Quantitative methods Questionnaire Design

Research Stages Stage 1: Research aims Stage 2: Literature Stage 3: Research design Stage 4: Instrumentation Stage 5: Piloting Stage 6: Data collection Stage 7: Data cleaning and Data analysis Stage 8: Research report

What is a questionnaire? A questionnaire is a structured instrument for collecting primary data on populations of interest in applied or theory-based research. A well-designed questionnaire facilitates the respondents to provide complete and accurate information. A questionnaire is a structured instrument for collecting primary data on populations of interest in applied or theory-based research. A questionnaire is an important instrument of research, a tool for data collection. It is a series of predetermined written or verbal questions for which the respondent provides answers. A questionnaire is not some sort of official form, nor is it a set of questions which have been casually jotted down without much thought. Its function is measurement. (Oppenheim, 1992). A well-designed questionnaire facilitates the respondents to provide complete and accurate information. Questionnaires are designed to serve a variety of purposes: aids in screening or selecting employees, students, trainees and recruits; providers of patient information in health-related setting that contribute to diagnostic and treatment decisions; and as survey instruments for obtaining data on populations of interest. (Aiken, 1997)

Main types of questionnaires Mail/Online questionnaires Structured interview schedules The term 'questionnaire' has been used in different ways. Some practitioners refer to this term as self‑administered and postal/online questionnaires. Others would include interview schedules (administered face‑to-face or by telephone) under the general term of 'questionnaires'. In a different way the word 'questionnaire' is sometimes used to distinguish a set of questions, including perhaps some open‑ended ones, from more rigidly constructed scales or tests. There is, of course, some overlap between these techniques. For example, the problems of item wording or phrasing, and of ordering the questions in a particular sequence, are common to them all. In the present context we shall therefore use the term 'questionnaire' fairly loosely to cover postal questionnaires, group‑ or self‑administered questionnaires and structured interview schedules (including telephone interviews). (Oppenheim, 1992)

Methods of administering Interview: face to face or telephone; Mail or other distribution method Computer-based There are three main methods of administering a questionnaire. These can be interview: face to face or telephone; mail or other distribution method, and computer-based form of data collection. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and our final choice will depend on its appropriateness to our purpose and to the means at our disposal. These methods will somewhat impact on the content and format of the questionnaire.

Interview/telephone Sampling implication Minimise interviewer effect Time of interview, sample selection Minimise interviewer effect Standardise interview schedule, scripted Example:Year_After_9-11.doc

Mail or Distribution Sampling implication Not supervised Clarity of questions Complexity versus simplicity Room for comments, problems with the questionnaire

Online or computer administered Sampling implication Not supervised Clarity of questions Can incorporate complex pathways of questionnaire items If answer is yes, go to Q5. If answer is no, go to Q7, etc Room for comments, problems with the questionnaire Missing responses checked

Steps Establish a table of specifications, panel and revise if necessary Write the questions Determine the general question content needed to obtain each of the desired information Determine the form of response for each of the questions Choose the exact question wording. Panel and revise the questions if necessary Prepare the questionnaire layout for printing Arrange the questions into an effective sequence. Specify the physical characteristics of the questionnaire (paper type, number of questions per page, etc.) Panel and revise the questions and the whole questionnaire Pre-testing and Pilot the questionnaire. Analyse and revise the questions and the whole questionnaire if needed

Establish a table of specifications Steps Identify the program objectives for which the questionnaire is being developed Operationalise the objectives Identify the population to be addressed Identify the methods of administration Establish the link between research questions, information needed, source of information and methods of data collection Decide on how to measure each variable Establish a table of specifications

What are the general program objectives or research questions? Identify the program objectives for which the questionnaire is being developed What are the general program objectives or research questions? What are the specific research questions? What are hypotheses? (draw a diagram) A first step in constructing questionnaire involves establishing clear objectives of the survey or program for that the questionnaire is used. Some key questions are What is the questionnaire trying to find out? What sort of information is it required to elicit? Answers to these questions will help ascertain what is needed in the questionnaire, and what is extraneous to it. This is a ruthlessly selective process: only relevant questions must be included, and the researcher must desist from including questions that do not explicitly promote the realisation of the survey's objectives, irrespective of their intrinsic interest. This process is one of continuous clarification, and involves moving from a general expression of interest to clearly defined and measurable entities. One approach to this is the procedure of operationalism. This approach seeks to remove the ambiguity in concepts by specifying the operations by which they are to be measured. To do any (quantitative) research we must be able to measure the concepts we wish to study. This entails having to specify the meaning of particular concepts precisely and to or to understand the dimensions of the concepts to develop sound measuring procedures which will stand for them.

Example PISA Contextual Questionnaire PISA_Questionnaire_TechnicalReport.pdf

PISA Research Themes Table 3.1 Examples: Student engagement with mathematics Mathematics self-efficacy Mathematics self-concept Mathematics anxiety Interest in and enjoyment of mathematics Instrumental motivation to learn mathematics Study time in mathematics

Example Report: Student engagement in schools StudentEngagementOECDWillms.pdf

Determine specific information needed List dimensions, variables that you should measure List specific information you hope to collect

Establishing the link between information needed, source of information and methods of data collection Information needed / variables to be measured Source of information Methods of data collection Once the terms or concepts or variables are specified, the table that presents a link between information needed, and from whom and whore information can be obtained, and how to obtain this information (structured interview or mail questionnaire…)

Identify the population to be addressed Source of information Who is appropriate to provide the necessary information Characteristics of the target population

Identify the methods of administration Think in advance how the questionnaire should be administered?

How to measure each variable Decide if the variable is directly observable or latent Is the variable measured by one item? Is the variable a composite of a number of items (indicators)?

Example: Student engagement in schools (see Willms report) Define student engagement. Student engagement is measured by two components: Sense of belonging Participation What are indicators of Sense of belonging and Participation?

How to measure each variable Latent variable (Construct) Is the variable measured through a set of indicators? If yes, what are the possible dimensions and/or indicators How is each indicator measured? Produce a table showing how to measure each indicator

Not directly observable Questionnaire design Latent Variables and Indicators 1 2 Latent Variable 3 Indicators 4 5 Examples of Latent Variables and Items: Asthma severity: frequency of shortness of breaths; Anorexia nervosa: degree of , from mild dieting to refusal of food. Status of teachers] Proficiency in mathematics Language ability Latent variables are some defined “notion” that is a continuum from “less” to “more”. That is, we can talk about measurements of such variables. Some variables that are not good examples of latent variables: date of birth. ‘Age’ could be, but usually not latent. 6 Not directly observable Directly observable

Questionnaire design (Barrett, 2002) Construct development Step 1: Define a meaning for your construct. It will be of narrow focus, capable of sustaining precise measurement. Step 2: Develop appropriate items for this construct. Step 3: Test the hypothesis that the items do indeed imply the meaning of the construct as defined. Step 4: Revise the items (Barrett, 2002)

How to develop indicators (items) Draft the first items Panel the indicators 1. Draft the first items Measures developed and validated in previous research can be used. Unstructured interview, group focus interview or observation may be helpful in developing scale addressing special group 2. Panel the indicators: Experts in the field or popple who are familiar or related to the topis can provide good comments Informants from the group to be surveyed can provide useful clues about the quality of questions

Example: How to measure Sense of belonging – draft items A. I feel like an outsider (or left out of things) B. I make friends easily C. I feel like I belong D. I feel awkward and out of place E. Other students seem to like me F. I feel lonely G. I do not want to go to school H. I often feel bored.

Example: How to measure participation Measured by the frequency of absence, class-skipping and late arrival at school during the two weeks prior to the PISA 2000 survey.

Panel and Review the table of specifications for the program/ project Do the variables cover all the information needed for the program? Do the indicators cover all the dimensions of the variable measured? If more than one questionnaire is to be designed, a panel and review of the table of specifications for each questionnaire should be done

Data analysis to check the appropriateness of the indicators Example on student engagement in schools: (p64, Willms) A factor analysis of the responses found two factors one that is based on the first six items and describes whether students feel accepted and included by their classmates, The second is based primarily on the last two items and describes whether students like school and find it interesting. The analysis also revealed that the six belonging items contributed almost equally to the first factor. Therefore, the measure of sense of belonging used in this report is based on a Rasch scaling of the first six items

Reliability and Validity

Reliability and Validity High Validity Reliable Low Reliability High Reliability but low validity (A) (B) (C) What are the relationships between reliability and validity? “Reliability and validity are usually complementary concepts, but in some special situations, they conflict with each other. Sometimes as validity increases, reliability is difficult to obtain and vice versa. This occurs when the construct has a highly abstract and not easily observable definition. Thus, there is a strain between the true essence of the highly abstract construct and measuring it in a concrete manner”. (Neuman, 1997) If a scale is reliable will it be valid? Not necessary. If a scale is valid will it be reliable? Yes.

Validity Validity is the ability of an instrument to measure what is designed to measure (Smith, 1991) Validity refers to the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the real meaning of the concept under consideration (Babbie, 1990: 33) It is difficult to establish validity of an attitudinal scale. Who decides that an instrument is measuring what is supposed to measure? The person who has designed the study and experts in the field. How can it be establish that an instrument is measuring what it is supposed to measure? There are two approaches to establish the validity of a research instrument: Logic and statical. Establishing a logical link between the questions and the objectives through justification of each question is both simple and difficult. It is simple in the sense that you may find it easy to see a link your self, and difficult because your justification may lack the backing of experts. Therefore it is necessary to get opinions and comments form experts in the field.

Example: Student engagement in schools (p.18, Willms) Participation is measured by the frequency of absence, class-skipping and late arrival at school during the two weeks prior to the PISA 2000 survey. There are two issues concerning the validity of the participation measure. One issue is that the measure of participation could be more extensive. It was measured in this study with a rather narrow focus on student absenteeism. The second issue pertains to how participation is measured. A number of students may have missed school because of illness or for other legitimate reasons.

Reliability - 1 Reliability is concerned with how much error is included in the evidence. If there is no error in the measurement, the same measurement should be consistent over time and context. The reliability of a measure refers to the consistency of measurement for repeated measurements of the same phenomenon. (Willms, p65)

Reliability - 2 Internal consistency reliability Description Concerned with how well the items act together to elicit a consistent type of response. Often referred to as Coefficient a Limitations Requires statistical procedures to estimate reliability. Does not capture sources of error such as variation over time . Assumes all items tap into one single dimension. Usages Important to establish when designing a scale

Reliability example Willms, p65. The measures of sense of belonging and participation are highly reliable at the country level: the reliability coefficients are 0.99 for both sense of belonging and participation.

Writing questions

Questionnaire design Design the items Issues to be considered for each item What information do I want to get? Is this factual or non-factual? How to ask? What kind of responses do I want to get? /How do I want the respondents to answer my questions (format) How will I code this item? Will I include the coding in the item format? Once a Table of Specification is established, the next step is to write the questions. These are issues to be considered when writing questions.

Questionnaire design Measurement Types Nominal Ordinal Interval Nominal type of measurement entails the classification of individuals in terms of a concept or the characteristics being scaled, without there being any implication of gradation or distance between the groups. Ordinal type of variables classifies individuals into groups but the groups can be ordered in terms of more or less of the concept in the question. Ordinal scale ranks individuals along the continuum of the concept being measured but carries no implication of distance between scale positions. The step form position 1 to position 2 may be different or may be the same as from position 2 to position 3… Interval type of scale has equal unit of measurement. There fore it is possible to interpret both the order and the distance between categories or groups. Measuring age or income is an example of this type of measurement. The highest level of measurement is a ratio type of scale which has the properties of an interval scale together with a fix origin or zero point; With a ratio scale we can compare both differences I scores and the relative magnitude of scores;

Questionnaire design Question types To facilitate question writing, it is important to know types of questions. There are two ways of classification of questions: Classification by response format Classification by types of information Factual. Non-factual (e.g., attitude) To facilitate question writing, it is important to know types of questions. There are two ways of classification of questions: Classification by response format Classification by types of information

Questionnaire design Closed questions Open-ended questions Question types - classification by response format Closed questions Open-ended questions A closed question is one in which the respondents are offered a choice of alternative replies. They may be asked to tick or underline their chosen answer(s) in a written questionnaire, or the alternatives may be read aloud or shown to them on a prompt card or a slide. Questions of this kind may offer simple alternatives such as Yes and No, or the names of five political parties in an election; or they can offer something more complex, such as a choice of ways of keeping order in a classroom or a choice of motives for smoking cigarettes. Open or free‑response questions are not followed by any kind of choice, and the answers have to be recorded in full. In the case of a written questionnaire, the amount of space or the number of lines provided for the answer will partly determine the length and fullness of the responses we obtain. Inevitably, some of this richness is lost when the answers are classified later, but it is useful to report a few such answers in full in the final report to give the reader some of the flavour of the replies. Statistical tabulations are important and must remain our first aim, but they make dull reading. Oppenheim, A.N (1992) Questionnaire design, interviewing, and attitude measurement: New York .(Page 112-115) Both open-ended and close–ended questions may be included on a questionnaire. The rules for writing good test items also apply to the construction of items to be included on questionnaires. To defend your choice of response modes, the followings should be considered: Who are the respondents? Are there any characteristics of the respondents that will inform or influence the choice of response modes? What are frequently used response modes for similar topics. How this inform your choice?  Why is it close but not open What are the possible choices? What are the advantages of using the selected over other types Do you use a combination of   negative or positive or just one of the two? Why?  

Open response types Questionnaire design Explain why you left school? Open-ended questions Open response types Explain why you left school? What were your reasons for leaving school?

Questionnaire design Open-ended questions - advantages People can express their exact opinions and feelings Do not limit the range of possible answers Potentially produce responses which draw attentions to an unanticipated situation or outcome when constructing the questionnaire Useful for testing hypotheses about ideas or awareness

Difficult and time consuming to analyse Questionnaire design Open-ended questions - Disadvantages Difficult and time consuming to answer (require much effort from respondents) Difficult and time consuming to analyse

Questionnaire design Closed questions Alternative answers are provided and respondents are asked to choose from a list of provided answers

Multiple choice questions Ranking Scales Scaling questions Questionnaire design Types of closed questions Checklists Two-way questions Multiple choice questions Ranking Scales Scaling questions

Is used to verify the presence or absence of some phenomenon Questionnaire design Checklists Is used to verify the presence or absence of some phenomenon

Which of these materials did you use? Questionnaire design Checklists Example Which of these materials did you use? Which of these activities did you engage in? Which of these are the steps of conducting the project?

Contains all the relevant options Questionnaire design What is a good checklist? Contains all the relevant options It is helpful to provide the option “other” for respondents to fill in at the end of a checklist.

Questionnaire design Two-way questions Measure a dichotomous variables Respondents are asked to choose one from two alternatives: Yes/No; Agree/disagree; For/Against; Good/Bad; Like/Dislike; Approve/Disapprove; Two way questions tend to reduce the issues, opinions in very simple terms and force respondents to choose one from two choices

Questionnaire design MCQ questions MCQ is useful when there are several possible responses and you want to ensure that the respondents is aware of all the possibilities. Alternatives in MCQ should be mutually exclusive categories.

Questionnaire design Ranking Scales This format gives you an indication of how a respondent ranks a number of things. It is useful when there are a limited number of things you would like to have ranked.

Questions with ratings on a latent scale Questionnaire design Scaling questions Questions with ratings on a latent scale The basic of attitude measurement is that there are underlying dimensions along which individual attitudes can be ranged. That is a person can be assigned a numerical score to indicate his position on a dimension of interest. This will be done through combining the numerical score of all items of a scale interested.

More questions can be asked in a given length of time Questionnaire design Advantages of closed questions Compared to open questions, this type of questions is quicker and easier to answer More questions can be asked in a given length of time Can deal with a large number of respondents Low cost Make group comparison easy Avoid interviewer training

Loss of spontaneous responses Questionnaire design Disadvantages of closed questions Loss of spontaneous responses May introduce bias by forcing respondents to choose between given alternatives May irritate respondents Relatively difficult to design

Non-factual questions (Attitudes, stereotypes, beliefs, awareness) Questionnaire design Types of questions - Classification by types of information Factual questions Non-factual questions (Attitudes, stereotypes, beliefs, awareness) Most questionnaires will employ a combination of questions asking about factual information and questions inquiring respondent attitudes.

Relatively easy to design Questionnaire design Factual questions Can be verified Single variable Relatively easy to design

Relatively difficult to design Questionnaire design Non-factual questions Difficult to verify Latent variable Relatively difficult to design

Questionnaire design Issues to consider when writing the factual questions Do the respondents have the necessary information to answer the question?–Knowledge, memory. Will the respondents provide the information willingly? – Sensitive issues.

Questionnaire design Question Wordings Use Simple Words “the catalogue system is too difficult for most readers to master “ vs “I can never find the books I want” (more direct, more appealing) Avoid acronyms, abbreviations, jargon and technical terms Avoid ambiguous words or the words with many meanings Have you ever assessed your colleagues’ teaching? Avoid leading questions You haven’t skipped any lessons in this semester, have you?

Avoid double-barrelled questions Questionnaire design Question wordings Avoid double-barrelled questions Do you buy weekly and monthly magazines / newspapers? Avoid implicit assumptions When did you last borrow a video tape? Did your sibling’s decision to leave school influence your decision to leave school? Don’t overtax the respondents’ memory.

Avoid proverbs or well-known sayings Questionnaire design Question Wordings Avoid proverbs or well-known sayings Avoid loaded words (heavily value laden terms) Do you think union bosses should be allowed so much power? Attitude statements are good if the respondents recognise the statements which force them to think

Questionnaire design Selection of types of questions The number of respondents The amount and types of information needed The characteristics of respondents (knowledge, age, culture, religions) The amount of time you have to process and interpret the data Your knowledge of the issues (the extent to which you can anticipate the range of possible answers). Your methods of data analysis

Preparing questionnaire layout Panelling, pre-testing and piloting

Allocating sufficient space for answers Questionnaire design Spacing Allocating sufficient space for answers Space requirements should be considered for : Open-ended questions Scaling questions Coding The amount of space you allocate to open-ended questions is important because it will determine both the length and the quality of the response. Only piloting the questionnaire will indicate the best space requirement. In setting out questions that contain scales or indexes ensure that each is easily related to its corresponding question or statement.

Questionnaire design Instructions General Section Question

Questionnaire design General Instruction Reason(s) for the questionnaire A statement about anonymity The sample design - to indicate how the respondent was chosen How to return the questionnaire - if it is mailed A contact person What will happen to the results Thanks

Questionnaire design Question instructions How to answer the questions Make sure that the instructions and the questions correspond

Questionnaire design Order of the questions Very important There is no correct order

Questionnaire design Suggestions Begin with easy and non-threatening questions Do not begin with open-ended questions Arrange questions from general to specific Group questions into sections or topics Use filter questions to ensure that the respondents are answering relevant questions Attitude statements are suggested to be arranged in more or less random order Keep the questionnaire as short as possible

Consistency of questionnaire layout Questionnaire design Consistency of questionnaire layout Try to use similar format for questions Distinguish different instruction levels A very important feature of questionnaire layout is consistency. Use similar formats for questions. Do not change the formats from section to section or question to question. If you begin using numbers which must be circled for close-ended questions, do not suddenly change to boxes which must be tickled. It may cause confusion. Similarly, make sure you distinguish different instruction levels with similar font, point, size…

Questionnaire design Panelling and Reviewing Relevance of questions to the topic (check against the table of specification) Wording (Instructions, questions) Layout Spacing Instructions Order Consistency

Questionnaire design Pre-testing Test questionnaire Do the respondents understand the questions? Are there any difficulties? Are there any sensitive questions? Is the question order appropriate Does the researcher understand the respondent's response

Questionnaire design Who will be involved in Pre-testing Very small sample of the population targeted

Questionnaire design How to conduct Pre-testing Step 1: Brief the respondents about the questionnaire Step 2: Researchers record the respondents’ process of completing the questionnaire: through observation, video recording or audio recording to find out signs of difficulties or distractions and timing

Questionnaire design How to conduct Pre-testing Step 3: Debrief the respondents about the questions in the questionnaire Any difficulties? Why? What are the easy questions? Why? Any suggestions for improvement? Step 4: Revise the questions if needed

Questionnaire design Pilot Test the whole process Questionnaire Methods of administration and collecting the questionnaires Response rate/missing data Item analysis Data analysis

Questionnaire design Analysis Look at frequency of options in each question Too many “uncertain”, “don’t know” responses, too many skipped or omitted items are bad signs in a pilot study. Reliability of scale constructed Decision of removing or replacing items of scales (for measuring latent variables)

Questionnaire design Revise and prepare the final version