7 tips to make a good questionnaire

7 tips to make a good questionnaire

 

Hi folks! Worrying about the project fever is going around the college right now? Running up and down the centres and offices, meeting respondents, collecting and analysing data is really a lot of work to do. But this also provides us with an opportunity to shed light on some of those unenlightened areas which we had, maybe never investigated before. And the most powerful companion which will give you an unadulterated help and data in completing your task will be your questionnaire.

Now many of us while preparing a questionnaire are in a sure wonder as to “How to craft questions which will give me a correct and unbiased data to analyse?” 

Firstly, there is no perfect question for a questionnaire. Every person is a bit different and that make the response of every respondent unlike the other. But there are certain tips which can help you build a questionnaire that will encourage more appropriate quality of information as per your requirements.

So, here are such seven tips to help

•             Consistent Interpretability.

The question you craft must be interpreted by different individuals in a consistent manner. Sounds very easy but equally challenging to achieve. For example, if you ask “Have you ever been subjected harassment from customer care executives?” Some may take harassment to be the misbehaviour of the customer executive officers, while others may consider improper etiquettes to be harassments. So you see the same may mean different to different respondents at different point of time. Make your queries as clear and specific as possible.

•             Make questions that the respondent may answer wilfully.

Now, sometimes the survey requires personal information of the respondents which they may not be willing to answer. For example, if the query is asking if the respondent is suffering from contagious disease or what drug they may be prescribed with.” It is found that the respondent, in most of the cases is not wilfully ready to answer the question. Now, that may be a problem, because the data received may not be 100% to the point. In such a case, you must assure the respondent that the data will not be shared or rather kept, ‘anonymous’.

•             Craft the inquiry to make the respondent answer the truth.

On many occasions it is seen that respondent answers wilfully but that is not the truth. As an example you may ask, if the respondent has a Debit or a Credit card? In such cases it is seen that the respondent may answer positively even if he/she doesn’t have a Debit/Credit card. Now, why is that? This is something called “Social Desirability.” Having a mode of electronic banking is socially desirable now-a-days. So the respondent may lie, for the fear they may be judged negatively. In such a situation, you can carve the question in the way he may answer the truth. It might be better to put it in this way, “Some people use cash to pay their transaction, while others use Debit/Credit Card, which way do you prefer?”

•            Make sure respondent has the appropriate knowledge

This happens to be one of the most important tip, “Never ask a question to a man which he may not have the answer to.” For example, “What is the amount spend purchasing vegetables per month?” This question is something which you will find different for different members of a household. The one who keeps the finances of the house in check can only answer the question. While the others can’t.

•          Avoid double barrelled questions.

Double-barrelled question questions are two different queries in a single stroke of interrogation. For example, you may ask, “Do you think the company should improve their work environment and also reach out to their customers every week?” Now, in cases, respondents may agree to a part of the question but may not agree to the other part. Now, if you come across such question while preparing a questionnaire, divide it into two specific questions. 

•           Avoid bias terminology.

Being the surveyor, you cannot be biased to a conclusion beforehand. The questionnaire must represent that. As in case, you asked the respondent if he likes the cool-new version of TVS Akula 310? The words “cool-new” adds up to portray a bias. That should be avoided.

•           Pre-test your questions.

The final and the most important tip, pre-test your queries before starting the survey. That shall not only help you in re-collecting any gaps that you left in your survey, and improve your chances of developing the survey…

Thank You and Good luck....!!