Designing an effective questionnaire is crucial to successful research and data collection. The key elements include clearly defining your research objectives, understanding your target audience, determining the appropriate mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions, crafting clear and unbiased questions, thoughtfully structuring the question order, and creating a user-friendly layout.
The questionnaire administration method – whether online, in-person, or over the phone – should also be carefully considered based on factors like budget, timeline, and the type of data you’re trying to gather.
Questionnaires vs. Surveys
While the terms “questionnaire” and “survey” are often used interchangeably, there are some important distinctions:
- Questionnaires refer specifically to the data collection instrument – the questions you ask participants.
- On the other hand, surveys describe the overall research process of sampling a population, collecting data, and analyzing the results.
A questionnaire is a data collection research method that can be used within a broader survey research project. The design of your questionnaire is a crucial component of any successful survey.
Questionnaire Research Methods
Surveys can be conducted through self-administered or researcher-administered questionnaire methods. Self-administered surveys, such as online questionnaires, are frequently used due to their ease of implementation and cost-effectiveness, while researcher-administered surveys provide more detailed insights by allowing for open-ended questions and more structured interactions.
In market research, these surveys often follow a template with a predefined set of questions designed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
Self-administered Surveys
Self-administered surveys can be distributed online, via mail, or in person using digital or paper formats. Questions are standardized to ensure consistency in responses.
| Advantages of Self-Administered Surveys | Limitations of Self-Administered Surveys |
| Cost-effective method of data collection | Not suitable for individuals with low literacy or verbal skills |
| Easy to administer to both small and large groups | Prone to nonresponse bias, as many invited participants may not complete the survey |
| Provides anonymity, which is beneficial when dealing with sensitive topics | Bias towards volunteers, since impersonal survey requests are often ignored |
| Offers flexibility for respondents to complete the survey at their own pace |
Researcher-administered Surveys
Researcher-administered surveys involve phone, in-person, or online interviews, allowing direct interaction between researchers and respondents.
| Benefits of Researcher-Administered Surveys | Drawbacks of Researcher-Administered Surveys |
| Ensures a representative sample of the target audience | High cost and time-consuming to conduct |
| Allows for clarification of ambiguous questions and responses | Requires complex analysis for qualitative responses |
| Achieves higher response rates due to personal engagement with respondents | Potential for experimenter bias or demand characteristics |
| Social desirability bias in responses due to lack of anonymity |
Open-ended vs. Closed-ended Questions
Your survey can feature open-ended, closed-ended, or a mix of both question types.
Closed-ended questions limit responses to predefined options, whereas open-ended questions allow for a wide range of answers. Balancing these types depends on your available time and resources.
Closed-ended Questions
Closed-ended or restricted-choice questions present respondents with a set list of options. These questions are ideal for collecting data on categorical or quantitative variables.
Categorical variables can be nominal or ordinal, while quantitative variables can be interval or ratio. Knowing the variable type and measurement level allows for appropriate statistical analysis, ensuring generalizable results.
Examples of closed-ended questions for different variables
Nominal variables include categories that cannot be ranked, such as race or ethnicity, and often involve binary or dichotomous options.
- Ensure categories are comprehensive and mutually exclusive with no overlap.
Example: Nominal variables
Examples of closed-ended questions for nominal variables include:
What is your gender?
- Male
- Female
- Non-binary
- Prefer not to say
Which of the following best describes your marital status?
- Single
- Married
- Divorced
- Widowed
What is your primary mode of transportation to work?
- Car
- Public transit
- Bicycle
- Walking
Ordinal variables are categorical variables with a clear order or ranking.
Example: Ordinal variables
Examples of closed-ended questions for ordinal variables include:
How would you rate your overall satisfaction with our product?
- Very dissatisfied
- Somewhat dissatisfied
- Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
- Somewhat satisfied
- Very satisfied
What is your highest level of education?
- Less than high school
- High school diploma or equivalent
- In some college, no degree
- Associate’s degree
- Bachelor’s degree
- Graduate or professional degree
How often do you exercise?
- Never
- Rarely (less than once a month)
- Sometimes (1-3 times a month)
- Often (1-2 times a week)
- Very often (3 or more times a week)
Likert scale questions are common closed-ended questions used in surveys to measure attitudes, opinions, and perceptions. Respondents are asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with a statement or satisfaction with a product, service, or experience.
Example: Likert-type questions
Here are some examples of Likert scale questions:
Please rate your level of agreement with the following statement: “I find this product easy to use.”
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
How satisfied are you with the customer service you received?
- Very dissatisfied
- Dissatisfied
- Neutral
- Satisfied
- Very satisfied
Please indicate how well you agree with the following statement: “The instructions provided were clear and easy to follow.”
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
Pros and cons of closed-ended questions:
| Pros of Closed-Ended Questions | Cons of Closed-Ended Questions |
| Easy and quick for respondents to answer | Limited insight into respondents’ true opinions or feelings |
| Straightforward data analysis and interpretation | Respondents may feel frustrated if their desired answer is not an option |
| Responses are easily quantifiable and comparable | Potential for biased or leading questions that influence responses |
| Reduced likelihood of irrelevant or unclear responses | Lack of opportunity for respondents to provide additional context or explanations |
| Suitable for large sample sizes and generalizing results to a population | May not capture the full complexity or nuance of a topic |
| Less time-consuming and costly to administer and analyze | Respondents may select an answer at random if none of the options fully align with their views |
| Minimizes the risk of interviewer bias or inconsistency in data collection | Inability to probe deeper into respondents’ answers or ask follow-up questions |
| Allows for easier translation into different languages for international surveys | Cultural differences may lead to varying interpretations of questions or response options |
To address these issues, you can make questions partially closed-ended by including an open-ended option for additional responses.
Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions are a type of survey question that allows respondents to provide their answers in a free-form format rather than selecting from a set of predefined options. These questions are designed to elicit more detailed, qualitative responses that can offer valuable insights into respondents’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Examples: Open-ended questions
- What do you like most about our product or service?
- How could we improve our customer support experience?
- Please describe your ideal shopping experience.
- What factors do you consider when making a purchase decision?
- How has our product impacted your daily life?
However, open-ended questions also have some drawbacks:
- Analyzing qualitative data can be time-consuming and complex
- Responses may be difficult to quantify or compare across respondents
- Some respondents may provide irrelevant or unclear answers
- Response rates may be lower than with closed-ended questions, as they require more effort from respondents
Question Wording
The wording of questions can significantly influence respondents’ answers, particularly if the language could be clearer and more balanced. Effective questions should be consistently understood by all respondents (reliable) and accurately measure the intended concept (valid).
Use Clear Language
Design your questions with the target audience in mind, considering their familiarity with the topics and language used. Avoid jargon and complex language to enhance readability and clarity. Steer clear of double negatives, as they can be confusing.
Use Balanced Framing
How a question is framed can affect how respondents interpret and answer it. Positive framing tends to be perceived as more neutral than negative and may elicit more socially desirable responses.
Example: Positive vs. Negative Frames
| Positive Frame | Negative Frame |
| What do you like about our customer service? | What do you dislike about our customer service? |
To avoid research bias, use a mix of both positive and negative frames and ensure questions are balanced.
Example: Unbalanced vs. Balanced Frames
| Unbalanced | Balanced |
| Do you support…? | Do you believe…? |
| Do you agree that…? | Do you agree or disagree that…? |
Avoid Leading Questions
Leading questions can push respondents toward specific answers by providing extra information, either explicitly or implicitly. Keep your questions concise and focused on the topic of interest.
Example: Leading Questions
The COVID-19 pandemic has incredibly stressed many people. Since working from home has become more common, do you think employers should be required to offer permanent remote work options?
Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise provides significant health benefits. Given the convenience of home workout routines, do you believe gym memberships are an unnecessary expense?
Keep Your Questions Focused
Focusing your questions on one idea at a time is important to avoid confusing your respondents. Double-barreled questions, which ask about more than one topic or item within a single question, can result in unreliable responses.
When a question covers multiple concepts, respondents may have differing opinions on the different components, making it difficult to provide a clear, accurate answer that captures their true views. It’s best to split double-barreled questions into separate, single-focused items to ensure you collect high-quality, meaningful data.
Example: Double-barreled Question
Do you agree that our software is easy to use and has all the necessary features?
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Undecided
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
These questions prompt respondents to consider multiple aspects of policy or governance simultaneously, ensuring clarity and focused responses.
Example: Ask About One Topic at a Time
To get more precise insights, separate the questions:
Do you agree that our software is easy to use?
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Undecided
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
Do you agree that our software has all the features you need?
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Undecided
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
Question Order
When designing your questionnaire, consider how you arrange the questions to optimize response quality. You can organize them logically, starting with simpler inquiries such as behavioral or opinion-based questions and concluding with more intricate or sensitive topics. This systematic approach helps respondents ease into the survey, ensuring thoughtful consideration of increasingly complex issues.
Logical flow
Questions should be arranged in a logical sequence that feels natural and coherent to respondents. This can minimize confusion and improve the overall survey experience. For example, grouping related questions and moving from general to more specific questions can create a sense of progression and make the survey easier to follow.
Example: Order effects
The order in which questions are presented can influence respondents’ answers, a phenomenon known as order effects. For instance, if a respondent is asked about their overall satisfaction with a product before being asked about specific aspects, their responses to the specific questions may be influenced by their overall satisfaction rating. Conversely, if the specific questions come first, they may influence the respondent’s overall satisfaction rating.
Consider the following example:
Order 1:
- How satisfied are you with the product overall?
- How satisfied are you with the product’s ease of use?
- How satisfied are you with the product’s durability?
Order 2:
- How satisfied are you with the product’s ease of use?
- How satisfied are you with the product’s durability?
- How satisfied are you with the product overall?
In Order 1, the overall satisfaction question may influence responses to the specific questions, while in Order 2, the specific questions may influence the overall satisfaction rating.
Randomization
One way to minimize order effects is to randomize the order of questions or response options when possible. This can help to distribute any potential biases evenly across respondents. However, randomization should be used cautiously and only when it does not disrupt the logical flow of the survey.
Step-by-Step Questionnaire Design
Designing a well-crafted research questionnaire is essential for collecting accurate and meaningful data in survey research. A step-by-step approach to survey design can help ensure that your questionnaire is an effective, efficient, and user-friendly research instrument.
The questionnaire definition emphasizes that it is a tool used to gather data through a structured list of questions. Using a questionnaire template or survey templates can streamline the research process and help differentiate between survey vs questionnaire methods.
When crafting your research questionnaire, consider the type of research and types of questions that align with your goals. Close-ended questions are useful for gathering quantitative data, while demographic questions help categorize respondents.
For an online survey, it is important to include both open-ended and close-ended questions depending on the nature of your research question. Questionnaire examples can guide you in formulating clear and concise questions that offer meaningful insights and encourage respondents to complete the questionnaire fully.
By using a questionnaire as part of your research, you can gather valuable data to answer key questions and advance the objectives of your study. Here are the steps for designing a questionnaire:
Step 1: Define your goals and objectives
When designing a survey questionnaire, the first step is clearly defining your goals and objectives. This involves identifying the purpose of your survey and determining the key information you need to gather to meet your research objectives. It’s also important to consider your target audience and what they need to know about the survey.
Step 2: Use questions that are suitable for your sample
Next, you should use questions suitable for your sample. This means choosing question types appropriate for your research goals and target audience, such as closed-ended, open-ended, or Likert scale questions. It’s crucial to use clear, concise, and unbiased language that is easy for respondents to understand. Avoid leading, double-barreled, or overly complex questions that may confuse or mislead respondents, and ensure that response options are exhaustive and mutually exclusive.
Step 3: Decide on your questionnaire length and question order
When deciding on your questionnaire length and order, keep the survey as brief as possible while still gathering all necessary information. Start with easy, non-threatening questions to build rapport and encourage participation. Group related questions together and arrange them in a logical sequence. Use skip logic or branching to ensure respondents only see relevant questions. Consider the potential for order effects and use randomization when appropriate.
Step 4: Pretest your questionnaire
Before launching your survey, it’s essential to pretest your questionnaire. Test your survey with a small group of people representative of your target audience. Gather feedback on question clarity, survey length, and overall user experience. Identify any technical issues or glitches in the survey platform. Based on the feedback from the pretest, revise and refine your questionnaire.
Good questionnaire examples
Here are some excellent examples of different types of questionnaires, depending on the research goals and methods:
1. Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire
- Purpose: To measure how satisfied customers are with a product or service.
- Questions:
- How satisfied are you with our product/service? (Scale from 1 to 5)
- What features do you like most about our product?
- How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? (Net Promoter Score)
- What can we improve to enhance your experience?
- Have you encountered any issues with our service? (Yes/No) Please specify.
2. Employee Feedback Questionnaire
- Purpose: To gather employee insights about workplace satisfaction, company culture, and management.
- Questions:
- How would you rate your overall job satisfaction? (1-5 scale)
- How well do you think the management communicates company goals and objectives? (Open-ended question)
- Do you feel valued for your contributions to the company? (Yes/No)
- What do you believe could improve your work environment?
- How likely are you to stay with the company in the next year? (1-5 scale)
3. Market Research Questionnaire
- Purpose: To collect data on consumer preferences, behaviors, and market trends.
- Questions:
- How often do you purchase [product type]? (Multiple choice: weekly, monthly, rarely, never)
- What factors influence your purchasing decision the most? (Price, Quality, Brand, etc.)
- Where do you typically buy this product? (Online, In-store, both)
- What would make you switch to a competitor’s product?
- What new features would you like to see in this product?
4. Academic Research Questionnaire
- Purpose: To collect data for research on specific academic topics, such as social behavior or health.
- Questions:
- How frequently do you engage in physical exercise? (Daily, Weekly, Rarely, Never)
- On a scale of 1-10, how stressed do you feel daily?
- What is your primary source of stress? (Work, Family, Personal)
- Do you find social media impacts your mood? (Yes/No)
- What coping strategies do you use for stress?