Self-report design

• Designing Questionnaires

  Closed Questions divided

  • Closed questions can be divided even further into formats that are not traditional ‘questions’
  • Likert Scales
  • Rating Scales
  • Fixed Choice option
• Likert Scale

  • A linkert scale is one in which the respondent indicates their agreement or disagreement with a statement using a scale.
  • The scale ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree
• Rating Scale

  • A rating scale works in a similar way but gets respondents to identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic.
• Fixed-choice option

  • A fixed-choice option item includes a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them
• Designing interviews

  • Most interviews involve an interview schedule
  • The  interviewer will either notes throughout or, recorded the interview 
  • Interviews either involve an interviewer and a single participant or can be conducted in a group 
  • Normally interviewers begin with neutral questions to make the interviewee feel relaxed and comfortable
  • Interviewees should be reminded that their answers will be treated in the strictest confidence
• Writing good questions

  • Clarity is essential when designing questionnaires and interviews.
  •  If respondents are confused by or misinterpret particular questions, this will have a negative impact on the quality of the information received. 

  With this in mind, the following are common errors in question design that should be avoided where possible.
• Overuse of Jargon

  • Jargon refers to technical terms or slang terms
  •  For instance, the following question includes jargon:
  • Do you agree that maternal deprivation in early childhood inevitably leads to affectionless psychopathy in later life?
  • To the layperson this would be confusing. 
  • It is also unnecessarily complex
• Double Barrelled questions and double negatives

  • A double-barrelled question contains two questions in one, the issue being that respondents may agree with one half of the question and not the other.
  • Do you agree with the following statement?
  • Premier league footballers are overpaid and should have to give twenty per cent of their wages to charity.
  • Finally, questions that include double negatives can be difficult for respondents to decipher.
  • I am not unhappy in my job. (Agree / Disagree)