Data CollectionTechniques and

Tools

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Class outline:
 Interviewing technique
 Steps in Developing a Questionnaire
 Categories of information for an
epidemiologic questionnaire

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 Interviewing Techniques
In marketing research and academic research, interviews are
used in a wide variety of ways. Interviews are often used in
qualitative research in which firms try to understand how people
think. However, each procedure take different types of interview
technique based on the purpose of the interview, which
commonly includes:
 Discuss the steps involved in the interviewing process.
 Discuss ways to create a comfortable environment
during interviews.
 Provide examples on probing, clarifying, and other
issues involved in the interview process.
 Familiarize yourself with the investigation and the
3 survey
 1. Introduction
Introduce yourself and the organization you
represent
Follow the survey introduction word for word
Speak slowly
Provide a time estimate on the duration of the
interview
Address confidentiality
Offer contact information
Obtain informed consent

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 2. Survey questions
Ask the same questions in the same manner
Remain neutral throughout the interview
When necessary, prompt for clarification and
probe beyond “I do not know”
If the participant provides additional
voluntary information, record the answer first
Do not lead the participant

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 3. Probes
It may be appropriate to have a follow-up
probe ready
Open-ended questions
“Could you tell me more about that”?
“What did you feel about that”?
Closed-ended questions
Offer dates, times of day, or seasonal
holidays

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 4. Clarification
Develop a protocol to deal with questions of
clarification
Options
Repeat the information in the question
Refer to pre-determined definitions
Respond: “Whatever _____ means to you”
Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know

5. Face-to-face
Remain neutral in vocal tone, body language, and
facial expressions
Be attentive and maintain appropriate eye contact
Be accepting of the participant
7 Concentrate on what the participant is saying
 6.Questions, problems, and
solutions
Examples:
What sorts of questions will you ask me?
What good are these surveys?
How did you get my number?
I do not have time to complete the survey.
7. Closing
Thank the participant
Provide contact information
Make sure all questions are completed

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 8. Other issues
Language problems
Participant refuses to answer
Impatient or tired participant
Participant gets off the subject
Participant does not understand the question or gives
irrelevant answer
Participant asks for feedback, confirmation, or
additional information
Participant did not know he or she had the diagnosis
in question

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 Conclusions
Ways to become a great interviewer:
Practice
Be an active listener
Ask for assistance if needed
Be mindful of introducing bias
Be courteous and knowledgeable
Maintain a professional yet friendly
approach

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 Developing a Questionnaire
Discuss asking the right questions in the right
way as part of an epidemiologic study.
Review the steps for creating a questionnaire
and the categories of information typically
collected.

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 Meaning of QUESTIONNAIRE

A set of printed or written questions with a choice

of answers, devised for the purposes of a survey
or statistical study.

Examples: Questions sheet, Set of questions,

Survey Form, Form.

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
Designing a questionnaire involves 10 main steps:

1.    Write a study protocol

This involves getting acquainted with the subject,
making a literature review, decide on objectives,
formulate a hypothesis, and define the main
information needed to test the hypothesis.

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
2.    Draw a plan of analysis
This steps determines how the information defined in step
1 should be analyzed. The plan of analysis should contain
the measures of association and the statistical tests that you
intend to use. In addition, you should draw dummy tables
with the information of interest. The plan of analysis will help
you to determine which type of results you want to obtain.
An example of a dummy table is shown below.

Exposure Nr Case Total Attack rate RR(CI95%

(%) )
Tomato salad

Chicken breast
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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
3.    Draw a list of the information needed
From the plan of analysis you can draw a list of
the information you need to collect from
participants. In this step you should determine
the type and format of variables needed.

Example of Type of Question: Dichotomous

(yes/no)/Open-ended/ Multiple choices/Rank-
order (or ordinal) scale/Rating scale questions.

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
4.    Design different parts of the questionnaire
You can start now designing different parts of the
questionnaire using this list of needed information.

5.    Write the questions

Knowing the education and occupation level of the
study population, ethnic or migration background,
language knowledge and special sensitivities at this
step is crucial at this stage. Please keep in mind that
the questionnaire needs to be adapted to your study
population.
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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
6.    Decide on the order of the questions asked
You should start from easy, general and factual to
difficult, particular or abstract questions. Please
consider carefully where to place the most sensitive
questions. They should be rather placed in the middle
or towards the end of the questionnaire. Make sure,
however, not to put the most important item last, since
some people might not complete the interview.

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
7.    Complete the questionnaire
Add instructions for the interviewers and definitions of
key words for participants. Insure a smooth flow from
one topic to the next one (ex. "and now I will ask you
some questions about your own health..."). Insert
jumps/skip between questions if some questions are
only targeted at a subgroup of the respondents.

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
8.    Verify the content and style of the questions
Verify that each question answers to one of the
objectives and all your objectives are covered by the
questions asked. Delete questions that are not directly
related to your objectives. Make sure that each
question is clear, unambiguous, simple and short.
Check the logical order and flow of the questions.
Make sure the questionnaire is easy to read and has
an clear layout.

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
9.    Conduct a pilot study
You should always conduct a pilot study among the
intended population before starting the study to check
the appropriateness , completeness and validity of the
questionnaire.  

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 Steps in Developing
questionnaire
10. Refine your questionnaire
Depending on the results of the pilot study, you will
need to amend the questionnaire before the main
survey starts. 

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Categories of information for an
epidemiologic questionnaire
1. Identifying information
2. Demographic information
3. Clinical information
4. Exposure or risk factor information
5. Source of information

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 1. Identifying information
Important for the logistics of the study
Includes:
Respondent's name or other identifiers
Contact information: address and telephone
number
Allows:
Subject identification
Questionnaire updates as more information
becomes available
Linkage of questionnaire to other records
Prevention of duplicate entry of records
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 2. Demographic information
Includes items such as age, sex, education
level, and location
Is used to characterize the population at risk
Is important in the search of potential
confounders
Needs to be evaluated to determine if it
affects the relationship between exposure and
disease

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 3. Clinical information
 Includes:
Signs and symptoms of disease
Date of onset of illness
Results of laboratory testing
 Allows :
To characterize the illness
To decide who has the outcome of interest
To chart the time course of the problem

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 4. Exposure or risk factor
information
Is used to test the hypotheses under
investigation
Is probably the major focus of the
questionnaire
Should be specific to the problem under
investigation
Often includes:
The respondent’s exposure to the factor of
interest
The route, amount, and timing of exposure
and other details of exposure (e.g., brand,
distributor)
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 Types of questions
1. Open-ended
2. Fill-in-the-blank
3. Closed-ended
4. Categorical responses
5. Ordinal responses

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 Types of questions
Open-ended
Do not provide response choices, therefore
possible responses are limitless
Are useful in characterizing attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviors
Are usually limited to hypothesis-generating
activities

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 Types of questions
Fill-in-the-blank
Do not provide response choices
Require short responses (one or two words)
Are used to measure a simple respondent
attribute, collect a date, or quantification
Require categorization and coding of
responses

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 Types of questions
Closed-ended
 Response choices are provided
 Categorical responses: categories have no particular order
or inherent numerical value with respect to one another
 Ordinal responses: responses describe a range of choices
and have a quantitative values with respect to each other.
 Investigator must
 Anticipate likely responses
 Present the responses as a list of mutually exclusive
choices
 State responses clearly and concisely

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 Selecting the type of question
Depends on:
The kind of information you need
Your expectations about that information
During early exploration, when you know little
about a problem, you will be more likely to use
open-ended questions
As you learn more about the problem and can
anticipate responses, you will be more likely
to use closed-ended questions

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 Writing questions
Wording depends on:
Knowledge of the problem
Hypothesis being tested
Information being collected
Affected population

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 Wording of questions
Use language respondents can understand
Test translated questionnaires with native
speakers and “back translate” to test the
translation
Limit each question to a single idea
Word each question as precisely as possible

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 Wording of questions
Do not phrase questions in a way that
suggests a response
Avoid double negatives
Always include a “Don’t know” or “Refused”
category option
In closed-ended questions, be sure that
categories cover all potential responses and
are mutually exclusive

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 Questionnaire design
1. Introduction
Identify the sponsoring organization
Explain the purpose of the study
State how long the interview is likely to take
and reassure the participant that their
answers are confidential

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 Questionnaire design
2. Length
As short and focused on the hypothesis being
tested as possible
Try to gather additional information of interest
to the investigators without compromising
parsimony
3. Logic
Organize questions in a way that promotes
rapport between respondent and interviewer
Do not skip from topic to topic; the
questionnaire should appear logically organized

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 Questionnaire design
4. Layout
Clearly state instructions
Number questions and pages
Include an identifying code for the
respondent on each page
Separate responses from questions
Include skip patterns
5. Ending statements
Thank the respondent
Provide contact information

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 Conclusions
The first step in questionnaire development is to
frame and refine the hypotheses under study and
decide what information is needed to test the
hypotheses. Then design the questionnaire
paying careful attention to the type of question
used, wording and organization.

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