board today.

To help us provide the best service possible, we need to know more about you and your
opinions of our service. If you are over 11 years old, we would appreciate it if you would
complete this questionnaire.

Your flight attendant will pick up your completed questionnaire shortly.

Thank you.

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1. Please indicate: Flight number ___________ Date_____________

2a. At the city where you boarded this particular plane, did you make a connection from another
flight?
Yes, from American . . . . 1
Yes, from Other Airline . . 2
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

b. Did you board this plane at the airport from were it just took off, or were you a through
passenger for which that was an intermediate stop?

Boarded here . . . . . . . . . . 1
Through passenger. . . . . . 2

3. How would you rate the overall service from American for this flight, all things considered,
from your arrival at the airport terminal until now?

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Overall Service . . . . . . . . . . 1 BRM/IIFT/Harsh/7
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4. Please rate each of the following with regard to this flight, if applicable.
Excellent Good Fair Poor
Courtesy and Treatment from the:
1 2 3 4

Airport Ticket Counter Agent . . . . .

Boarding Point (Gate) Agent . . . . .
Flight Attendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your Meal or Snack. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Beverage Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seat Comfort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Carry-On Stowage Space. . . . . . . .
Cabin Cleanliness . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Video/Stereo Entertainment . . . . . .
On-Time Departure . . . . . . . . . . . .

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 Questionnaire

 Please rate the following qualities that would be most important to you in the
selection of a travel agency
Good Bad
 Free service ------- ---- ---- -------- -----
 Convenient location
 Knowledgeable person
 Friendly Personnel
 Casual Atmosphere
 Reputation
 Personal Sales calls

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 Problems and Pitfalls
 Avoid questions that ask two things at once - you won’t know which segment of
people are answering:
Have you ever had neck pain and diarrhoea?
Ambiguity.....
In a typical month how often do you shop in department stores
Never
Occasionally
Sometimes
Often
Regularly

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 Answer to the question will have response bias, because the words
used to describe category labels have different meaning for different
respondent.
 Following is the better version:
Less than once
1 or 2 times
3 or 4 times
More than 4 times

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 Problems and Pitfalls

 Avoid options that are not mutually exclusive when they need to be
What is your age ?
16-20 
20-25 
25-30 
35-40 

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 Problems and Pitfalls
 Avoid leading questions (A leading question is one which attempts to guide
the respondent's answer. Leading questions can be objectionable or proper.)
Do you think that the food in the hotel made you sick?
Did the hotel staff seem unhygienic to you?
Do you agree that the hospital staff were over worked?
 Avoid making the questionnaire too long
 Typographical / spelling errors
 Questionaire
 Diahurria
 Vommit
 Eppidemiology

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 What Is the Best Question Sequence?
 Order bias
 Bias caused by the influence of earlier questions in a questionnaire or by an
answer’s position in a set of answers.
 Funnel technique
 Asking general questions before specific questions in order to obtain
unbiased responses.
 Filter question
 A question that screens out respondents who are not qualified to answer a
second question.
 Pivot question
 A filter question used to determine which version of a second question will
be asked.

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Flow of Questions to
Determine the Level of
Prompting Required to
Stimulate Recall

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 What Is the Best Layout?
 Traditional Questionnaires
 Multiple-grid question
 Several similar questions arranged in a grid format.
 The title of a questionnaire should be phrased carefully:
 To capture the respondent’s interest, underline the importance of the
research
 Emphasize the interesting nature of the study
 Appeal to the respondent’s ego
 Emphasize the confidential nature of the study
 To not bias the respondent in the same way that a leading question might

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 Coding Schedule

 Questionnaire can be pre-coded

 Quicker and easier to handle responses prior to data entry into SPSS
 Examples:
 M=1 F=2
 ill=1 Not ill=2 DK=3(Do not Know)
 Single=1 Married=2 Separated=3 Divorced=4 DK=5
 No medical intervention=1 ,Saw, GP=2, Went OPD=3, Admitted Hospital=4, Admitted
ICU=5 Died=6 DK=7

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 Piloting and Evaluation

 Pilot with a similar group of people to your intended subjects

 Piloting a essential
 Highlights problems before starting
 Often concentrates initially on effects of alternative wording
 Then will concentrate on respondents and interviewers overall impressions
 Due to continual improvement after several amendments response rate will improve

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 Pretesting and Revising Questionnaires

 Pretesting Process
 Seeks to determine whether respondents have any difficulty understanding the
questionnaire and whether there are any ambiguous or biased questions.
 Preliminary Tabulation
 A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help determine whether the
questionnaire will meet the objectives of the research.

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 Presentation and layout

 Decide on the order of the questions

 Where to place sensitive questions?
 Make the layout clear, consistent and easy on the eye
 Try to get on overall simple “feel”
 Ensure there is adequate space to answer
 Choose a large enough font size
 Avoid fancy logos
 Do not slip to another page

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 Presentation and layout

 Use coloured font or print questionnaire on coloured paper

 Use filter questions, if necessary

 Give clear instructions about how to answer the questions

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 Internet Questionnaires
 Graphical User Interface (GUI) Software
 The researcher can control the background, colors, fonts, and other features
displayed on the screen so as to create an attractive and easy-to-use interface
between the user and the Internet survey.
 Layout Issues
 Paging layout - going from screen to screen.
 Scrolling layout – entire questionnaire appears on one page and respondent
has the ability to scroll down.

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 Internet Questionnaire Layout
 Push Button
 A small outlined area, such as a rectangle or an arrow, that the respondent
clicks on to select an option or perform a function, such as submit.
 Status Bar
 A visual indicator that tells the respondent what portion of the survey he or
she has completed.
 Radio Button
 A circular icon, resembling a button, that activates one response choice and
deactivates others when a respondent clicks on it.

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 Internet Questionnaire Layout (cont’d)
 Drop-down Box
 A space saving device that reveals responses when they are needed but otherwise
hides them from view.
 Check Boxes
 Small graphic boxes, next to an answers, that a respondent clicks on to choose an
answer; typically, a check mark or an X appears in the box when the respondent
clicks on it.
 Open-ended Boxes
 Boxes where respondents can type in their own answers to open-ended questions.
 Pop-up Boxes
 Boxes that appear at selected points and contain information or instructions for
respondents.

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Question in an Online Screening Survey for Joining a Consumer Panel

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Alternative Ways of Displaying Internet Questions

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 Internet Questionnaire Layout (cont’d)
 Software That Makes Questionnaires Interactive
 Variable piping software
 Allows variables to be inserted into an Internet questionnaire as a respondent is
completing it.
 Error trapping software
 Controls the flow of an Internet questionnaire.
 Forced answering software
 Prevents respondents from continuing with an Internet questionnaire if they fail to
answer a question.
 Interactive help desk
 A live, real-time support feature that solves problems or answers questions respondents
may encounter in completing the questionnaire.

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 Designing Questionnaires for Global Markets
 Back Translation
 Taking a questionnaire that has previously been translated into another
language and having a second, independent translator translate it back to the
original language.
 A questionnaire developed in one country may be difficult to translate because
equivalent language concepts do not exist or because of differences in idiom
and vernacular.

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 Summary
A well designed questionnaire:
 Will give you appropriate data which should allow you to answer your
research question
 Will minimise potential sources of bias, thus increasing the validity of the
questionnaire
 People are much more likely to complete a well designed questionnaire
 Finally, keep your questionnaire short and questions simple, focussed and
appropriate.

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Thanks

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