Rule* | Principle | Comment |
1 | Make sure the questionnaire items match your research objectives. | Leave out any quesions you do not really need. Try to keep questions short. |
2 | Understand your research participants. | Age, level of education, language skills, literacy skills, familiarity with the Topic. |
3 | Use natural and familiar language. | Avoid jargon or technical terms. Take time to define or explain any special terms you may be using. |
4 | Write items that are clear, precise, and relatively short. | Be clear, even if it means the question will be a bit longer. |
5 | Do not use “leading” or “loaded” questions. | Sometimes leading questions can be effective, but be careful. |
6 | Avoid double-barreled questions. | Asking two questions at once. |
7 | Avoid double negatives. | Word things carefully. People will read things quickly and make wrong assumptions.. |
8 | Determine whether an open-ended or a closed-ended question is needed. | It is often good to use a mix of different formats. |
9 | Use mutually exclusive and exhaustive response categories for closed-ended questions. | Make it clear how everyone should respond. Include "Not Applicable" or "Skip to Question ?" if that will help. |
10 | Consider the different types of response categories available for closedended questionnaire items. | --- |
11 | Use multiple items to measure abstract constructs. | Have multiple items so that we can get an "average" reesponse. Consider asking the same question in a slightly different ways. |
12 | Consider using multiple methods when measuring abstract constructs. | Try this if you have a long list of questions. Probably warn people about this.s |
13 | Use caution if you reverse the wording in some of the items to prevent response sets in multi-item scales. | --- |
14 | Develop a questionnaire that is easy for the participant to use. | Easy and Clear. Sometimes longer and better instructions or explanations will make things easier. |
15 | Always pilot test your questionnaire. | Several times if possible |
