Chapter 11
Designing Data Collection
Forms
The Functions of a Questionnaire
• Translates the research objectives into specific
questions
• Standardizes those questions and the response
categories
• Fosters cooperation and motivation
• Serves as permanent records of the research
• Can speed up the process of data analysis
• Can serve as the basis for reliability and validity
measures
The Questionnaire Development Process
Preliminary Considerations –
Question Contents
• Will the respondent understand the
question?
• Does the respondent know the answer?
• Can the respondent recall the answer?
• The respondent must be willing to provide
the information, e.g., the sensitivity
issues— income, sex life, drug use, HIV,
Developing Questions
Research Questions
• A research question: is employed in research
projects to obtain overt, verbal communication
from individual study participants
• Its intended function is to elicit meaningful verbal
responses from study participants.
• Research questions measure:
• Attitudes
• Beliefs
• Behaviors
• Demographics
Developing Questions
“Shoulds” of Question Wording
• Question should be focused on a single issue or
topic.
• Question should be brief.
• Question should be interpreted the same way by
all respondents.
• Question should use respondent’s core
vocabulary.
• Question should be a grammatically simple
sentence if possible.
• Should use “mutually exclusive and collectively
exhaustive categories”.
Questionnaire Organization
Five Functions of Introduction-Cover letter
• Identification of the surveyor/respondent
• Undisguised
• Disguised
• Purpose of survey
• Explanation of respondent selection
• Request for participation/provide incentive
• Incentives
• Anonymity
• Confidentiality
• Screening of respondent
Questionnaire Organization
Typical Question Sequence
Approaches to Question Flow
• Work approach: is employed when the researcher
realizes that respondents will need to apply
different mental effort to groups of questions–
from easy to difficult questions.
• Sections approach: organizes questions into sets
based on a common objective of questions in the
set
Precoding the Questionnaire
• Precoding: placement of numbers on the
questionnaire to facilitate data entry after the
survey has been conducted
• Numbers are preferred for two reasons:
• Numbers are easier and faster to keystroke
into a computer file
• Computer tabulation programs are more
efficient when they process numbers
Computer-Assisted Questionnaire Design
• Computer-assisted questionnaire design:
software programs allow users to use computer
technology to develop and disseminate
questionnaires– “e.g., WebSurveyor, Survey Pro”
• Advantages:
• Easier
• Faster
• Friendlier
• More functionality
Computer-Assisted Questionnaire
Design…cont.
• Survey creation feature:
• Question list
• Question libraries
• Details
• Survey appearance
• Preview
• Publish
• Send notification
Computer-Assisted Questionnaire
Design…cont.
• Creation of data files and data collection
• Data analysis and reports
• Performing the pretest of the questionnaire
Designing Observation Forms
• Observation forms: prepared for the researchers
to record the behaviors observed by researchers
in observation studies
• Structuring observational studies
• Build-up and break-down approaches
• Build-up: perform observations first, then build
categories
• Break-down: categories are created before
observation and provided on an observation
record forms
Case 11.3 The Hobbit’s Choice
• Please read Case 11.3 in p. 331.
• Analyze the case and then answer
question 1.