1. Questionnaires AD700College of Advancing Studies 20 October, 2004Brendan Rapple

2. Use Questionnaires or Not? Perhaps “better” responses by phone -- but phone interviewing is very time-consuming. On other hand, people tend to be more truthful with anonymous questionnaires Generally cheaper than one-on-one interviews Perhaps a mix of questionnaire and interviewing?

3. Mailed Questionnaires Explain purpose of questionnaire very clearly and precisely. Explain any potential use the results will have for the respondents themselves. Stress voluntary nature - respondents are doing a favor to the researcher. Use letter-head -- official. Confidentiality is clearly promised. It has a clear, physically separate expression of thanks.

4. Whatever Format...... Important to specify a deadline for response. Follow-up letter (e-mail) often advisable Always essential for PILOT STUDY or PRE-TEST

5. Questions Should Be –Woven together –Flow smoothly –Avoid confusion A good questionnaire forms an integrated whole.

6. Different Understandings Everyone should see/understand the exact same question – no ambiguity. But people from different backgrounds, with diverse frames of reference, may have different perceptions of the same question.

7. Avoid Ambiguity Do you favor governmental involvement in health care? “What is your income?” __________________ do you mean: weekly monthly annual pretax after tax from salary or from all sources

8. Another Example: (A blouse manufacturer wants to ascertain what type of sleeves teenage females prefer in their blouses) 1.Do you like short sleeve blouses? YES__NO__ 2.Do you like long sleeve blouses? YES__NO__ 3.Do you like sleeveless blouses? YES__NO__

9. Another Example “Do you jog regularly?” Problem, of course, lies with REGULARLY

10. Avoid jargon, slang, abbreviations Plumbers talk about “snakes” Psychologists about “oedipus complex” Lawyers about “mens rea”

11. “NATO” usually means North Atlantic Treaty Organization But some respondents might take it to mean: --National Auto Tourist Organization --Native Alaskan Trade Orbit --North African Tea Office

12. Types of Questions Open-Ended Questions: –What is your age? –What is the total turnover in your company? –Which of the four seasons do you prefer? –How would you spend a a $1,000,000 lottery win?

13. Disadvantages of Open-ended Questions: Variation in answers make coding/scoring difficult

14. Advantages of Open-ended Questions Do not impose researcher's opinion on respondent Can lead to a very precise answer

15. Forced-Choice Questions How many books do you read each year? Please check as appropriate below: ___none ___1 to 5 ___6 to 10 ___11 to 20 ___more than 20

16. What do you recall about the frequency of snowfall in Boston during the winter of 1994? ___It snowed almost every day ___It snowed about once a week ___It snowed about once every two weeks ___It snowed about once a month

17. Importance of Wording Take a very simple question: How many drinks do you have each day? (Check one of the following) ____5 or more ____4 ____3 ____2 ____1 ____none

18. Better to Ask Are your daily drinking habits reasonably consistent -- i.e. do you take about the same number of alcoholic drinks each day? _____YES _____NO (if you mark "NO," skip the following question).

19. Checking Respondents' Consistency Q. 4. Check one of the following: _x_I believe that manufacturing should be increasingly computerized, even if layoffs ensue. ___Preserving the jobs of workers is more important than computerizing manufacturing. Later on, the Researcher Might Ask: Q. 30. Check one of the following: ___I support G.M.'s increasing use of robotics, despite the resulting massive layoffs. _x_The government should force G.M. to curtail computerization to ensure a reduction in layoffs.

20. Avoid Emotional Language “What do you think about a policy to pay murderous terrorists who threaten to steal the freedoms of peace-loving people?” Problematic Words: murderous freedoms steal peace

21. What is your present marital status? 1 never married 2 married 3 divorced 4 separated 5 widowed Arrangement Is Important

22. A Better Arrangement Would Be: What is your present marital status? (circle number) 1.never married 2.married 3.divorced 4.separated 5.widowed

23. Danger of Overlapping Check How Many Children are in Your Family: a.0-1 children b.1-2 children c.2 or more children

24. Avoid Prestige Bias “Most doctors say that cigarette smoke causes lung disease for those near a smoker”. Do you agree?” “Do you support the president’s policy regarding Zanozui?”

25. Avoid Double-Barreled Questions: "Does your company have pension and health insurance benefits?"

26. Avoid loaded questions: "Should the mayor spend even more tax money trying to keep the streets in top shape?" "Should the mayor fix the pot-holed and dangerous streets in our city?"

27. Ranking Answers (Likert Scale Format): Women should automatically receive three months maternity leave in your company stronglyagree partly agree disagree strongly agreedisagree ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

28. How often do you attend church? Never Yearly Monthly Weekly Daily ____ ___ ___ ___ ___

29. Visual Analog Scales BIPOLAR scales I SEE MYSELF AS: ExtremelyExtremely interested inuninterested politics ______:______:______:______:______in politics