1. Item Writing Techniques KNR 279

2. TYPES OF QUESTIONS Closed ended  Checking yes/no, multiple choice, etc.  Puts answers in categories  Easy to score and tabulate  Provides quantitative data  Can apply statistics

3. TYPES OF QUESTIONS Open ended  Fill in the blank, short answer, etc.  Provides more in-depth information  Provides qualitative data  Harder to score

4. CHOICE DEPENDS ON Purpose of the assessment Respondent’s level of information on the topic Ease with which the material can be communicated Evaluator’s knowledge of the situation

5. CRITERIA FOR CONSTRUCTION Avoid  wordiness and ambiguity  questions that are leading  biased questions  questions that can be misinterpreted  lengthy questions that demand too much effort  double barreled questions  negative items (never, not)  factors of social desirability

6. TYPICAL ERRORS IN DEVELOPING Using one technique (interview) when another (observation) is more appropriate Failure to pilot test Asking too many questions, unreasonable demand on client’s time Overlooking details of format, grammar, printing

7. TYPICAL ERRORS IN DEVELOPING Failure to consider if questions get at purpose of the assessment Using jargon or ambiguous item wording Not providing enough categories for responses

8. DECISIONS CONCERNING QUESTION CONTENT Is the question necessary? Useful? Are several questions needed on the subject? Do clients have the necessary information to answer the question? Will the clients give the information that is asked for?

9. DECISIONS CONCERNING QUESTION WORDING Can the item be misunderstood? Is the wording biased? Would more personalized or less personalized wording of the question produce better results?

10. YES/NO CHECKLIST Advantages  Takes short amount of time  Easy for people to answer Disadvantages  Easy for people to keep saying yes  Easy to figure out what you want to hear  May produce simplistic answers to complex questions and issues

11. YES/NO CHECKLIST Do you have physical barriers to your leisure?YesNoDon’t know Do your have cognitive barriers to your leisure?YesNo Don’t know Which of the following barriers do you have in your leisure? Check all that applies.  Lack of endurance ---Lack of flexibility  Lack of coordination ---Lack of mobility

12. RATING SCALE Advantages  Allows continuum of responses  More reliable than yes/no Disadvantages  Not always reliable (seldom vs. sometimes)  Not typical response format for most people  Usually don’t answer on extreme points

13. RATING SCALE How often do you go to the movies?  Always, sometimes, seldom, never How often does lack of leisure partners negatively affect your leisure time?  Daily, weekly, monthly, less than monthly

14. RANKING Advantages  Useful for values clarification  Makes/allows people to establish priorities Disadvantages  After first couple selections, the rest may not matter  Intervals between selections are not equivalent

15. RANKING From 1 being the greatest barrier to 6 being the least barrier, rank the following barriers that may negatively affect your leisure  Lack of time  Lack of money  Lack of transportation  Lack of leisure partners  Other: explain

16. FILL IN THE BLANKS Advantages  Little indication that there is a right answer  Find out what the client is thinking Disadvantages  Specialist may get too “diagnostic”  Very difficult to analyze & interpret  Easy to find interesting but meaningless questions

17. FILL IN THE BLANK The physical barrier that prevents me from participating in leisure is

18. SHORT/EXTENDED ANSWER Advantages  Client gets to fill in free-form  Little indication that there is a right answer  Find out what the client is thinking  Easy to design Disadvantages  Very difficult to analyze & interpret  Time consuming to collect & analyze E.g.. Tell me about your leisure