Survey Questionnaire Construction Tips

Good survey construction requires some though and effort. When planning a survey,
consider the following issues:

1. Surveys should be as brief as possible. Include only those questions which are
important in the current study. Too many questions reduce the accuracy of
individual response, and make data analysis unduly complex.

2. Surveys can be completed on the paper form, or on a form which can be read
by a scanner. If there are open-ended questions among your survey items, then
the survey must be on the paper copy. Surveys can also be distributed through
email or placed on a web page. However, care should be taken in constructing
and analyzing responses from electronic surveys.

3. Surveys should include ID numbers, course and gender at least so that survey
information can be linked with outcome measures and variables which are
available through computer files or through school offices.

Survey items should be constructed as questions or statements.

Examples:

1. Do you feel that your academic adviser is genuinely attentive to your needs?
2. My academic adviser is genuinely attentive to my needs.

What is most important here is that biases are minimized. If the item “leads” the
respondent to answer in a particular way there is probably a better way to phrase it.
The following are some reminders.

Double-barreled items

This is a common pitfall that makes it almost impossible to interpret a respondent’s

answer. The problem occurs when a single survey item addresses two separate issues.
Avoid items like these:

Examples:

1. I believe the way our Math teacher treats us and grades us is fair.
2. The CSB website is helpful and easy to navigate.
Response Options

There are a variety of response options that can be used such as:

1. Open-ended:

Example: What trait of a teacher helps you to be motivated to study?

___________________________________________________

2. Yes-No:

Example: I believe that Algebra is a necessary subject for college.

___ Yes ___ No

3. True-False:

Example: The safety of students walking to AKIC is secured by roving guards.

___ True ___ False

4. 4-point scales:

Example: The turnstile at the front gate gets stuck.

1 - Never
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Always

5. 5-point scales:
Example: There should be a designated place in campus where students may
smoke.
1 - Strongly Disagree
2 - Disagree
3 - Neutral
4 - Agree
5 - Strongly Agree

You may ask yourself, “Should the survey use four response options ranging from
strongly agree to strongly disagree or should there be five response options with a
neutral point?” There is no definitive answer to this question because biases are
introduced in both cases. For example, with four-point response options, the
respondent is forced to take a position when he may actually think or feel neutrally
about the situation. With 5-point response options, the respondent may fall back on
responding neutrally when he has a definite position on the matter, but do not want
to express it. Ultimately, the goal is to minimize the bias that is most detrimental to
your study.
Item Direction

Should a survey item be worded positively, negatively or neutrally?

Examples:

I am satisfied with the customer service I receive in the cafeteria.

I am not satisfied with the customer service I receive in the cafeteria.
How satisfied are you with the customer service you receive in the cafeteria?

Ideally, you should use neutral statements so you would not lead a respondent to
respond a certain way. However, positively and negatively worded items are
frequently used. The most important consideration is balance. If there are negatively
worded items, then there should be an equal number of positively worded items as
well.

Administration of Surveys

Both teachers and students need encouragement to complete surveys thoroughly and
accurately. Be as diplomatic and reassuring as possible in asking them to fill out your
survey form. Reassure them that, although accomplishing the survey might mean
giving some personal data or opinion, their responses will be held in confidence and
only used for the purposes of your Statistics class.

Observe if a classmate of yours or another Statistics group has already just given a
survey to a group of students. If so, try to look for another group to administer your
survey form. The possibility of obtaining inaccurately responses from a group of
students who have just completed two or more surveys increases.