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Qualities Of A Good Question
1.The question should be short, simple and to the point This implies, amongst others, that double-barrelled questions, i.e. a single question addressing more than one issue, should be avoided. The purpose of a survey is to find out information. A question that asks for a response on more than one dimension will not provide the information you are seeking. 2.The question should be clear and unambiguous There should be no room for misunderstanding on the part of the respondent as to the meaning of the question. The researcher should also understand the answer in the way meant by the respondent. 3.Can accommodate all possible answers Asking a question that does not accommodate all possible responses can confuse and frustrate the respondent. 4.The question should not contain double negatives This occurs when respondents are asked whether they agree or disagree with a negative statement. If they disagree with the statement they are expressing a double negative because they disagree with not doing or believing something. 5.Respondents should be asked to express opinions about their own views, not what they think somebody else thinks. Researchers sometimes draw conclusions about the views of respondents when they were asked to express an opinion about someone else’s views. This only results in unreliable and incorrect information. Therefore conclusions cannot be drawn about other people’s views on the basis of what a respondent believe these views are. 6.The question should be phrased neutrally Questions that contain value-judgements or give the respondent an indication of what the socially desirable answer is are called leading questions. These should be avoided as respondents have a tendency to give researchers the answers they think the researchers expects. 7.The question should not contain emotional language One should avoid using words with emotional connotations when formulating a question, as respondents would tend to react to the emotional connotation rather than the issue. We are striving for objectivity in our surveys and, therefore, must be careful not to lead the respondent into giving the answer we would like to receive. 8.The question should accommodate all possible answers The response alternatives should be exhaustive. If one is unsure whether all possibilities have been provided, it is important to include an option stating "Other (please specify)". If a substantial number of respondents choose a particular alternative, this can then be coded after the questionnaires are received back. 9.The question should not make the respondent feel guilty If respondents feel that they are implicating themselves by answering a question truthfully, they will tend to lie. 10.The question should not have prestige bias If a particular opinion is linked to a person with high status in the community it influences the respondent’s reply. If respondents respect the high-status person they will tend to assume that s/he must be right and will reply accordingly. 11.The response alternatives should be mutually exclusive Response categories should not overlap or be unbalanced. Only one response alternative should be applicable to a particular respondent. A good question leaves no ambiguity in the mind of the respondent. 12.The question should not delve too far on future intentions Predictions are rarely accurate more than a few weeks or in some case months ahead. 13.The question should not make assumptions A question should not begin with a premise and then ask questions based on the premise. Among the most subtle mistakes in questionnaire design are questions that make an unwarranted assumption. 14.The question should produce variability of responses When a question produces no variability in responses, we are left with considerable uncertainty about why we asked the question and what we learned from the information. If a question does not produce variability in responses, it will not be possible to perform any statistical analyses on the item. 15.The question should not ask about hypothetical situations Respondents tend to answer explicit, tangible questions about topics that relate to their experience much more reliably than abstract hypothetical questions. The latter type of question expects of respondents to consider what they would do or think should they find themselves in a hypothetical situation. The majority of respondents find this very difficult to do. 16.Does not use unfamiliar words or abbreviations Remember who your audience is and write your questionnaire for them. Do not use uncommon words or compound sentences. 17.Does not ask the respondent to order or rank a series of more than five items. Questions asking respondents to rank items by importance should be avoided. This becomes increasingly difficult as the number of items increases, and the answers become less reliable. 18.Follows comfortably from the previous question Writing a questionnaire is similar to writing anything else. Transitions between questions should be smooth. Grouping questions that are similar will make the questionnaire easier to complete, and the respondent will feel more comfortable. Questionnaires that jump from one unrelated topic to another feel disjointed and are not likely to produce high response rates. 19.The question should avoid unbalanced listings Although appropriate for some situations it can be a subtle mistake where answers are not balanced. Writing great questions is an art that like all arts requires a great amount of work, practice, and help from others. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com SigmaSurveys is the solution for your online survey needs. Managing every step of the process from design & distribution through to analysis & reporting. Find us at www.sigmasurveys.co.za |
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