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DOCUMFNT RESUME
TB 004 285
ED 103 454
Jacobs, T. O.
AUTHOR
Developing Questionnaire Items: How to Do It Nell.
TITLE
Alexandria,
Human Resources Research Organization,
INSTITUTION
Va.
74
PUB DATE
NOTE
360.
Human Resources Research Organization, 300 N.
AVAILABLE FROM
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Attitudes; Attitude Tests; Decision Making; *Guides;
DESCRIPTORS
Interviews; Management; Opinions; *Questionnaires;
Surveys; *Test Construction
ABSTRACT
Questionnaires are prepared by many people who have
experience.in survey techniques.
not had specialized training an3
nonspecialists in the
This booklet was prepared to assist such
providing a
preparation of efficient and useful questionnaires by
vestioas for management
brief, readable guide for the development of
with kinds of
decisions. This discussion is concerned primarily
and opinions. The
questions that elicit information about attitudes
examine th,t.
first step in developing a good questionnaire is to
questionnaire will be
context in which the data derived from the
chatacteristicb of the
used. The kinds of decisions to be made, the
the information are
respondents, and the needs of those requesting
formats such as
important contextual aspects. Secondly, item
multiple choice
open-ended questions, two-way questions, and
the problems inherent
questions must be considered along with some of
designed and selected for
in using the various item types. The items
unambiguous, appropriate fur
inclusion in the questionnaire should be
the questionnaire
the respondents, and not misleading. Pretesting
worded items can
affords a situation in which ineffective or poorly
presented for accomplishing
be discarded or modified. Suggestions are
each phase of questionnaire design. (EH)
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SAM C V
F
Developing
Questionnaire Items:
How To Do It Well
T.O. Jacobs
HumRRO
ORGANIZATION
HUMAN RESOURCES RESEARCH
2/3
.10,
1974
0 Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO)
300 North Washington Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Reproduction in whole or in part permitted
for any purpose of the U.S. Government
FOrifEWORD
decisions are often made
Policy, purchase, and other management
other
students, workers, teachers, or
using information from consumers,
relevant experience.
tryout or other, longer-term
groups with experimental
directed to a
from a written questionnaire
Usually such information comes
sample of the group.
people who have not had
Questionnaires are prepared by many
techniques. This booklet was
specialized training and experience in survey
efficient and
in the preparation of
prepared to assist such nonspecialists
for the develop-
providing a brief, readable guide
useful questionnaires by
decisions (questions for achievement or
ment of questions for management
booklet).
not considered in this
other tests for individual assessment are
No. 4,
work done at HumRRO Division
This material is based upon
under
research program performed
Columbus, Georgia, as part of a
presented in a
of the Army. That work was
contract to the Department
HumRRO
Army use, and issued as a
booklet specifically prepared for
Items,
Questionnaire
Product, A Guide
for
Developing
Research
Ja...uary 1970.
Meredith P. Crawford
President
Organization
Human Resources Research
O
CONTENTS
Page
3
INTRODUCTION
ASK YOURSELF
Section I
5
1. Who needs the information?
5
information?
2. What decision will be made based on your
5
3. What facts will affect the decision?
6
4. Whom are you asking?
8
5. What are the consequences of a wrong answer?
9
Section. II QUESTION TYPES
9
OpenEnded Questions
11
Two-t.Vay Questions
13
Mu It: ple-Choice Questions
16
.
Section III FRAMING THE QUESTIONS
..
16
of the Question
Development
The Initial
26
Pretesting the Questionnaire
28
A CHECK LIST
Section
28
A. The Foundation
28
B. The Question Type
30
C. Writing Questions
'go
a.
Developing
Questionnaire Items:
Now To Do It Well
7
or
4
111111
I N T
1
ask questions.
of this booklet is to talk about how to
4- The purpose
object is to ask the right question,
This is not as easy as it sounds. The
what you need
in such a way ihnt, you will find out
and to ask it
to know.
questions. Not all of them
There are a great many pitfalls in iasking
deal mainly with the
will be considered here. Further, this discussion 'will
from a person or try to
kinds of questions that try to get information
somethingfor example, what was
find out how he or she feels about
how a person feels about
learned in a trial of new office equipment, or
rules for how best to ask
volunteering for military service. There are
will also apply to the kind of
this kind of question. Many of these rules
of instructionthat is, an achievement
test that is given after a course
the problems and
testbut no attempt will be made to cover
all
that kind of test.
techniques that are important in developing
zit
the principal
sample of researchers what they saw as
Payne' asked a
the following results:
problems with research methods. He reported
74%
Improperly worded questionnaires
58%
Faulty interpretation
52%
Inadequacy of samples
44%
Improper statistical methods
data
41%
Presentation of results without supporting
tr. be the largest part
So, thik booklet will concentrate on what seems
questions. This is not the total solution to
of the problemwriting good
would
but, as three experts-in every four
all research criticisms mentioned,
direction:.
indicate, it is a good start in the right
Princeton University Press,
'Stanley L. Payne. The /1,1 of Asktng Questions.
Princeton, N.J., 1951.
14.
Four Sections, including a final statement summarizing thtl main
"working suggerions," will follow this introduction:
Section I: Certain kinds of questions
you would ask yourself when formu-
a questionnaire. This
to
lating
is
make sure that you know What you
are asking about.
Section II: A discussio- of types of
questions, togethtr wi
i:?ir relative
advantages and disad
.ages. Some
types of questions can do certain
kinds of things well but do other
things fairly poorly.
of the
III.: A discussion
Section
actual steps in building a question.
naire, including some reasonably well
tested do's and don'ts.
Section IV: A check
that will
list
help avoid many of the problems
involved in writing good questions.
9
4
Satin I
MK Y
SELF
daysif
is almost a sacred cow these
Th:. phrase "systems npproach"
There is
approach," it can't be all bad.
anything is done using a "systems
asking questions, Asking
taking a systems approach to
some merit to
far moi.
will lay the foundation for a
yourself the following five questions
could otherwise produce.
vtluable questionnaire than you
1. Whfy :seeds the information?
it. may
is so straightforwtrd, that
The reason for asking this question
overlooked, and a lot
However, it is a factor that can be
seem trivial.
machinery for transmitting communi
depends on it. Organizations have a
in the
applied
structure. The term usually
cations within their own
for the
of command." The requirement
military, for example, is "chain
three
collect may have come from two or
information you are gbing to
the coin
something may have been lost in
levels abdve your own, find
munication process.
about, and
things you must be sure
At any rate, there are certain
the event
will provide you a source in
knowing who needs the information
This leads to
the remaining four questions.
you find you cannot answer
the next question.
based on your information?
2. What decision will be made
the information
will tell you in part why
The answer to this question
to the next
the foundation for the answers
is needed and will
lay
starts to make a
systems approach really
question. This is where the
kinds
decision is going to be made, some
difference.' Depending on what
will not.
difference, and other kinds
of information will make a
preparing to collect information as a
Suppose, for example, you are
standard
equipment with an old
new item of
part of a- test comparing a
enough. It will be
decision to be made is cleat
item. The nature of the
the old. Also, the
equipment or retention of
either selection of the new
analysis of the
will probably he based on an
test of the new equipment
of such existing
of needs. Examination
requirements or a statement
5
10
documentationwhy the new equipment is being consideredwill- usually
give you a good start for developing your questions.
Of course, there are other reasons in which an explicit statement of
the impending decision may not lead as easily to a good s:atement of
your information needs. However, even in these areas, knowledge of the
decision under consideration is an essential key to defining information
.
.
needsthe next step.
What facts will affect the decision?
As you can see, the art of asking good questions
may be closely
related to designing good tests..In order to test
new equipment well, it is
necessary to expose that equipment to the kind of environment and use
for which
has been designed. This includes useand sometimes
it
abuseby the type of individual who will use it operationally.
When yog need the information for something less straightfcrward
than an equipment test, the task of finding out what facts will
have a
significant bearing on the problem is not always easy and will sometimes
be downright difficult. Sometimes the decision maker himself
may be
unsure of the ftJ range of information that will be needed to make a
good decision. In this case, learning what kind of facts will help is
part of
the proble
If this happens, you will find it useful to consult with
colleagues, asking, in essence, "What kinds of things would
you want to
knnw if you had this decision to make?" It will help to make
of
a list
elements of information .fat you feel will be needed
as you go. If you
have time, you may want to have this list reviewed before
.01
you start
developing questions.
will m
the
"What information
question
real
Clearly,
is,
significant difference to the decision maker?" If you collect unn
information, or fail to get the needed information, your time will have
been put to no good use, at the very least. A considerably more serious
possibility is that the decision may get made on the basis of irrelpiant
information. This leads to our fourth question.
4. Whom rare you asking?
To get good information, not only must you ask
a good question,
but you also must ask it of someone who has the
answer" This ties in
6
Pe