1 Sources:  SusanTurner - Napier University  C. Robson, Real World Research, Blackwell, 1993  Steve Collesano: Director, Corporate Research and Development at American International Group Questionnaires

2 Appearance and instructions are vital Appearance and instructions are vital  The questionnaire should look easy to fill in, with plenty of space for answers and questions.  Keep the design simple and give clear instructions, repeating them if confusion seems possible.  Ticking boxes is less confusing than circling answers

3 Organisation  Keep similar questions together, or you risk annoying respondents.  For long questionnaires use section titles to break up questions.  Be sure break out questions are properly labeled so that each respondent knows where he/she should go.  It is common to use formatting or colour for all instructions so that they stand out

4 Order questions carefully Order questions carefully  Initial questions should be easy and interesting.  Middle questions cover the more difficult areas.  Flow questions from the general to the specific; use simple language.  Make the last questions interesting to encourage completion and return of the questionnaire.

5 Clarity Clarity  Provide clear instructions for every question;  Tell respondents what they should do.  Avoid multiple dimension questions; ask one thing. For instance: "The following is a list of reasons you might have considered when choosing to pursue your MSW. For each, please indicate how important it was" or "Please check the single most important reason.”

6 Specific questions are better than general ones  More general questions tend to produce: (a) a wider variety of interpretation by respondents; (b) are more likely to be influenced by other questions; (c) are poorer predictors of actual behaviour  General: List the software packages you have used  Specific: Which of these software packages have you used? Visual Basic Word Excel Powerpoint

7 Closed questions are usually preferable to open questions  Closed questions help to avoid differences in interpretation. Open questions are more difficult to analyse.  However, sometimes there are good reasons for using open questions, for instance when seeking comments in the respondent’s own words, when not enough is known to construct response categories, and in the measurement of potentially sensitive views or behaviour.

8 Examples  Open: People look for different things in a job; what sort of things are important to you in your job?  Closed: People look for different things in a job; which one of the following five things is most important to you in your job? good pay / a feeling of achievement / ability to make your own decisions /...

9 Consider a ‘no-opinion’ option Consider a ‘no-opinion’ option  If there is no such option substantial numbers of people may manufacture an opinion for the questionnaire. Example ‘No-opinion’ response option: The Web offers a wonderful opportunity to keep up-to-date with technical developments. Do you agree, disagree or not have an opinion on that? Agree / Disagree / No opinion

10 Think about omitting the middle choice Think about omitting the middle choice  On the one hand a middle choice may encourage a non-committal response;  On the other it allows for additional shades of opinion.  One strategy is to omit the explicit middle choice and follow-up with an ‘intensity item’ which separates out strong feelings from mild leanings.

11 Examples  No middle category: Should degree courses be easier or more difficult than they are now? Easier More difficult  Middle category: Should degree courses be easier, more difficult, or stay the same as they are now? Easier More difficult The same

12 Vary the orientation of rating scales or intersperse with other questions If a questionnaire contains a lot of similar rating scales, all of which have, say, the ‘good’ end at the left and the ‘bad’ end at the right, people sometimes develop a ‘response set’ and go down the page ticking each scale in the same place. Either reverse the ends of some of the scales or put some other types of question in between. This is only worth considering if there are more than a few rating scales.

13 Consider using forced choice rather than agree/disagree statements Consider using forced choice rather than agree/disagree statements  Some respondents tend to ‘agree’ with statements regardless of their content.  Generally forced choice questions encourage a more considered response.

14 Examples  Forced-choice: Would you say that most text-based interfaces are easier to use than GUIs or that most GUIs are easier to use than text-based interfaces? GUIs easier Text based interfaces easier  Agree/disagree: Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Most text-based interfaces are easier to use than GUIs. Agree Disagree

15 Add a concluding note Add a concluding note  This can ask respondents to check they have answered all questions  Encourage an early return of the questionnaire with the deadline date (and return details, if not using a pre-addressed envelope)  Offer to send a summary of the findings (if appropriate) THANK THEM FOR THEIR HELP.

16 Include a covering note Include a covering note  This should introduce the survey, explaining its purpose and importance, assure confidentiality and encourage reply.  Explain any serial numbers or other codings if they are used.

17 Make return easy Make return easy  Using an organisation’s internal mail is often easiest (include a pre-addressed envelope).  Or arrange for a box to be place in a convenient place to be collected by you.

18 Consider using Consider using For people who habitually use , an questionnaire can be one of the easiest ways to get a good response rate. The Web is also worth considering. For example look at

19 PRE-TEST THE QUESTIONNAIRE Pretest all individual questions by having a typical respondent react to each; if someone is confused by a question, it is a bad question; you will not have the luxury of explaining it in the actual questionnaire.

20 Finally Before you use the questionnaire, you must have your supervisor’s agreement in writing.