The Construction of the Questionnaire

1. Emphasize the introduction. Most refusals will come immediately and once respondents begin, they seldom terminate prematurely.
2. Check sequence carefully. Simple, interesting, informative items should come first, and sensitive or threatening items as late as possible.
3. Group items into sections. Combine items that use the same scales or put the same topics into sections to facilitate response and simplify the task.
4. Limit and control branching. Make branch instructions simple, clear, and concise and avoid complex branching or multiple branches as much as possible.
5. Use ample instructions. An instruction should be included if there’s any doubt, and it must be simple enough for the least sophisticated respondents.
6. Don’t overestimate interviewers or respondents. Sophistication and motivation are always less than the researcher is likely to expect.
7. Make good use of rating cards. For personal interview surveys, good rating cards will simplify the response task and increase reliable, valid responses.
8. Be sure to precode responses and list record formats. Precoding must be done very precisely and accurately and submitted to the “acid test.”
9. Always pretest the entire questionnaire on a pilot sample of 20 or 30 respondents, observing closely as they respond to the instrument.