Survey Instrument: Questionnaire

self-administered and interview schedule

What are the two types of questionnaire?

Questionnaire

Measurement instrument in a survey containing the questions to be answered by the respondent.

1. decide on type of questionnaire

2. write down the question

3. combine all questions and decide the order in which to present them

4. write the introductory statement/cover letter + concluding part

5. write the instructions to interviewers and/or respondents

6. design/layout the form

7. translate questionnaire to major languages (for nationwide surveys)

8. pretest

What are the 8 steps of the process of constructing a questionnaire?

open-ended, close-ended, and semi-open

What are the 3 types of questions?

Open-ended

Type of question that require respondents to provide an answer in their own words.

Close-ended

Type of question where individuals select their choice from a complete set of answers provided.

Semi-open

Type of question where they have the option for respondents to provide answers other than the categories provided

1. language

2. questions

3. response options

4. formatting, etc.

What are the 4 different pitfalls in questionnaire construction?

1. complex words

2. abbreviations and acronyms

3. undefined terms or concepts

What are the three types of pitfalls in language?

1. double-barreled

2. double negatives

3. unspecific

4. leading

5. loaded

6. prestige markers and biased wordings

7. emotional language and words

8. sensitive or threatening

9. unrealistic/unreasonable recall period

10. inconsistent use of the same word

What are the 10 types of pitfalls in questions?

1. non-mutually exclusive options

2. unbalanced scales

3. non-exhaustive options

What are the three types of pitfalls in response options?

1. hard-to-read font

2. inconsistent layout

3. crowded or untidy appearance

4. routing instructions which are incorrect or hard to follow

5. illogical grouping

What are the five types of pitfalls in formatting, etc?

funnel, work, and sections

What are the three possible approaches when grouping questions?

funnel

Approach when grouping questions wherein there is a general-to-specific flow.

work

Approach when grouping questions wherein difficult to answer questions are placed deep inside the questionnaire.

sections

Approach when grouping questions wherein the questionnaire is arranged into sections (topic/category divisions) dictated by the objectives of the study

1. identification of person or organization conducting the study

2. explanation of the study's importance + reason/s it is being conducted

3. reason the respondent should be the one to answer the questionnaire

4. assurance of no right or wrong answers

5. guarantee of confidentiality

The cover letter must contain 5 parts, these are?

1. comments/suggestions section

2. acknowledgement of the respondents

3. certification from enumerator stating that the supplied responses are complete and correct

4. certification from enumerator re: Data Privacy Act of 2012

The cover letter must contain 4 parts, these are?

Pretest

• Aims to determine any errors in the questionnaire + areas that need improvement

• There are no rules re: the respondents who will be part of the pretest and on the sample size

participating and undeclared

What are the 2 types of pretest?

participating

Type of pretest where respondents are informed about practice run + asked to give comments.

undeclared

Type of pretest where respondents are not informed that the questionnaire is only a draft; interviewer plays it straight.

reliability

• internal consistency

• ability to create reproducible results

Cronbach’s Alpha

What is the most commonly used measure of reliability?

Cronbach’s Alpha

all items are reliable; questionnaire is internally consistent

If the value of the Cronbach’s Alpha is high (~0.80 - 1.00), that means that?

at least one item is unreliable; must be identified via item analysis procedure

If the value of the Cronbach’s Alpha is low (<0.60), that means that?

Validity

ability to measure what it intends to measure

1. face validity

2. content validity

3. criterion-related validity

4. construct validity

What are the 4 types of validity?

Pilot Survey

• small trial run of the entire survey process

• undertaken after the pretest

• completed prior to the actual surveys

• purpose: alert the enumerator for possible difficulties to anticipate