Different Types of Questions in Questionnaire Design:

Most of us know the importance of questionnaires in collecting survey data from a large audience, but are uncertain about the placement of
different types of questions in questionnaire. There are different types of questionnaires possible that researcher can send to their
respondents, and the format of questionnaire depends entirely on what information is to be extracted from respondents.
So, the key to creating best questionnaire questions is, understanding the questionnaire format, and the type of questions that can be asked to
respondents using a survey.
Types of Questionnaire Formats
There are two types of questionnaire questions, open-ended and closed-ended. Following description will help you understand the format of
questionnaire better, have a look:
1. Open Format Questions
Open format questions or open-ended questions give your audience an opportunity to express their opinions in a free-flowing manner. These
questions don't have predetermined set of responses and the respondent is free to answer whatever he/she feels right. By including open
format questions in your questionnaire, you can get true, insightful and even unexpected suggestions.
An ideal questionnaire would include an open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire that seeks feedback and/or suggestions for
improvements from respondents.
Example of an Open Format Question

2. Closed Format Questions

Multiple choice questions, where respondents are restricted to choose among any of the given multiple choice answers are known as closed
format or closed-ended questions. There is no fixed limit as to how many multiple choices should be given; the number can be even or odd.
One of the main advantages of including closed format questions in your questionnaire design is the ease at performing preliminary analysis.
These questions are ideal for calculating statistical data and percentages, as the answers set is known. Closed ended questions can also be
asked to different groups at different intervals to efficiently track their opinion about a product/service/company over time. Closed-ended
questions can be further classified into 7 types.
Example of a Closed Format Question

Classification of Closed Format Questions for Questionnaire Design

There are 7 ways in which Researcher can create polling or survey questions for their respondents to collect accurate statistical data.
Following is a list of 7 types of closed-ended questions that can be a part of your questionnaire design:

A. Leading Questions
Questions that force your audience for a particular type of answer are known as leading questions. In a leading question, all the answers
would be equally likely. An example of a leading question would be a question with choices such as, fair, good, great, poor, superb, excellent
etc. These questions are meant to get an opinion from the audience in limited words.
Example of a Closed-Ended Leading Question

B. Importance Questions
In importance questions, the respondents are usually asked to rate the importance of a particular issue, on a rating scale of 1 to 5.

Example of a Closed-Ended Importance Question

C. Likert Questions
Likert questions can help you ascertain how strongly your respondents agree to a particular statement. Such type of questions also help you
assess how your customers feel towards a certain issue, product or service.
Example of a Closed-Ended Likert Question

D. Dichotomous Questions
These are simple questions that ask respondents to answer in a yes or no. One major drawback with dichotomous questions is that it cannot
analyze the answers between yes and no, there is no scope for a middle perspective.
Example of a Closed-Ended Dichotomous Question

E. Bipolar Questions
Bipolar questions are the ones having two extreme answers written at the opposite ends of the scale. The respondents are asked to mark their
responses between those two.
Example of a Closed-Ended Bipolar Question

F. Rating Scale Questions

In rating scale questions, the respondents are asked to rate a particular issue on a scale that ranges between poor to good. Rating scale
questions usually have an even number of choices, so that respondents are not given the choice of selecting a middle option.
Example of a Closed-Ended Rating Scale Question

G. Buying Propensity Questions

Buying propensity questions try to assess the future intentions of customers and determine respondent's buying intention. These questions ask
respondents if they want to buy a particular product, what requirements they want to be addressed, and whether they would buy such a
product in future.
Example of a Closed-Ended Buying propensity Question

Questions to Be Avoided In a Questionnaire

There is something more important than knowing the questionnaire format and what type of questions to be asked in a questionnaire. It is
understanding, what questions need to be avoided in a survey or poll.
Take care to avoid following type of questions when preparing a questionnaire:
1. Embarrassing Questions
Questions that ask respondents details about their personal and private matters are embarrassing questions. Such types of questions are better
to be avoided as you risk losing trust of your respondents. Your respondents might also feel uncomfortable to answer such questions and
might refuse to answer your questionnaire altogether.

2. Positive/ Negative Connotation Questions

Since most verbs, adjectives and nouns in the English language have either a positive or negative connotations, questions are bound to be
taken as either positive or negative. While defining a question, strong negative or positive overtones must be avoided. You will get different
data depending on the positive or negative connotation of your question. Ideal questions should have neutral overtones.
3. Hypothetical Questions
Hypothetical questions are based on speculation and fantasy. An example of a hypothetical question would be "If you were the CEO of an
ABC organization what would be the changes that you would bring?" Questions such as these, force respondents to give their ideas on a
particular subject, and generally the data collected through such questions are inconsistent and unclear. Hypothetical questions should be
avoided in questionnaires.

Sequencing of Questions:
Questions must be arranged in a logical sequence to minimize data errors and facilitate easy and smooth administration of the
questionnaire

Position of Demographic and Sensitive Questions

As a rule of thumb, demographic-related and sensitive questions should be placed at the end of the
questionnaire.
These questions may irritate some respondents who might then refuse to continue.
Sensitive questions likely to embarrass respondents or put them in an awkward position
Arrange the questions from simple to more complex
.
Arrangement of Related Questions
Questions can be clustered around related topics.
Some questions following a meaningful sequence.
Funnel and Inverted-Funnel Sequences

A funnel sequence begins with a very general question on a topic, gradually leading to a narrowly
focused question on the same topic. (Parasuraman, Grewal, Krishnan, 2004)
An inverted-funnel sequence begins with specific questions on a topic, gradually leading to more
general questions on the same topic. (Parasuraman, Grewal, Krishnan, 2004)
Funnel approaches are generally preferred, but some topics are more suited for inverted-funnels.

Skip Patterns

Proper sequence allows for simple "skip patterns" where a set of questions may be skipped by a subset of
respondents.
Skip questions direct respondents to the next applicable question.

Length of a Questionnaire
As a general rule, long questionnaires get less response than short questionnaires. However, some studies have shown that
the length of a questionnaire does not necessarily affect response. More important than length is question content. A

respondent is more likely to respond if they are involved and interested in the research topic. Questions should be
meaningful and interesting to the respondent.
When conducting Internet surveys, try to make the pages short enough so they appear in one screen that requires minimal
scrolling. Respondents answers are recorded only when a submit button is pressed. If your pages are too long, and the
respondent doesn't complete a page, their answers for that page will not be captured.

Questionnaire Design - Guidelines on how to design a good questionnaire

A good questionnaire should not be too lengthy. Simple English should be used and the question shouldnt be difficult to answer.
A good questionnaire requires sensible language, editing, assessment, and redrafting.

Questionnaire Design Process

1.

State the information required- This will depend upon the nature of the problem, the purpose of the study and
hypothesis framed.

2.

State the kind of interviewing technique- interviewing method can be telephone, mails, personal interview or
electronic interview. Telephonic interview can be computer assisted. Personal interview can be conducted at
respondents place or at mall or shopping place. Mail interview can take the form of mail panel. Electronic interview
takes place either through electronic mails or through the internet.

3.

Decide the matter/content of individual questions- There are two deciding factors for this-

4.

a.

Is the question significant? - Observe contribution of each question. Does the question contribute for the
objective of the study?

b.

Is there a need for several questions or a single question?

Overcome the respondents inability and unwillingness to answer- The respondents may be unable to answer the
questions because of following reasons

The respondent may not be fully informed

The respondent may not remember

He may be unable to express or articulate ( speaking in clear or effective manner)

The respondent may be unwilling to answer due to

There may be sensitive information which may cause embarrassment or harm the respondents image.

The respondent may not be familiar with the genuine purpose

The question may appear to be irrelevant to the respondent

The respondent will not be willing to reveal traits like aggressiveness (For instance - if he is asked Do you hit
your wife, sister, etc.)

To overcome the respondents unwillingness to answer:

i.

Place the sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire

ii.

Preface the question with a statement

iii.

Use the third person technique (For example - Mark needed a job badly and he used wrong means to get it - Is
it right?? Different people will have different opinions depending upon the situation)

iv.

Categorize the responses rather than asking a specific response figure (For example - Group for income levels
0-25000, 25000-50000, 50000 and above)

Decide on the structure of the question- Questions can be of two types:

a)
b)

Structured questions- These specify the set of response alternatives and the response format. These can be
classified into multiple choice questions (having various response categories), dichotomous questions (having
only 2 response categories such as Yes or No) and scales (discussed already).
Unstructured questions- These are also known as open-ended question. No alternatives are suggested and
the respondents are free to answer these questions in any way they like.

Determine the question language/phrasing- If the questions are poorly worded, then either the respondents will
refuse to answer the question or they may give incorrect answers. Thus, the words of the question should be carefully
chosen. Ordinary and unambiguous ( clear) words should be used.

Properly arrange the questions- To determine the order of the question, take decisions on aspects like opening
questions (simple, interesting questions should be used as opening questions to gain co-operation and confidence of
respondents), type of information (Basic information relates to the research issue, classification information relates to
social and demographic characteristics, and identification information relates to personal information such as name,
address, contact number of respondents), difficult questions (complex, embarrassing, dull and sensitive questions could
be difficult), effect on subsequent questions, logical sequence, etc.

Recognize the form and layout of the questionnaire- This is very essential for self-administered questionnaire. The
questions should be numbered and pre-coded. The layout should be such that it appears to be neat and orderly, and not
clattered.

Reproduce the questionnaire- Paper quality should be good. Questionnaire should appear to be professional. The
required space for the answers to the question should be sufficient. The font type and size should be appropriate.
Vertical response questions should be used, for example:
Do you use brand X of shampoo ?

Yes

No

Pre-test the questionnaire- The questionnaire should be pre-tested on a small number of respondents to identify the
likely problems and to eliminate them. Each and every dimension of the questionnaire should be pre-tested. The sample
respondents should be similar to the target respondents of the survey.

Finalize the questionnaire- Check the final draft questionnaire. Ask yourself how much will the information obtained
from each question contribute to the study. Make sure that irrelevant questions are not asked. Obtain feedback of the
respondents on the questionnaire.