Survey questionnaire

WHAT IS QUESTIONNAIRE?
Questionnaires are printed lists of questions used to find out what people think or feel about an issue, product or service. They can be filled in away from the researcher in the form of a self-administered, group-administered or postal questionnaire. The term 'questionnaire' is also often used to describe a set of questions administered face-to-face or by telephone in the form of a structured interview (Oppenheim, 1992).

Basics of Question Development

There are several basic principles to remember when developing your questions.

Make sure your survey questions match your research objectives

You must always determine why you intend to conduct your survey research before you are able to properly write survey questions. For example, if you plan to conduct an exploratory research survey, your survey will usually not need to be as detailed as when you plan to conduct a confirmatory research survey.

Understand your research participants

Remember that your target population, not you, are the ones completing the survey. Try to develop an ability to think like your potential respondents. If you can effectively consider how your research participants will interpret and react to each question on your survey, then your resulting data is likely to provide useful information

Use natural and familiar language

Use language that is understandable to the type of respondents whom you are targeting. Consider the age of your respondents, their educational level, and any other relevant cultural characteristics of your respondents when deciding how to phrase your questions.

Types of Survey Questions

Survey questions vary according to what type of information they are trying to collect from the respondents, and how this information will apply to the goals of the survey. There are two basic types of survey questions: Open-ended and Closed-ended.

Open-ended
This type of question allows participants to respond in any way they choose. Open-ended questions provide primarily qualitative data, and are frequently used in exploratory research. Example What is your current marital status? A: [Participants provide answers in their own words]

Closed-ended
In contrast to open-ended questions, closed-ended questions require participants to choose from a limited number of responses predetermined by the researcher. There are 5 basic types of closed-ended questions: Multiple-choice; Categorical; Likert-scale; Numerical; and Ordinal. Closed-ended questions provide primarily quantitative data, and are frequently used in confirmatory research.

Multiple Choice
Use a multiple-choice question when you want your respondents to choose the best possible answer among all options presented.

Example
What is your current marital status? (Select one.) o Single o Married o Divorced o Separated o Widowed

Categorical
Use a categorical question when the possible answers are categories, and the respondent must belong to one category. Example What is your gender? o Male o Female

Likert-Scale
Use a Likert-scale question when you are trying to determine respondents attitudes or feelings about something.
Example How important do you think SAT scores are to a college students success? (select one): Not very important 1 2 3 4 5 Extremely important

Ordinal
Sometimes you may want your respondents to rank order their responses. A ranking indicates the importance assigned by a participant to an attitudinal object. Example Please rank the importance of the following qualities in a team leader. (Please fill in your rank order in the spaces provided using the numbers 1 through 5) A team leader that is sincere A team leader that gets resources for the team A team leader that is an advocate for the team A team leader that is a strong disciplinarian A team leader that is a good motivator

Numerical
When the answer must be a number, ask a numerical question. Example What is your current age? (select one) o Less than 18 o 18 to 29 o 30 to 39 o 40 to 49 o 50 or older