Designing Data Collection Forms Chapter 11 Designing Data Collection Forms

The Functions of a Questionnaire Translates the research objectives into specific questions Standardizes those questions and the response categories Fosters cooperation and motivation Serves as permanent records of the research Can speed up the process of data analysis Can serve as the basis for reliability and validity measures

The Questionnaire Development Process

Preliminary Considerations – Question Contents Will the respondent understand the question? Does the respondent know the answer? Can the respondent recall the answer? The respondent must be willing to provide the information, e.g., the sensitivity issues— income, sex life, drug use, HIV,

Developing Questions Research Questions A research question: is employed in research projects to obtain overt, verbal communication from individual study participants Its intended function is to elicit meaningful verbal responses from study participants. Research questions measure: Attitudes Beliefs Behaviors Demographics

“Shoulds” of Question Wording Developing Questions “Shoulds” of Question Wording Question should be focused on a single issue or topic. Question should be brief. Question should be interpreted the same way by all respondents. Question should use respondent’s core vocabulary. Question should be a grammatically simple sentence if possible. Should use “mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive categories”.

“Should Nots” of Question Wording Developing Questions “Should Nots” of Question Wording Question should not assume criteria that are not obvious. Question should not be beyond the respondent’s ability or experience. Question should not use a specific example to represent a general case. Question should not ask the respondent to recall specifics when only generalities will be remembered. Question should not require the respondent to guess a generalization.

Questionnaire Organization Five Functions of Introduction-Cover letter Identification of the surveyor/respondent Undisguised Disguised Purpose of survey Explanation of respondent selection Request for participation/provide incentive Incentives Anonymity Confidentiality Screening of respondent

Questionnaire Organization Typical Question Sequence Approaches to Question Flow Work approach: is employed when the researcher realizes that respondents will need to apply different mental effort to groups of questions– from easy to difficult questions. Sections approach: organizes questions into sets based on a common objective of questions in the set

Precoding the Questionnaire Precoding: placement of numbers on the questionnaire to facilitate data entry after the survey has been conducted Numbers are preferred for two reasons: Numbers are easier and faster to keystroke into a computer file Computer tabulation programs are more efficient when they process numbers

Computer-Assisted Questionnaire Design Computer-assisted questionnaire design: software programs allow users to use computer technology to develop and disseminate questionnaires– “e.g., WebSurveyor, Survey Pro” Advantages: Easier Faster Friendlier More functionality

Computer-Assisted Questionnaire Design…cont. Survey creation feature: Question list Question libraries Details Survey appearance Preview Publish Send notification

Computer-Assisted Questionnaire Design…cont. Creation of data files and data collection Data analysis and reports Performing the pretest of the questionnaire

Designing Observation Forms Observation forms: prepared for the researchers to record the behaviors observed by researchers in observation studies Structuring observational studies Build-up and break-down approaches Build-up: perform observations first, then build categories Break-down: categories are created before observation and provided on an observation record forms

Case 11.3 The Hobbit’s Choice Please read Case 11.3 in p. 331. Analyze the case and then answer question 1.