Designing Questioner

Nurfitri Bustamam, SSi, MKes, MPdKed.

Nurfitri Bustamam 2
Some Useful Hints
Specific questions will produce
specific answer
Try to avoid vague sounding
questions. They usually difficult to
answer.
Example:
Have you read a book recently?
Have you read a book within the last 7
days?

Nurfitri Bustamam 3
Some Useful Hints
Overly precise questions can cause
problems.
If you make the question too specific
you will likely make it to difficult to
answer.
Example: How many of your
classmates did you talk yesterday?


Nurfitri Bustamam 4
Some Useful Hints
Keep the language simple
Look at who will be answering your
questions & write at their level.
Avoid jargon or technical terms.

Nurfitri Bustamam 5
Some Useful Hints
Avoid the use of double negatives
Two negatives in a question can be
confusing
Example: Lack of student
applications is not something to worry
about

Nurfitri Bustamam 6
Some Useful Hints
Limit each question to a single idea
A question dealing with two or more
issues leads to confusion & produces
a meaningless response.
Example: are you in favor of reducing
the number of teaching hours &
increasing student intake?
What would a yes (or no) answer to
the above question tell you?
Nurfitri Bustamam 7
Some Useful Hints
Avoid emotionally charged word
Such words can create a bias and
introduce a highly personal tone
which many respondents may feel
uneasy with.

Nurfitri Bustamam 8
Some Useful Hints
Avoid leading questions
These are questions which by their
wording suggest answer.
Example: Do you think we should
increase doctors pay since they work
such long hours and provide a
valuable service?

Nurfitri Bustamam 9
Some Useful Hints
Be careful of personalization
Personalization can cause problems if
you are seeking opinions of a general
nature.
Example: What do you think of your
pharmacist?
Nurfitri Bustamam 10
Some Useful Hints
Try to avoid subjective terms
Words like usually, often, many,
can be interpreted in various ways.
For example many people to a city
dweller probably mean something
different to someone living in rural
isolation.


Nurfitri Bustamam 11
Some Useful Hints
Keep the item as short as possible
There is nothing more irritating and
confusing than a lengthy sentence
that needs to be reread again and
again before the respondent gets the
message.

Nurfitri Bustamam 12
Some Useful Hints
Ensure that all response options are
included
It is quite surprising how many
questionnaire do not include categories
such as Dont know.
Knowing that respondents dont know can
be a very valuable piece of information
Nurfitri Bustamam 13
Some Useful Hints
Avoid acronyms and abbreviations
Can you think of abbreviations that
may be interpreted in different ways?
STD (Standard Trunk Dialing or
Sexually Transmitted Diseases)

Nurfitri Bustamam 14
Some Useful Hints
Check the consistency of answer
Depending on the nature of your
questionnaire it may be beneficial to ask
the same questions again using different
wording.
If you are getting different answers to such
questions it casts doubt on the validity of
the entire set of responses for this
particular person.

Nurfitri Bustamam 15
Some Useful Hints
Pilot the questioner
Once you have constructed your
questionnaire try it out on a small
sample of the population

Nurfitri Bustamam 16
Reference
McAlleer S. Designing and
administering questionnaires. Centre
for Medical Education, University of
Dundee.
Nurfitri Bustamam 17