The document discusses various aspects of designing questionnaires, including types of questions, formats, size, and sequencing. It covers open-ended and closed-ended questions, as well as factual, opinion, and information questions. The document also addresses advantages and limitations of questionnaires, characteristics of good questions, and considerations for design and evaluation.

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QUESTIONNAIRE
Process, Designing and Evaluation
Presented By
Om Prakash Saini
Research Scholar (Ph.D),
DLIS, BBAU, Lucknow

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INTRODUCTION !
 Questionnaire and Related Terms.
 Advantages and Limitations
 Structure, Format and Types of Questions
 Size of Questionnaire and Sequence of Questions.
 Characteristics of a Good Questionnaire.
 Consideration in Designing of Questionnaire.
 Steps Involved in the Construction of
Questionnaire.
 Pilot Study & Strategies for Increasing the
Response Rate.
 Checklist for Evaluation of a Draft
Questionnaire.
 Not Included (Sampling, Analysis, Interpretation & Scales).

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QUESTIONNAIRE ?
 A Question is a ;an enquiry, an interrogation or a demand
for an answer (Webster Dictionary http://www.websters-online-
dictionary.org/definition/Question.)
 A written document listing a series of questions pertaining
to the problem under study, to which the investigator
requires the answers. (Krishan Kumar, 1999 p. 120)
 “A questionnaire is a data gathering instrument,
containing a series of questions, presented in a definite and
specific order, meant to elicit responses from the
respondents”. ( Singh, 2002 p. 12)
 The ‘Questions’ are the basis of questionnaire, which
essentially fulfill the objectives of a study and translate the
objectives of research. (Frankfort- Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992 p. 239).
 Brief: A written document, List of questions in order,
Finding answers to a problem, under a study.

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RELATED TERMS !
 Interview: It is face to face conversation or personal interaction
between researcher and respondents.
 Checklist: A list of items pertaining to an object, an act, or a
task. A respondent is required only to indicated the availability or
non- availability of each item by checking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or checking
on a multipoint scale to express his/ her opinion. It may also use
independent or as a part of questionnaire or schedule as a data
gathering tool. (Singh, 2002 p. 10).
 Diary: A specialized form of self- administered questionnaire. Its
useful for recording information about events or activities by the
respondents over a period of time.
 Schedule: Is a written document giving a set of statement
and/or questions to be answered by respondents in a face to face
interview. (Singh, 2002 p. 10).
 Interview Guide: Is a guide or manual that gives guidelines
or instructions to be followed by interviewer while conducting the
interviews.

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ADVANTAGES !
 Low Cost:Economical in terms of cost,time, & efforts.
 Less Time Consuming: replies can be received back within a
short time.
 Suitable for Geographical Scattered Population: you
need not to visit physically.
 Accessibility: Possible where ‘No contact’ even ‘Busy’ respondents
may also be contacted.
 Collection of Large Amount of Data: in Short span of time,
besides, quantitative ness the analysis is also convenient.
 Self-Administered:Simultaneously administered by respondent,
questions in nature self explanatory.
 No Special Training Required: to fill up form, as self
explanatory’ it contain a covering letter, & clear cut instructions for
responses.
 Considered Answers: No pressure on respondents for immediate
response, they have sufficient time to consider each question carefully
before providing response.

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ADVANTAGES !
 Immediate Response: if the questions are short and
straightforward, respondent quiet often response immediately.
 Comparability in the Answers: as questionnaire has fixed
format which permit greater uniformity in questions.
 Reduction of Biasing Errors: Doesn’t involve personal
interaction with respondents, therefore chances of biasing errors hardly
exist than interview.
 Shy Persons More Responsive: Hesitation of shy nature
person may be eliminated, therefore better results are possible. ( Singh,
2002 pp. 19-20).
 Greater Anonymity: If questionnaire doesn’t require name or any
Signature then respondents feel free & assured towards his identity.Then
he/she gives frank & free responses. Appropriate for sensitive issues such
as cast, culture, & religion etc.

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LIMITATIONS !
 Low Response Rate: Serious disadvantage, usually 40%, more
response rate ensure generalization. This result in Biasness. To reduce
this proper explanation of questions, context, and use less technical terms.
 No Suitable for spontaneous responses ( no calculated)
 Lack of motivation for respondent to answer: researcher
remains behind the scene, so its choice of respondents. In sensitive
response a kind of rapport necessary, which is here its not possible.
 Not suitable for non-motivated individuals, who are not willing to write.
For illiterate. But a pictorial questionnaire may be alternatives.
 No control over respondent’s environment: One can’t sure whether or
not the appropriate person has completed himself.
 Limited scope for Simple questions: its suitable only for straight
forward questions, because it is comprehended by respondents merely on
basis on instructions on the other hand in interview explanation is
possible at the spot.
 No opportunity for proving and varification: I mail questionnaire, no
feelings reactions and sentiments. So answer are accepted as final.

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LIMITATIONS !
 No helps in case of doubts and misinterpretation of a
question is possible: as no personal interaction.
 No opportunity for additional information: through gesture,
emotions, facial expression and body language which is possible in
interview. It doesn’t allow to observe action.
 Need for anticipation of every possible response.
 Answers are not independent of each other: ‘Read and proceed’.
 Complete response to a questionnaire not assured.
 Manipulated answer possible. In general not but in case of this
then it is difficult to check.
 Verification of responses is very difficult: whether of not
respondent given a serious thought to answer.

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STRUCTURE OF QUESTIONS !
 CLOSE ENDED QUESTIONS:
 Also known as fixed response or structured questions.
 Respondent has to choose among given set of questions, of predetermined
answers.
 Useful for exploratory research. These further divided into; (Powell, 1985
p. 95).
1. Dichotomous Choice Questions:Provides only two options. E.g. ‘Yes’
or ‘No’, ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’.
2. Multiple Choice Questions: from which respondent choose one or
more options.
3. Very Short Answer Type: provides brief responses. E.g Please
mentioned the % of discount on Hindi language books received by your
Library _______%.
CEQ sometimes gives flexibilities to respondents to provide
additional options such as ‘Any other’ ( Singh, 2002 pp. 19-27). E.g.
Who classify books in your library? (Please tick (√) mark following). (A)
Librarian ( ) (B) Professional Assistant. ( ) (C) Any Other ( ) please
specify.
Appropriateness: Finding out agreement or disagreement with an explicit point

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STRUCTURE OF QUESTIONS !
 OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS:
 Respondents answer in his/her own word.
 Free answers by respondents.
 No choice of answers but freely and openly supply of information.
 Doesn’t force to respondents to select the answers.
 It leads to creative thinking and enlarge researcher knowledge.
e.g. 1. What do you feel, are the most important problems being faced by
public libraries in India?
_________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. What did you find more helpful, about the user education
programmes? _________ _____________
____________________________________________________________
Suitability: (Frankfort- Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992 pp.243-244).
 Exploratory studies, where hypothesis neither posed nor tested.
 Study which need to arrived a ‘point of view’.
 To get response, which is more revealing but less threatening.
(Singh, 2002 pp. 19-27).

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STRUCTURE OF QUESTIONS !
 CONTIGENCY QUESTIONS:
 In some cases of close ended where contingency in answer
require.
 Useful and save time, directing the respondents to go to only
applicable questions and skip the inapplicable.
e.g. 1. Do you use LISA? Yes ( ) No ( ) if yes proceeds to 2 otherwise go to
Q.No. 3
2. Do you find LISA up to date? Yes ( ) No ( )
3. In case you are not using LISA how do you manage to keep yourself up
to date with the latest development in the field of LIS.?
_____________________________________
How mush structuring is required?
 Freedom to researcher in forming question & freedom to enjoyed
by respondents in answering.
 It should by highly structured, where only few unstructured
questions are included.

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FORMAT OF QUESTIONS !
 GENERAL FORMAT: Used for structuring the response categories
in CEQ.
 All possible answers are listed & respondents are require to click or tick mark the
appropriate answers.
 Specific direction for appropriate mark should be given.
 Proper spacing between the options to avoid confusions. Code should be properly
identified.
 E. g. What is your marital status? Married ( ) Never Married ( ) Divorced ( )
Separated ( ) Widows ( ).
1.1 Cafeteria Style Questions: Choice out of range
Respondents indicate only ‘one’ item that describe best his/her situation OR as many as
items applicable (Singh, 2002 pp. 19-27).
e.g. Please tick any of the following reasons that apply to you regarding irregular visit to
the library: 1 Library is far from residence ( ), 2 Library is far from residence ( ) 3
Library hours are not suitable ( ) 4 Collection that I need not available ( ).
 OTHER FORMATS:
Likert – Types Response Questions:
 Most use format in social survey, where respondents asked to make a
judgment in terms of an ordered categories.
 Devised by Likert in 1932
 E.g. The library staff at the exit point should be given adequate power to
check suspicious or hiding document and bags. Strongly agree ( ) Agree ( )
Disagree ( ) No opinion.

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FORMAT OF QUESTIONS !
 Matrix Questions: it is a method for organizing a set of rating
questions that have same response categories.
e. g. Indicate your reaction to each of the following statements:
My vote as a member of ILA gives me power to participate in policy making
of association.
Strongly agree ( ) Agree ( ) Depends ( ) Disagree ( ) Strongly disagree ( ).
 Card-Sort (Rating Scale Format): it measures the intensity of
judgment. A respondent given a set of cards each bearing a single
statement. Then he asked to sort them into seven boxes, depending on
his/her degree of agreement with statement. (Frankfort- Nachmias &
Nachmias, 1992 p.248).
e.g. How strongly do you agree or disagreed with the following statement:
Professional librarians above the rank of a professional assistant working
in university libraries should be given an academic status.
Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
+++ ++ + +- - -- ---
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FORMAT OF QUESTIONS !
 Semantic Differential Scale (Rating Scale Format): Is
an attitude measures consisting of a series of seven point bipolar
rating scale allowing response to a concept. (Singh, 2002 pp. 19-
27). It designed to measure the feelings or reactions towards some
object or concept. It provides pair of antonyms and synonyms.e.g.
good/bad, suitable/unsuitable, strong/weak.
Example:
Quality very fairly slightly neither slightly fairy very
Good ___, ____, ______, _____, _____, ___, ___,Bad
Fast ___, ____, _____, _____, _____, ___,
___,Slow

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FORMAT OF QUESTIONS !
 Ranking Format: You may rank the desired information regarding
degree of importance, priority etc. it is a measurement task that requires,
that respondents ‘rank’ order a small number of activities, events or
objects in overall preferences on the basis of some features of motivation.
(Singh, 2002 p. 41).Ranking consist from the highest to the
lowest. Listing of greater range of options must be avoided, most
people find problems in thoughtful ranking of more than six
items,
e. g. Please rank the following items( types of collection in your
library) in order to importance based on their use.( use 1 for most
important & 4 for least important) by you.
Reference Collection ( ), Text Collection ( ), Periodical Collection( )
Rare Book Collection ( )
 Don’t Know Option: Response categories are given so as to
facilitate the process of coding & analysis. There are no agree
opinion on this option. It is suggested that ‘Don’t Know Option’
should be use for factual questions. It should not be given in
attitude questions. E. g. Place of birth of Dr. SRR.

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KINDS OF QUESTIONS !
Broadly in four categories:
1. Factual Questions:
 To elicit factual information
 Questions beginning with what, where, when, why, who and how
 Information include about background, environment, habits, leisure
activities, education and occupation etc.
e.g. 1. Age [ ] Years,
2. Gender Male [ ] Female [ ]
3.Total Monthly Income (include that of spouse)
Rs. [ ]

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KINDS OF QUESTIONS !
2.Opinion- Attitude Questions: deals with opinion & attitude
of respondents. Aims to determine as to what a respondent
think or feels about a particular subject at a given point of time.
(Powell, 1985 p. 92)
e.g. 1.Do you find the environment in the library user friendly?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
2. Are you satisfied with the loan period of books?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
3. Information Question: Deals with level of general information
and awareness of respondents. Also used to find about what,
how much a respondent knows. (Powell, 1985 p. 92)
e.g. 1. Who is the librarian?
2. What are the timings of library
3. How do you know that information service is available in the
library?

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KINDS OF QUESTIONS !
4. Self Perception Questions: Here respondent is asked to
evaluate something about his own behavior in relation to other.
It’s a comparison of ideas of one another. (Powell, 1985 p. 92).
e.g. 1. How effective you are in the executive committee of college
librarian?
2. How do you rate your success as a librarian during your
tenure?
 Directional questions: it indicates the direction of feelings
about an object of attitude or the issue in the question.
e.g. How do you rate library services as a researcher? Excellent
[ ], Good [ ], Bad [ ] Poor [ ].
 Intensity Questions: allows respondents to express the
depth of their feelings.
e.g. How much helpful is library staff for your reading need? To
a great extent [ ], To some extent [ ], To a little extent [ ],
Not at all [ ].

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SIZE OF QUESTIONNAIRE !
 Depend upon the scope of survey
 Size should be as short as possible, this not only motivate
the respondents for quick response but also enhance the
response rate.
 Sorter size ensure greater response rate. (Singh, 2002 p.
41).
 Response rate means that one shall have low level of
confidence in the result of the study that can be damaging
for the study itself.
 Higher level of response rate ensure higher level of
confidence and useful for generalization of findings of
study.
 Read each question carefully and ask oneself “ How I
shall use the information gathered as a response for
my study to the question? Does it carefully relate to
the hypothesis of my study?”

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SEQUENCE OF QUESTIONS !
 Logical sequencing of the questions maintain interest of respondent.
Questions presented in good psychological order from general to specific,
motivate to response. (Singh, 2002 p. 41).
There are two general patterns:
 Funnel technique (General to Specific)
 To obtain unbiased responses, used in most questionnaires.
 Helps to develop interest & understanding
 Inverted Funnel Sequence ( Specific to General)
 Narrower questions are followed by broader.
 Useful for the events took place long back.
 Beginning:
 Put the general & non threatening questions first for continuity, such
as name, age, sex, education etc.
 Middle:
 Sensitive questions dealing with personal feeling, opinion, and
attitude say about Library mgt. likely to embarrass.
 End:
 Boring and complex questions should be placed nearby end of
questionnaire

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD
QUESTIONNAIRE !
 Covering Letter must be enclosed
 Attractive appearance, layout and size & getup
 Anonymity of respondent (do not disclose personal or
confidential information) mentioning the name must be
optional.
 Objectives based
 Use of appropriate types of questions
 Logical sequencing
 Brevity and simplicity
 Practicability ( it doesn’t test the memory span of
respondent)
 Verifiable information ( corroboratory type questions)
 Validity and reliability
 Tabulation and analysis.

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CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE !
 Objectives of the study
 Short & meaningful
 Consult expert & decision maker
 Content of questions
 Meaningful and interesting to respondent
 Eliminate irrelevant questions
 Length of a questionnaire
 Statistical analysis
 Investigator must formulate a plan for analysis
 Unique envelop:
 Colored, eye-catching,& neat written address etc.
 Well written covering letter:
 Return address & clear and concise instructions, well formatted, and
attached a self address envelop.
 Motivational approach: to be followed, such as incentives, as summery
report, and a token for appreciation.
 Provide adequate space for comment
 Question wording: understandable, brief, avoid double barreled questions,
avoid multiple meaning questions, leading and loaded questions.

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STEPS IN CONSTRUCTING
QUESTIONNAIRE !
Start
Define the objectives
Design Methodology
Determine Feasibility
Develop a Questionnaire
Select a Sample for Pilot Study
Conduct a Pilot Study
Revise the Questionnaire
Select a Sample for Pre-test
Conduct a Pre-test

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PILOT STUDY !
Is a predetermined investigation carried out to acquire pre-knowledge,
concerning the subject matter of a main study to be conducted (Singh,
2002 p. 257)
• It is a collective term for small scale exploratory study to check the data
collection tool, prior to a larger study.
• Scope: Same as that the main study.
• Purposes:
• Provide adequate information of subject matter & population to be
surveyed.
• Operationalization of concept related to study
• To know the relationship between variables & helps to formulate
hypothesis
• Determining appropriateness of research method, techniques and
instrument for data gathering
• Enable designing of data gathering and analysis plans
• Determining the problems & its solutions likely to be faced in the
main study
• Determining the feasibility of the proposed study
• Get some idea about likely cost & duration of study.
• Design of Pilot Study:
• It should be able to fulfill the purposes of main study
• The sample must be identical to the population
• Aim of Pilot study include the alternative method of data gathering,
sequencing of questions, wording & formatting of questionnaire.

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STRETEGIES FOR INCREASE RESPONSE
RATE !
 Reasons for low response rate:
 Illiterate or less educated respondent
 Complex wording of questionnaire
 Too long questionnaire requires long time
 Lack of self addressed and/or pre-paid envelop
 Physical layout of questionnaire
 Fear of confidentiality & anonymity
 Timing of questionnaire distribution may be wrong
 Postal mismanagement
 Holding important position & business of respondent
 Need duplicate copy of questionnaire for official record
 Factors for motivation:
 Format, Wording, Covering letter & size of questionnaire
 Qualitative construction,professional looks of questionnaire
 Worthwhile topic, properly tested and return date should be carried
out
 Careful selection of respondent & suitable timing of distribution
 Duplicate copies of questionnaire should be provide (if needed)
 An appeal to the respondent for their goodwill should be given
 Regular envelope and its follow-up should be taken care

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CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATION OF A
QUESTIONNAIRE !
 Main purposes of checklist are revise and improve the
questionnaire
 Content of questionnaire: skilfully design or not, keep in mind the level
of respondents,objective & hypothesis of study.
 Wording of questionnaire: easy, simple & understandable, free from
technical terms. Alternatives choices should be available.
 Sequence of questions: its avoid bias and motivates for response. A
psychological sequencing is essential.
 Other:
 Ask one topic at a time
 Use a transition when necessary
 Enhance response rate
 Use a flowchart if necessary
 Follow chronological order
 Put difficult questions near end Never start with an open-ended
question.

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REFERENCES !
 Frankfort- Nachmias, and Chava & Nachmias, David. (1992)
Research methods in social sciences. 4th
ed. New York: St.
Martin Press.
 Krishan Kumar. (1999) Research methods in library and
information science. Rev. ed. New Delhi: Har- Anand
Publications.
 Powell, Ronald R. (1985) Basic research methods for
librarians. Norwood: Ablex.
 Singh, S. P. (2002) research methods in social sciences:A
manual for designing questionnaire. New Delhi: Kanishka
Publishers.
 Websters Online Dictionary.http://www.websters-online-
dictionary.org/definition/Question accessed on 24/12/2009.

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QUESTIONS ! COMMENTS !!