1. Training course on developing and using questionnaires for agricultural surveys
Question phrasing
Question phrasing
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2. They have a limited vocabulary,
Question phrasing
To limit the bias due to these difficulties the questionnaire designer should work with these minimal assumptions on respondents
They have a limited vocabulary,
They can understand only short sentences and can be confused by long explanations
They can understand positive instruction more easily than negative ones
They know nothing about National Statistical Institutes procedures or structure
They might not understand why the information aked for is needed
They might not understand the definitions or the explanations used and supplied by NSI
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3. Common problems with wording Leading questions
Question phrasing
Common problems with wording
Leading questions
Vague questions
Threating questions
Double-barreled questions
Negative questions
Complex questions
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4. Question phrasing
Leading questions: a questions that forces or force a certain type of answer. This problem can be caused by the choice of the categories for the answers
Vague questions. A question is vague if it can be interpreted in diferent ways by differents respondents
Threating questions. Questions that deal with personal or private matters
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5. How satisfied are you with your pay and job conditions?
Question phrasing
Double-barreled questions. Questions that concern more than one concept and ask for a simple answer
e.g.
How satisfied are you with your pay and job conditions?
Is this tool interesting and useful?
Complex questions. Questions that ask to elaborate data or are based on some implicit assumptions
On a scale 1 to 10, please rate for each of the 12 categories listed below, your level of knowledge and experience
Negative questions or double negative questions.
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6. Question phrasing
Principles of an appropriate languages to avoid some of previous problems are based on:
Words
Sentences leght
Tone
Order of clauses
Active vs passive voice
Punctuation
Instructions
Use of qualifiers
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7. Question phrasing Words
The questions should be stated using simple and unambiguous terms. That is terms that can be interpreted in the same way by all respondents (e.g. avoid terms like usually, typically, ecc.)
Technical terms or foreign terms should be avoided.
It should be desiderable that the same term had the same meaning across different surveys to help the comparison of data
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8. Question phrasing Sentences length
Short sentences are easier to understand.
Clauses should be avoided
each question should concern only a single item of information
Tone
Question designer should be aware that minor changes in the tone can have a significant effect.
Negative word (e.g. not, failed, etc. ) should be avoided because they ask more time to respondent or they can have an emotional contents
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9. Question phrasing Order of clauses They should be in logical order
Passive vs active forms
The active form is generally easier to understand by people
Punctuation
It should help in understanding the question if used correctly. It should be remind that mainly commas, full stops and question marks are easily understood.
If there are many commas or full stops we can have too clasues.
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10. Question phrasing Instructions
Assume that people is inclined to skip the instruction and to forget them.
Instruction on how to answer to a given question should:
Be as close as possible where they are used
Be as clear and synthetic as possible
Furthermore some instructions could be repeated during the questionnaire if they concern questions in different parts of the questionnaire
Instruction on how to use the questionnaire should :
Be grouped and placed at the beginning of the questionnaire
For the discussion: examples of Instruction on how to use the questionnaire for a survey on farms
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11. Question phrasing Use of qualifiers
A qualifier is a word that determines or alter the scope of the question or of a statement.
For example, the following 2 statements are nearly
identical:
It often rains in Seattle.
It always rains in Seattle
The first one could be true, the second one is false
Some qualifiers are the following
· All, most, some, none (no)
· Always , usually, sometimes, never
· Great, much, little, no
· More, equal, less
· Good, bad
It is better to include them on the possible answers
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12. Question phrasing Discussion
Do the minimal assumptions fit to the case of surveys on agriculture?
More common problems in formulating questions in your experiences
Examples of thretaing questions in agriculture
Example of complex questions
Can the principles of avoiding technical terms be used in the case of agricultural or business surveys?
…..
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