Questionnaire Design Flashcards
What is the first guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Make items clear
They should be unambiguous and precise
What is the second guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Avoid presuming questions
E.g. instead of ‘how many cigarettes a day do you smoke?’
Ask whether they smoke first and then ask how many
What is the third guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Use simple language
Keep the intended audience in mind
What is the fourth guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Avoid double-barrelled items
Respondents could agree with one part but disagree with another part
What is the fifth guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Respondents must be competent to answer
Is the respondent likely to possess the knowledge to answer the question?
What is the sixth guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Avoid using “not”
The “not” may be misread or overlooked
What is the seventh guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Avoid using double negatives
Reword the item to avoid confusion
What is the eighth guideline for constructing questionnaire items?
Avoid using “biased” items
E.g. most reasonable people would agree…
Why are short items best?
Respondents should be able to:
- read an item quickly
- understand its intent
- give an answer without difficulty
How can you obtain variability in responses and why?
So that a measure can covary with other measures
Can be done by either:
- having many items
- having numerous response items
What are the disadvantages of a 0-100 scale?
Respondents may respond in multiples of 5 or 10, effectively reducing the number of response options
False precision - how meaningful is the difference between 36 and 38?
What is an example of the visual analogue scale?
Watching football on TV is..
Boring ————————————— Interesting
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the visual analogue scale?
Advantages:
-Very sensitive - useful in studies with minimal intervention to measure before and after responses
-Difficult for respondents to remember previous responses
Disadvantages:
-Same as 0-100 scale
What is a disadvantage of a worded response category scale?
Although the response categories are places along some sort of continuum, it is difficult to access the size of the psychological space between the categories
What should you avoid in Likert scales?
Very mild or extreme statements that everyone will agree or disagree with, will lead to reduced variance
What are semantic differential scales used for?
Often used to measure attitudes, using adjective pairs representing opposite ends of a continuum
What is a Thurstone scale?
A scale consisting of a number of items that have been designed to represent differing levels of an attribute, these items have been selected by judges from a large number of items
An agree-disagree format is used and an attitude score is obtained
What does a Thurstone scale assume?
That an individual will only agree with items around their scale position, disagreeing with those more extreme on either side
What are some advantages of Thurstone scaling?
Very easy for respondents to complete as they only have to indicate agreement/disagreement
Easy to develop alternate forms of the scale
What are some disadvantages of Thurstone scaling?
Very labour intensive, have to get 50 or so judges to rate the items
The judge’s ratings may be different from those of potential respondents
What are some guidelines for the general format?
Maximise white space
Don’t try and squeeze questions onto a page
What are some guidelines for the general instructions?
Who is it from? Purpose? Why should they complete it? How long to complete? Is it anonymous/confidential? How to complete it How to return it
What are some guidelines for the question order?
Randomisation of items? (may result in confusing Q)
Leave duller Qs e.g. demographics to the end
Have introductions for each section
What are some advantages of online survey tools?
Can collect PP responses automatically - very efficient
Potential for large samples
Can format data in SPSS friendly form
What are some disadvantages of online survey tools?
May need a database of email addresses Low response rates - reduced sample size/power - selective/biased sample - limits generalisability
