RESEARCH NOTES
DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE
Order of questions
The order of the questions should flow in a logical sequence. Start with simple questions before moving to more complex questions. Some prefer to start with the socio-demography of the respondents while others will leave it to the last as it involves more personal questions such as household income, education level and religion. However, this depends on the how forth-coming the target population is. Sometimes, it helps by explaining to the respondent the reason for asking a personal question or by making a general statement to normalise the “sensitive” question. (Table 1c)
Likert scale
In questions which involve assessing attitudes or giving opinions, a scale with a range of responses is preferred to a yes/no answer. Likert scale (usually 5-point or 7-point) is a commonly used method. (Table 1d) It provides a measure of strength for a particular attitude or belief. It is possible to calculate mean scores for any given responses to statements (item scores)
Avoid double-barrelled questions
Another common mistake is asking a “double-barrelled” question. Avoid asking two things in one question (Table 1e) This will lead to difficulty in interpreting the responses when analysing the data.
Avoid ambiguous questions
Be as specific as possible when asking a question. For example, terms such as “frequent”, “always” and “often” may mean different things to different people. (Table 1f) Keep questionnaire items short, preferably less than 20 words. When scrutinising through the questions, ask yourself, “Is this question clear? Can it be more specific?”
Design the questionnaire with analysis in mind
When designing a questionnaire, it is crucial to pre-empt what kind of method will be used to analyse the data collected. Take for example, age. If the objective of asking the age is to find out the mean age of the participants, then an exact age should be captured (e.g. “What is your age? (at your last birthday): ______ years). On the other hand, if you are going to categorise them according to different age groups during the analysis, then you may want to structure the question according to different age categories (e.g. “What is your age? (at your last birthday): <18, 18-29, 30-50, etc.) If you are uncertain of what analysis you will be performing, it is always advisable to collect raw data, rather than to categorise them in the beginning. This will help to avoid problems with analysis after data collection and ensure that all data collected are relevant and usable. One practical way to do that is to draw up a “question-analysis” table in advance. (Table 2).
Table 2. “Question and Analysis”
| Questions | Analysis |
| Age | Mean (SD, range), ?categorise into groups |
| Ethnicity | % |
| Liker scale 1 | % “agree” and “strongly agree” |
Translation
A respondent should answer a questionnaire in a language which he or she is most proficient in. In a multi-lingual society like Malaysia, translating the questionnaire into different languages has become a “standard procedure”, especially for self-administered questionnaire involving the general population or patients. This is a crucial step because inaccurate translation of the questions or responses will result in collecting different information for the same question. This will lead to erroneous results and conclusions.
To avoid this, a “translate-back-translate” method is used. The researcher or a translator has to translate the questionnaire from English to Malay, and another independent person, who is unaware of the English questionnaire, will back-translate the Malay questionnaire to English again. The researchers (usually three or more people who are proficient in both languages) will then compare the original English questionnaire with the back-translated English questionnaire for any discrepancy, which may suggest inaccurate translation of the Malay questionnaire. These discrepancies will be discussed and the researchers will reach a consensus on the final translation.
Format
The final “touch-up” of the questionnaire is important because the “look” of the questionnaire may decide whether the respondent is going to fill it up. This is especially relevant for postal surveys. The title should be highlighted and it should reflect the main objective of the research. If possible, divide the questionnaire into sections according to the content (e.g. boxes with bold headings) and it should flow smoothly from one section to another with appropriate filtering. If your respondents involve older persons, bigger font size should be used. Finally, a cover letter stating the objective of your study, your affiliations, and, if appropriate, ensuring confidentiality and how you are going to use the information you have collected.