Design a questionnaire
D H Stone
Another not-super-exciting blog, but since we're in the middle of coming up with evaluation material it's probably more useful to me than another hand tracking algorithm. This paper is on: how to write a useful questionnaire. It also came out of a medical journal, although I don't think that changes much because the concepts behind making a solid questionnaire are still the same. Anyway, back on topic:
According to the author, a good questionnaire is "one that works". Basically, that the respondent's answers can be analyzed without bias, error, or misrepresentation. While there is not a strict set of rules to follow to achieve this, the author does give a set of guidelines he feels will help you toward this goal.
Questions should be:
* Appropriate - The questions give relevant information.
* Intelligible - The language in the questionnaire is understandable by the respondent.
* Unambiguous - The questions mean the same thing to both the respondent and inquirer.
* Unbiased - Equal chance for all answers, also avoid "Recall Bias" (memory based).
* Omnicompetent - Be able to handle as many responses as possible. (Use 'other' and 'don't know' categories)
* Appropriately coded - Make sure your categories are mutually exclusive.
* Piloted - Questionnaires should always be piloted to check for any errors or other faults.
* Ethical - Get consent, etc. (IRB)
The author also has a step-by-step guide on the actual design of the questionnaire, rather than just theory behind the questions, which should be useful when actually constructing the survey:
(1) Decide what data you need
(2) Select items for inclusion
(3) Design individual questions
(4) Compose wording
(5) Design layout
(6) Think about coding
(7) Prepare first draft and pretest
(8) Pilot and evaluate
(9) Perform survey
