STA 111_CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE

 A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.

The following are characteristics of good questionnaire

• Questionnaire  should deal with important or significant topic to create interest among respondents.

• It should seek only that data which can not be obtained from other sources.

• It should be as short as possible but should be comprehensive.

• It should be attractive.

• Directions should be clear and complete.

• It should be represented in good Psychological order proceeding from general to more specific responses.

• Double negatives in questions should be avoided.

• Putting two questions in one question also should be avoided.

• It should avoid annoying or embarrassing questions.

• It should be designed to collect information which can be used subsequently as data for analysis.

• It should consist of a written list of questions.

• The questionnaire should also be used appropriately.

 Need to know what needs to be measured – Having a clear picture and understanding of what data needs to be collected contributes to the quality of data collection

Should know how to word/frame question and words should be neutral and should not be leading – Whatever your opinion may be, own opinion should never be reflected in the questions. This is done both intentionally and unintentionally but should be taken care of.

Emphasis on right word/phrase should be kept in mind – The language should be clear so that the required data can be received. This also makes the question and the requirement of survey easy to understand and thus help in getting a better response and answer.

Define and qualify terms – This is most essential when a technical survey or a field specific survey is being done. If you think that the audience being surveyed might not know about some terms than they must be defined to get any proper response. This will increase the quality and decrease the bounce rate or number of questions which were left unanswered.

Avoid double negatives or more than 1 negative word in question – Use of negative word has a psychological effect and can influence the answer.

Sufficient or adequate alternatives should be provided – Available options should have the most expected answers

Multiple questions in question should be avoided – One question should have one answer. If more than one question needs to be asked than it should be made a separate question to improve clarity of questions.

Word requiring emphasis should be emphasized – It helps in making a point and question clear

options like good/bad/fair/average should be quantified through photographs or other mean – These are very vague terms and interpretations of these varies from person to person

Unwanted assumptions should be avoided – A survey is about getting factual data and assumptions should be avoided.

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