Questionnaire: A questionnaire is a set of questions designed to collect for primary

data/information from respondents for research purpose.

A questionnaire is a survey instrument or an interview form usually contains a set of formalized
questions for collecting primary data.

Steps of Developing a Questionnaire

Step 1: Specify the information needed
1. Ensure that the information obtained fully addresses all the components of the research
problem, research questions, objectives and hypotheses.
2. Prepare a set of dummy tables for information need.
3. Have a clear idea of the characteristics and motivations of the target participants.

Step 2: Specify the type of interviewing method

1. Face-to-face interviews questionnaire (participants see the questionnaire and interact with
the interviewer. Thus, lengthy, complex and varied questions can be asked)
2. Telephone interviews questionnaire (participants interact with the interviewer, but they
do not see the questionnaire; questions that can be asked to be short and simple )
3. Online and postal survey questionnaire (must be simple, and detailed instructions must be
provided)
4. Self-administered questionnaire (must be simple, and detailed instructions must be
provided)

Step 3: Determine the content of individual questions

4. Insert questions that are necessary
[Every question in a questionnaire should contribute to the information needed; f there is no explicit
and satisfactory use for the data resulting from a question, that question should be eliminated.]
5. Filler question may be asked to make rapport with the respondents.
[Filler questions are small talk and non-related simple questions for icebreaking and building
rapport with respondents]
6. Sometimes, certain questions may be duplicated for the purpose of assessing response
reliability or validity.
7. Use several questions as needed instead of one ambiguous question.
[‘Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft drink?]
8. Do not use double-barreled questions. [A single question that attempts to cover two issues.]
[‘Do you like tea and coffee?]
9. Try to avoid ‘why’ question.
[‘Why do you shop at supermarket?]
Step 4: Overcome the participant’s inability and unwillingness to answer
1. Is the participant informed?
[The respondent may not be informed, may not remember or may be unable to response certain
questions]
2. Is the participant informed?
[Use filter question to know about respondent’s familiarity].
3. Can the participant remember? If not avoid such questions.
[Avoid errors of omission, telescoping and creation]
i. Omission is the inability to recall an event that actually took place.
ii. Telescoping takes place when an individual telescopes or compresses time by remembering an event as
occurring more recently than it actually occurred.
iii. Creation error takes place when a participant ‘remembers/creates’ an event that did not actually occur.
4. Can the participant articulate/ clear about answer?
[If participants are not clear about certain answer a particular question, they may be unwilling to
response to the rest of the questions.]

5. Overcoming unwillingness to answer

i. Place sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire.
ii. Preface the question with a statement that the behavior of interest is common.
iii. Ask the question using the third-person technique
iv. Hide the question in a group of other questions that participants are willing to answer.
v. Provide response categories rather than asking straight forward question.
vi. Use randomized techniques, where appropriate.

Step 5: Choose question structure

Question may be unstructured or structured in design.
1. Unstructured questions are open-ended questions that participants answer in their own
words/way. [Who is your favorite film personality? What type of business you like most?]
2. Open-ended questions are useful in exploratory research.
3. Use structured questions whenever possible.
i. Multiple-choice question
ii. Dichotomous question
iii. Scale question
Step 6: Choose question wording
Question wording is the translation of the desired question content and structure into words that
participants can clearly and easily understand. If a question is worded poorly, participants may
refuse to answer it, or answer it incorrectly.

To avoid these problems, the following guidelines are recommended:

i. Define the issue. [A question should clearly define the issue being addressed in terms of ‘who’,
‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘where’.]
ii. Use ordinary words. [Ordinary words should match to the vocabulary level of the respondents]
iii. Use unambiguous words. [‘usually’, ‘normally’, ‘frequently’, ‘often’, ‘regularly’, ‘occasionally’
and ‘sometimes’, etc.,] [Some words like ‘all’, ‘always’, ‘any’, ‘anybody’, ‘ever’ and ‘every’. Such
words should be avoided.]. For scale questions, the above terms may acceptable.
iv. Avoid leading or biasing questions. [A question that gives the participant a clue as to what
answer is desired, or leads the participant to answer in a certain way.]
v. Avoid calculations and estimates. [What is the annual household expenditure]
vi. Use positive and negative statements. [Questions for measuring attitudes and preferences]
The direction of these statements would be reversed in another question.

Step 7: Determining the order of questions

1. The opening questions should be interesting, simple and non-threatening. [Sometimes such
questions are unrelated to the research problem and their responses are not analyzed.]
2. Qualifying questions (filter question) should serve as the opening questions to determine
whether the respondents are eligible to participate or not.
3. Basic information should be obtained first, followed by classification and finally
identification information.
[Basic information relates directly to the research problem. Classification information, consisting of
socio-economic and demographic characteristics, is used to classify the participants, understand the
results and validate the sample (see Chapter 14). Identification information includes name, postal
address, email address and telephone number. Identification information may be obtained for a variety
of purposes, including verifying that the participants. The basic information is of greatest importance
to the research project and should be obtained first]
4. Difficult, sensitive or complex questions should be placed late in the sequence.
5. Questions should be asked in a logical order.

Step 8: Design the form and layout

The format, spacing and positioning of questions have a significant effect on the
response, particularly in self-administered questionnaires.
1. Divide a questionnaire into several parts.
2. Questions in each part/section should be numbered.
3. If hard copies of the questionnaires are used, it should be pre-coded.
4. The questionnaires themselves should be numbered serially.
Step 9: Production of the questionnaire

1. The questionnaires should have a professional appearance.

2. Booklet format should be used for long questionnaires.
3. The questionnaires should be produced on a single page.
4. The questionnaires should be produced on good quality paper.
5. Vertical responses columns should be used.
6. Grids are useful when there are a number of related questions that use the same set of
response categories.
7. Directions or instructions for individual question should be placed as close to the
question as possible.

Step 10: Eliminate problems by pilot-testing

1. Pre-testing should always be done.

2. All aspects of the questionnaire should be tested, including question content, wording,
sequence, form and layout, question difficulty and instructions.
3. Begin the pretest by using face-to-face interviews, if possible.
4. The pretest sample size should be small, varying from 15 to 30 participants.
5. Use protocol analysis and debriefing to identify problems.
6. If significant revision in the questionnaire, another pilot-test should be conducted using a
different sample of participants.
7. The responses obtained from the pretest should be coded and analyzed.