Guidelines for Questionnaire
Design
Guidelines for QD
• A questionnaire is pre-formulated written
set of questions to which respondents
record their answers, usually within rather
closely defined alternatives.
Guidelines for QD contd.
 General Appearance or Getup:
 A good introduction;
 Organizing questions, giving instructions &
Guidance, & Good Alignment;
 Open ended questions at the end;
 Concluding the questionnaire: I sincerely
appreciate your time and cooperation. Please
check to make sure that you have not skipped
any questions.
Guidelines for QD contd.
 Principles of Wording:
 The appropriateness of the questions;
 How questions are worded and the level of
sophistication of the language used;
 The type and form of questions asked;
 The sequencing of the questions;
 The personal data sought from respondents;
 Length of question: should not exceed 20
words, or exceed one full line in print.
Guidelines for QD contd.
 Sound Questionnaire design should
focus on Three Areas:
 wording of the questions;
 How variables will be categorized, scaled and
coded after receipt of the responses;
 The general appearance of the questionnaire.
Determine the Information wanted &
Types of Questions Required
• Close ended questions. The question uses
an EITHER / OR or YES / NO response:


I have good communication with my
supervisor
O Yes
O No
The Color scheme in our new store is
generally
O Attractive
O Not Attractive
Questionnaire Design & Survey
Administration
• Multiple Choice Questions:
• This type of question offers several choices and
the respondent is asked to select the most
correct one.
• Example
– About how often do you purchase items from the
company vending machines?
– Once a day or less
– Two-Three times a day
– Three-Five times a day
– Six or more times a day
Questionnaire Design & Survey
Administration contd.
 To be effective, the choices presented
must cover all possible options.
 Respondents get irritated when their
selection isn’t one of the options, (You can
add a “None of the above” easily enough,
although it won’t tell you much).
Questionnaire Design & Survey
Administration contd.
 Open Ended Questions
 This type of questions allows the respondent
to give an unlimited answer. This question
should e followed by sufficient space for the
response.
 Examples:
 What problems are you having
communicating with your supervisor (followed
by space to respond)?
Questionnaire Design & Survey
Administration contd.
 Please describe how you most often use your
new mobile phone (followed by space to
respond)?
 Open ended responses are difficult to quantify.
They can be used in surveys to get ideas,
examples and general feelings, but typically an
interview is a better medium for this, since it allows
the researcher to probe and clarify responses.
Checklist
• This type of question presents a list of items
where participants are asked to check those
that apply to their particular situation:
Informal Meetings
After-Hrs Discussions
Formal Meetings
Telephone
Written Report
Social Gathering
Letters
Committee Meetings
Checklist contd.
• Please check bank services that you have
asked (Check as many as apply):
Master card
checking
Certificates of Deposit
Financial Planning
Personal Loans
saving Accounts
Home Mortgages
Safe deposit box