Questionnaire construction refers to the design of a questionnaire to gather statistically useful information about a given topic. When properly constructed and responsibly administered, questionnaires can provide valuable data about any given subject.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires are frequently used in quantitative marketing research and social research. They are a valuable method of collecting a wide range of information from a large number of individuals, often referred to as respondents. What is often referred to as "adequate questionnaire construction" is critical to the success of a survey. Inappropriate questions, incorrect ordering of questions, incorrect scaling, or a bad questionnaire format can make the survey results valueless, as they may not accurately reflect the views and opinions of the participants. Different methods can be useful for checking a questionnaire and making sure it is accurately capturing the intended information. Initial advice may include:
consulting subject-matter experts using questionnaire construction guidelines to inform drafts, such as the Tailored Design Method, or those produced by National Statistical Organisations. Empirical tests also provide insight into the quality of the questionnaire. This can be done by:
conducting cognitive interviewing, asking a sample of potential-respondents about their interpretation of the questions and use of the questionnaire. carrying out a small pretest of the questionnaire, using a small subset of target respondents. Results can inform a researcher of errors such as missing questions, or logical and procedural errors. estimating the measurement quality of the questions. This can be done for instance using test-retest, quasi-simplex, or mutlitrait-multimethod models. predicting the measurement quality of the question. This can be done using the software Survey Quality Predictor (SQP).
Test items In the realm of psychological testing and questionnaires, an individual task or question is referred to as a test Item or item. These items serve as fundamental components within questionnaire and psychological tests, often tied to a specific latent psychological construct (see operationalization). Each item produces a value, typically a raw score, which can be aggregated across all items to generate a composite score for the measured trait. Test items generally encompass three primary components:
Item stem: This represents the question, statement, or task presented. Answer format: The manner in which the respondent provides an answer, including options for multiple-choice questions. Evaluation criteria: The criteria used to assess and score the response. The degree of standardization varies, ranging from strictly prescribed questions with predetermined answers to open-ended questions with subjective evaluation criteria. Responses to test items serve as indicators in the realm of social sciences.
Types of questions Questions, or items, may be:
Closed-ended questions – Respondents' answers are limited to a fixed set of responses. Yes/no questions – The respondent answers with a "yes" or a "no". Multiple choice – The respondent has several option from which to choose. Scaled questions – Responses are graded on a continuum (e.g.: rate the appearance of the product on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most preferred appearance). Examples of types of scales include the Likert scale, semantic differential scale, and rank-order scale. (See scale for further information) Matrix questions – Identical response categories are assigned to multiple questions. The questions are placed one under the other, forming a matrix with response categories along the top and a list of questions down the side. This is an efficient use of page space and the respondents' time. Open-ended questions – No options or predefined categories are suggested. The respondent supplies their own answer without being constrained by a fixed set of possible responses. Examples include: Completely unstructured – For example, "What is your opinion on questionnaires?" Word association – Words are presented and the respondent mentions the first word that comes to mind. Sentence completion – Respondents complete an incomplete sentence. For example, "The most important consideration in my decision to buy a new house is..." Story completion – Respondents complete an incomplete story. Picture completion – Respondents fill-in an empty speech balloon. Thematic apperception test – Respondents explain a picture or create a story about what they think is happening in the picture. Contingency question – A question that is answered only if the respondent gives a particular response to a previous question. This avoids asking questions of people that do not apply to them (for example, asking men if they have ever been pregnant).
Multi-item scales
Within social science research and practice, questionnaires are most frequently used to collect quantitative data using multi-item scales with the following characteristics:
Multiple statements or questions (minimum ≥3; usually ≥5) are presented for each variable being examined. Each statement or question has an accompanying set of equidistant response-points (usually 5-7). Each response point has an accompanying verbal anchor (e.g., “strongly agree”) ascending from left to right. Verbal anchors should be balanced to reflect equal intervals between response-points. Collectively, a set of response-points and accompanying verbal anchors are referred to as a rating scale. One very frequently-used rating scale is a Likert scale. Usually, for clarity and efficiency, a single set of anchors is presented for multiple rating scales in a questionnaire. Collectively, a statement or question with an accompanying rating scale is referred to as an item. When multiple items measure the same variable in a reliable and valid way, they are collectively referred to as a multi-item scale, or a psychometric scale. The following types of reliability and validity should be established for a multi-item scale: internal reliability, test-retest reliability (if the variable is expected to be stable over time), content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity. Factor analysis is used in the scale development process. Questionnaires used to collect quantitative data usually comprise several multi-item scales, together with an introductory and concluding section.
Pretesting
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