1. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN AND VALIDATION
BONY WIEM LESTARI
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS DEPARTMENT
2012

2. Learning Objectives:
1. Distinguish between various stages in questionnaire design.
2. Demonstrate appropriate techniques for wording questions
3. Validity and Reliability of measurement tool
4. Identify appropriate delivery format of certain questionnaire

3. A tool for collecting information to describe, compare, explain, knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and/or demographic characteristics on a particular target group
What is Questionnaire?

4. Questionnaire General Format:
1. Self administered (mailed or personal contact)
2. In person (face-to-face) interviews
3. Telephone interviews

5. Types of Questions: Open-ended questions
Permit free response which should be recorded in the respondents’ own words.
2. Closed questions
Have a list of possible options or answers from which the respondents must choose.

6. Identify: (Self learning)
Advantages & disadvantages of open-ended questions
Advantages & disadvantages of closed questions

7. Steps in Designing A Questionnaire
Content  Take your objectives and variables as a starting point
Formulating questions
Formulate one or more questions that will provide the information needed for each variable
Check whether each question measures one thing at a time
Avoid leading questions
Avoid words with double or vaguely defined meanings or that emotionally laden
Ask sensitive questions in a socially acceptable way

8. Steps in Designing A Questionnaire
Sequencing the questions
Design your interview schedule or questionnaire to be ‘informant friendly’
Use simple, everyday language
Formatting the questionnaire
Translation
If interviews will be conducted in one or more local languages, the questionnaire should be translated in order to standardise the way questions will be asked.

9. Steps in Questionnaire Development: (Cohen)
Conceptualization:
abstract construct – conceptual definition – operasionalization - indicator
Constructing
Testing
Analysis
Revising

10. Questionnaire is a tool:
The quality of a measurement: validity and reliability
Validity:
the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure
Free of systematic error
Accuracy

11. Questionnaire is a tool:
Reliability:
The degree to which a variable has nearly the same value when measured several times
Free of random error (chance)
Precision
Also called reproducibility, consistency
Assessing precision (reproducibility of repeated measurement):
Within – between observer
Within – between instruments

12. Reliability:
Reliability coefficient ~ correlation coefficient (0 – 1)
A questionnaire is reliable when the minimum reliability coefficient is 0.7

13. Assessing Validity: Criterion validity (predictive and concurrent)
depending on whether the criterion refers to a current or future assessment
Construct validity
assembly evidence to support or refute a complex scientific theory and to show under what circumstances it holds true

14. Assesing Validity: Content validity refers to comprehensiveness
how adequate the sampling of questions reflects the aims of the index that were specified in the conceptual definition of its scope

15. FINAL REMARKS:
prior to using a questionnaire it has to be established that the instrument is valid and reproducible in the context (i.e. population, setting and study design) in which it is going to be employed.
conceptually comparable (conceptual equivalence)
developing a new questionnaire is very time-consuming
burden on respondents
practical aspects of the study

16. REFERENCES:
Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaire. Ian McDowell and Claire Newell
Psychological Testing: Design, Analysis and Use. Lisa Friedenberg
Designing and Conducting Health System Research Projects. KIT Publishers. WHO. 2003

17. What’s Your Message?
THANK YOU