1. Questionnaire Design

2. Questionnaires Inexpensive – postage and photocopies
Potential of large # of respondents
Easy to administer confidentially – embarrassing questions
More difficult to claim complete objectivity with questionnaire then with a tightly controlled lab test.
Ex. How long did it take you to learn software program?

3. Objectives of Survey Need to have a clear goal and purpose
If not it will overlook important issues and waste participants time by asking useless questions.
Don’t ask broad and generalizing questions
Can’t identify a problem, cause or solution.

4. Writing the Questionnaire
Already decided what kind of data we are to measure and decided on a participant group.
Demographic information (beginning-easy)
Income – don’t ask unless you have rational for suspecting a variance across income levels.
If need personal info. Phrase your questions unobtrusively to avoid ruffling your participants.

5. Kinds of Questions Open format – No predetermined set of responses.
Subjective data
Get unexpected and insightful suggestions
Usually at end of questionnaire to get ideas for changes or improvements.
Have to be read individually (more time and $)
Closed format – multiple choice
Objective data
Easy to calculate/tabulate
Easy to track opinion over time by administering the same questionnaire at regular intervals
Filter out useless or extreme answers that happen in open format questionnaires

6. Points that must be considered
Clarity
Causes the greatest # of mistakes
Goal – to eliminate the chance that the question will mean different things to different people
Ex. Very Often or 5 – 10 times a week
Leading
Forces or implies a certain type of answer.
Ex. Superb, Excellent, Great, Good, Fair, Not Good

7. Embarrassing Hypothetical Prestige Bias
Avoid – If uncomfortable you will lose their trust.
Hypothetical
If you were governor, what would you do
Never considered – doesn’t produce clear data
Prestige Bias
Answer in a way to make them feel better
Make questionnaire private – telephone is better than one-on-one. The farther away the researcher is the more hones the answers

8. Now What? Observe a few test questionnaire takers.
Work together to solve the problems.
Remember: One does not collect data and then see if they found something interesting. One forms a hypothesis and an experiment that will help prove or disprove the hypothesis.
A questionnaire is only as good as the questions it contains