Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE:

A Questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaire is often designed for statistical analysis of the responses.

QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION:

Question Types:

A Questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format. A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended question. An open-ended question asks the respondent to formulate his/her own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. The response options for a closed-ended question should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Four types of response scales for closed-ended questions are distinguished:

• Dichotomous: where the respondent has two options
• Nominal-polytomous: where the respondent has more than two unordered options
• Ordinal-polytomous: where the respondent has more than two ordered options
• Continuous: where the respondent is presented with a continuous scale

Question Sequence:

1. Screens: are used as a screening method to find out early whether or not someone should complete the questionnaire.
2. Warm-ups: are simple to answer, help in capturing interest in the survey.
3. Transition: are used to make different areas flow well together.
4. Skips: are used in situation where answers are like, "If YES, then answer question 5. If NO, then answer question 8. 
5. Difficult: are used at the end when the respondent is in 'response mode'. 
6. Classification: are used at the end because they can feel like personal questions which will make respondent uncomfortable and not willing to finish survey. 

Basic rules for Questionnaire to Construct:

• Use statements which are interpreted in the same way by all respondents.
• Use statements where persons that have different opinions or traits will give different answers.
• Think of having an "open" answer category after a list of possible answers.
• Use positive statements and avoid negatives or double negatives.
• Do not make assumptions about the respondent.
• Use clear and comprehensible words.
• Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. 
• Avoid question having two questions.
• Questions should not be biased.