Module 4

• Questionnaire


  A measurement instrument in a survey containing the questions that will be answered by respondent
• Types of Questionnaire

  • Self-administered Questionnaire
  • Interview Schedule
• Types of Questions

  • Open-ended
  • Closed-ended
  • Semi-open
• Open-ended Questions


  Questions that require respondents to provide an answer in their own words since a complete list of answer categories is not provided
• Closed-ended Questions


  Questions that provide a complete set of alternative answers from which respondents select their choice
• Semi-open Questions


  Questions which have the option for the respondents to provide answers other than the categories provided
• Pitfall with language


  • Avoid complex words and complicated terminologies
  • Avoid abbreviations and acronyms
  • Avoid undefined terms or concepts and without a frame of reference
• Pitfall with language


  • Have you been immunized with pneumococcus vaccine?
  • Did you participate in the FIES?
  • What was the income of your business last year?
• Pitfall with questions


  • Each item should only have one question to avoid the double-barreled question
  • Avoid double negatives especially to statement that requires agreement
  • Watch out for the not-so-specific question that does not state the type of response needed
  • Avoid a leading question which suggests to the respondent that the researcher expects a certain answer
  • Avoid prestige markers and biased wordings that cue the respondent to give the intended answer
  • Avoid emotional languages or words that have a history of being attached to extreme situations
  • Avoid sensitive or threatening questions
  • Avoid unrealistic questions or questions with unreasonable recall period
  • Avoid inconsistent use of the same word
• Pitfall with questions


  • During the last 12 months, did your business import or export goods?
  • Do you agree that people should not be expected to not obey the law?
  • How much orange juice do you think this bottle contains?
  • Don't you agree that social workers should earn more money than they currently earn?
  • Majority of physicians in the Philippines feel that smoking is harmful. Do you agree?
  • What should be done about murderous terrorist who threaten the freedom of good citizens and the safety of our children?
  • Are you a victim of sexual harassment?
  • How many drinks containing alcohol have you had in the past two years?
  • What did you eat for lunch on 15 March 2018?
• Pitfall with response options


  • Avoid options that are not mutually exclusive
  • Avoid an unbalanced scales (Likert scale/ semantic differential)
  • Avoid having non-exhaustive options
• Pitfall with response options


  • What type of assets does your business hold?
  • How satisfied are you with the course?
  • How do you usually get the magazines you said you read?
• Pitfall with formatting and others


  • Crowded or untidy appearance
  • Font hard to read
  • Inconsistent layout and layout that is likely to cause mistakes when answering
  • Routing instructions which are incorrect or hard to follow
  • Illogical grouping or flow of questions
• Pitfall with formatting and others


  • Does new technology make our life easier?
  • Have you ever taken marijuana?
  • How many cups of coffee do you drink during a typical day?
• Questionnaire's Cover Letter


  • Identification of the person or organization conducting the study
  • Explanation of the importance of the study and reason/s why it is being conducted
  • Reason why the respondent should be the one to answer the questionnaire
  • Assurance of no right or wrong answers
  • Guarantee the confidentiality of answers

  
• Questionnaire's Concluding Part


  • Comments/Suggestions section
  • Acknowledgement of the respondents
  • Certification from enumerator stating that the responses supplied are complete and correct
  • Certification from respondents related to Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act 10173)
• Pretest


  Aims to determine any errors in the questionnaires or areas that need improvement such as ordering of questions, wording, and the natural flow from one section to another
• Types of Pretest

  • Participating Pretest
  • Undeclared Pretest
• Evaluating Pretest


  • Review answers to open-ended questions
  • Tabulate the number of no responses, unable to answer, and don't knows for each question
  • Investigate questions that yield too many answers
  • Look at the variability of responses
• Questionnaire's Reliability


  Ability of the questionnaire to create reproducible results (internal consistency)
• Cronbach's Alpha


  Most commonly used measure of reliability
• Interviewing Techniques


  The process of gathering information through a conversation with a respondent
• If alpha is high (at least 0.80, closer to 1.00), then this suggests that all of the items are reliable and the entire questionnaire is internally consistent
• If alpha is low (less than 0.60), then at least one of the items is unreliable and must be identified via item analysis procedure
• In general, an alpha of 0.70 or higher is considered "acceptable"
• The Interview


  1. Opening Remarks

  2. Gaining Entry (initial appearance)

  3. Doorstep technique (smile)

  4. Introduction

  5. Explaining the study

  
• Questionnaire's Reliability


  • Example calculation of Cronbach's alpha
• Questionnaire's Validity


  Ability of the questionnaire to measure what it intends to measure
• Reliability is not the same as validity
• Pilot Survey


  • A small trial run of the entire survey process
  • It is undertaken after the pretest
  • It is completed prior to the actual survey, to alert the enumerator for possible difficulties that were anticipated
• The Probe


  A technique used to clarify answers in a non-directive way, motivate the respondent, and make the respondent focus on a particular question
• Data Editing


  The process of inspecting the raw data from a questionnaire and correcting for any error to ensure its accuracy and reliability (data screening)
• Data Coding


  The process of converting answers to survey questions into numerical form (codes) to help compile the survey statistics
• Types of Data Coding

  • Listing Codes
  • Bracket Codes
  • Scale Codes
  • Series Codes
• Listing Codes


  Correspond to a list of choices or possible responses, with successive integers beginning with 0 or 1 assigned to the items in the list
• Bracket Codes


  Represent ranges or class intervals, frequently used for numerical responses like income and age in which the respondent may not be able to provide an exact answer
• Scale Codes


  Represent grouping of responses which vary in degree or intensity along a continuum, commonly used for coding responses to attitudinal questions (Likert scaling)
• Series Codes


  Multi-digit codes divided into two sets: (1) leading digits represent a major classification, and (2) trailing digits represent a specific category within the major classification. This coding scheme can be extended to more than 2 levels.
• Multiple Dichotomy Method


  For each possible response, create a dichotomous variable with a value of 1 to indicate that the response was given and a value of 0 if not
• Coding Combination Method


  Create new categories that are combinations of the possible responses