Questionnaire Design Process
Ing. Klára Kašparová, Ph.D.
Department of Corporate Economy
e-mail: klarad@econ.muni.cz

Structure of the lecture
Development of the questionnaire
Administration of the questionnaire
Pretest
Content of the questionnaire
Format of the questionnaire

Simplified model of research
Source: Punch, Developing effective research proposals, 2006 -
http://books.google.cz/books?id=PFHV8oajR7gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Developing+effective+research+p
roposals+punch&hl=cs&sa=X&ei=JdGbUPWdEYTMsgaaqYCIDA&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA
Test hypo-theses
Design
Data collection
Data analysis
Pre-empirical stage
Empirical stage
Context
Research area
Literature
Topic
Research questions
Hypotheses
Theory

Hierarchy of concepts
oResearch area
oResearch topic(s)
oGeneral research questions
oSpecific research questions
oData collection questions
Most general, most abstract
Most specific, most concrete
deduction
induction
Watch empirical criterion
Source: Punch, Developing effective research proposals, 2006
Ex: How To Measure Service Quality http://www.qualtrics.com/blog/how-to-measure-service-quality/

Ex:



Ex: Research of Faculty of Economics and Administration and Research Centre
oResearch area
oCompetitiveness
oResearch topic
oFactors influencing competitiveness of companies
oGeneral research questions
o 1. What is the relationship between application of CSR activities and competitiveness of
companies?
o 2. To what extent companies use CSR activities?
o 3. What is the relationship between company characteristic and application of CSR activities?
o etc.
oSpecific research questions
o 2a. What is the frequency of used types of CSR activities in particular companies?
o 3a. Does the size of company (based on number of employees) affect frequency of used types of CSR
activities?
o 3b. Does the sector affect frequency of used types of CSR activities?
o etc. …

oData collection questions
Information about sector was found in other way.
Based on 2a
Based on 3a
Based on 3b
Ex: Research of Faculty of Economics and Administration and Research Centre

Another view on the process
w3241e05


Content of the questionnaire
o
ois determined by:
o
oresearch targets/research questions
o (literature review, results of surveys – similar topic, pilot study)
otype of research
ochoice of channel for distribution of the questionnaire
oresources
o (financial and human resources, time limitation)

Content of the questionnaire – pilot survey
Ex: Measurement of Citizens‘ satisfaction with public service
oAttibutes of satisfaction were identified through personal interviewing, focus group, etc.
o
o - rewrite obtained information
o - look for the action verb describing the behavior of employees of organization (clerk gave me
advice) or adjective which describes important characteristic of service (information panels are
clearly visible)
o- make groups (categories) of similar answers
Source: Lukášová et al., Měření spokojenosti občanů s veřejnými službami jakou součást řízení
kvality v organizacích veřejného sektoru, 2009, p. 83-86

o The aim of question was to identify positive and negative experiences of citizens during the
visit of concrete authority
o
oAnswer no. 1: ………. When I arrived, clerk doesn‘t look at me.
oAnswer no. 2: ………. Toilet was untidy. There was no toilet paper.
oAnswer no. 3: ………. There were a lot of people and only two chairs.
oAnswer no. 4: ………. Clerk was personable. She said me hello and was smiling at me.
oAnswer no. 5: ………. There are no pens. So if you forget it, it is a big problem to fill in the
form.
oAnswer no. 6: ………. I was not waiting for a long time.
Source: Lukášová et al., Měření spokojenosti občanů s veřejnými službami jakou součást řízení
kvality v organizacích veřejného sektoru, 2009, p. 83-86
Content of the questionnaire – pilot survey
Ex: Measurement of Citizens‘ satisfaction with public service

o The aim of question was to identified positive and negative experiences of citizens during the
visit of concrete authority
o
oAnswer no. 1: …………. When I arrived, clerk doesn‘t look at me.
oAnswer no. 2: …………. Toilet was untidy. There was no toilet paper.
oAnswer no. 3: …………. There were a lot of people and only two chair.
oAnswer no. 4: …………. Clerk was personable. She said me hello and was smiling at me.
oAnswer no. 5: …………. There are no pens. So if you forget it, it is a big problem to fill in the
form.
oAnswer no. 6: …………. I was not waiting for a long time.
o
o Answers no. 1 and 4 say something about personnel
o Answer no. 2 about sanitary facility
o Answers no. 3 and 5 about convenience of visitors
o Answer no. 6 about waiting time
Source: Lukášová et al., Měření spokojenosti občanů s veřejnými službami jakou součást řízení
kvality v organizacích veřejného sektoru, 2009, p. 83-86
Content of the questionnaire – pilot survey
Ex: Measurement of Citizens‘ satisfaction with public service

Content of the questionnaire
o
ois determined by:
o
oresearch targets/research questions
o (literature review, results of surveys – similar topic, pilot study)
otype of research
ochoice of channel for distribution of the questionnaire
oresources
o (time limitation, financial and human resources)

Content of questionnaire – time limitation
otarget no. 1: Determine the relationship between parents‘ education and method of disciplining
children for mild, moderate, and severe infractions.
otarget no. 2: Determine the parents‘ satisfaction with their attained educational level.
o…
Topics
No. of questions
Information collected
Educational level
1
Last year of school completed
Satisfaction with the current educational status
1
Yes, no
Discipline methods
8
Methods (e.g. talking, hitting) for mild (e.g. not answering question), moderate (e.g. Coming home
more than one hour late), and severe (e.g. not coming home at all) infractions
…
Source: Fink, How to ask survey questions, 1995, p. 8-14 (SOC 481)

Content of questionnaire – human resources
oexpertise and availability of human resources
o
osemantic selection test

Ex: Research about Mutual Attitudes of Small Enterprises and Local Authorities



Content of the questionnaire – questions
oopen-ended
oclosed-ended with ordered responses
oclosed-ended with unordered responses choice
opartially close-ended
odichotomous
ofilter
Sources: http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/g3658-2.pdf,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/questype.php
What would you like to see as the main program emphasis next year?
What topic do you feel should be the main program emphasis for net year? (Circle number of your
answer.)
1 effective parenting
2 child development
3 guidance and discipline
4 communication
5 other (please specify)
---------------------------
Which of these four topics would you most like to see as the primary program emphasis next year?
(Circle number of your answer.)
1 effective parenting
2 child development
3 guidance and discipline
4 communication
How important to you are each of the following posiible program emphases? (Circle one for each
item.)
none little some much
A effective parenting 1 2 3 4
B child development 1 2 3 4
C guidance and discipline 1 2 3 4
D communication 1 2 3 4
Please enter your gender:
□ male □ female
Have you ever smoked marijuana?
1 yes
2 no
If yes, about how many times have you smoked marijuana during the two weeks?
A never
B once
C 2 to 5 times
D 6 to 10 times
E more than 10 times

Content of the questionnaire – asking survey questions
oAsk purposeful questions
o (quality of service of airline travel x questions about readings habits, possession of animal)
oAsk concrete questions, time limited
o (Did you enjoy the play? x Did you enjoy the first act of the play? x Did you find comedy scenes
in the play‘s first act funny?
oUse conventional language
o (Please try to define the degree of importance of individual stakeholder you have mentioned for
your company success in the market. x Please try to define the degree of importance of individual
subject you…)
o
oDon‘t use incomprehensible (unclear) phrasing
oAvoid abbreviations, jargon
oAvoid biasing words and phrases
oAvoid negative questions
oAvoid two-edged questions
Sources: Fink, How to ask survey questions, 1995, p. 18-29 (SOC 481) a Lukášová et al., Měření
spokojenosti občanů s veřejnými službami jakou součást řízení kvality v organizacích veřejného
sektoru, 2009, p. 87-89

oAsk purposeful questions
oAsk concrete questions, time limited
oUse conventional language
o
oDon‘t use incomprehensible (unclear) phrasing
o (Is health care accessible in the town you live? – occurrence of general or specialized health
care, surgery hour, possibility of parking, within reach of public transport,…Place of residence? –
Brno, South Moravia, The Czech Republic, Lipová 41a,…)
oAvoid abbreviations, jargon
oAvoid biasing words and phrases
o (Unwillingness of workers discourages customer from the next visit.)
oAvoid negative questions
o (I don‘t agree that clerks aren‘t helpful.)
oAvoid two-edged questions
o (How often do you buy or read Times?)
Sources: Fink, How to ask survey questions, 1995, p. 18-29 (SOC 481) a Lukášová et al., Měření
spokojenosti občanů s veřejnými službami jakou součást řízení kvality v organizacích veřejného
sektoru, 2009, p. 87-89

Content of the questionnaire – asking survey questions

Content of the questionnaire – construction of response categories
o
oResponse categorie must be:
o
oexhaustive
omutually exclusive
oset up to allow the respondent to provide multiple answers when relevant
owhen appropriate, provide for a „residual other“ category

Content of the questionnaire – responses
ofree response (open-ended response)
oforced choice
olikert scales
omultiple choice
o
Source: Lukášová et al., Měření spokojenosti občanů s veřejnými službami jakou součást řízení
kvality v organizacích veřejného sektoru, 2009, p. 89-92

Content of the questionnaire – instruction
o
o3 kinds of instructions are necessary
o(general, transitional, question answering)
o
o

oorder of the questions
o (easy-to-difficult progression, logical order,                     ? demographic questions
placement)
olength
overtical or horizontal format for answers
o
o
o
Format of the questionnaire
Source: Bourque a Fielder, How to conduct self-administred and mail survey, 1995, p. 93-105 (SOC
481)

Format of the questionnaire
oassignment indexes to questions and answers
osize, fonts and highlighting of letters
oconsistency
o
o
o
o
ofree space
osplitting questions between pages
ocontrast
o

Pretesting the questionnaire
o= testing of the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents to identify and eliminate
potential problems.
o
oYou should find answers to the questions below:
oDoes each question measure what it is intended to measure?
oDo respondents understand all the words?
oAre questions interpreted similarly by all respondents?
oDoes each close-ended question have an answer that applies to each respondent?
oDoes the questionnaire create positive impression – one that motivates people to answer it?
oAre some responses missing?
oDoes any aspect of the questionnaire suggest bias on the part of the researcher?
o
Source: http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/g3658-2.pdf

Administration of the questionnaire – cover letter
o14 kinds of information should be included:
o
oUse of letterhead
oInformation about sponsorship
oDates
oSalutation
oPurpose of the study
oReasons why an individual‘s participation is important
oIncentives to encourage respondent participation
oUse of advance letters
oHow material incentives will be provided or distributed
oRealistic estimate of the time required to complete the questionnaire
oHow and why the respondent was chosen
oExplanation of confidentiality and how the data will be handled
oProvision of a name and phone number to call for information
oWhen and how to return the questionnaire
Source: Bourque a Fielder, How to conduct self-administred and mail survey, 1995, p. 105-133 (SOC
481)