Questionnaires
Questionnaires can be used as part of survey, or as a way into gathering general information about a community, organization, etc.
The questions can be either open- or closed-, or a combination.
The steps involved in questionnaire design and administration include
1 Defining the Objectives of the exercise
2 Determining the Sampling Group
3 Constructing the Questionnaire
4 Pre-test/pilot the questionnaire
5 Administering the Questionnaire
6 Processing and analysis of data
7 Reporting the results
When constructing the actual questionnaire these points need to be kept in mind:
• Cost (including envelopes and postage if necessary)
• Possible bias
• Response rate and following up on non-respondents
• Literacy levels of target group
• Cover letter
• The order of the questions
• Time considerations
• Notification of a cut-off date
• Question wording
• Non-response bias
• Length of the questionnaire
Question word checklist
1 Is the language simple?
2 Can the question be shortened?
3 Is the question double-barrelled?
4 Is the question leading?
5 Is the question negative?
6 Is the respondent likely to have necessary knowledge?
7 Will the words have the same meaning for everyone?
8 Is there a prestige bias ?
9 Is the question ambiguous?
10 Is the question too precise?
11 Is the frame of reference for the question sufficiently clear?
12 Does the question artificially create opinions?
13 Is personal or impersonal wording preferable?
14 Is the question wording unnecessarily detailed or objectionable?
15 Does the question have dangling alternatives?
16 Does the question contain gratuitous ‘dead-giveaway’?
Problems can arise with the following questions: hypothetical, presuming/leading, sensitive, or long questions, and also on those which rely on memory, require prior knowledge, or have mutually exclusive responses.
You need to formulate general instructions addressing issues of confidentiality and anonymity. Indicate how the questionnaire is meant to be answered. Give a deadline for responses and instructions for replying. Ensure that each question (or block of similar questions) has a clear instruction on how to respond. Indicate the form of the answer (numeric, tick-box, rank etc.) and how many answers are expected, such as "most relevant", "one only" or "all which apply." Put easier questions at the start as respondents may refuse to co-operate if your survey begins with awkward or embarrassing questions.
Questionnaires can be used at the analysis, planning and reviewing stages of the development process. As a monitoring tool, they can be effective if done on a small scale, targeted basis. As part of an evaluation, they can offer a broad perspective and can allow comparisons across different communities. To assess programme impact, the questions can focus on pre-intervention (using participant recall) as well as the current situation. Questionnaires could then be compared with results from baseline information is this was available.