Designing a Questionnaire
Designing survey questions is a careful balance between the researcher's need for structure questions so that the survey is easy to analyse and allowing the respondent the flexibility to express views.
Prior to designing a questionnaire think about
- In which order should the questions go?
- What are the basic principles of asking questions?
- What style of questions will get the best response?
There are three main types of questions
- Behavioural questions
- to ask what a respondent does or has done in the past;
- Attitudinal questions
- to make the respondent think more carefully about their response to a question and so generally follow behavioural questions;
- Classification questions
- to ask for information on the characteristics of the respondent. These questions are generally left to the end of the questionnaire, as they are thought to be more personal and sensitive. However, in some surveys it is necessary to ask these questions at the start of the interview so that the survey is non biased.
When designing the questionnaire it is important to think about whether the respondent would understand the question, have the information/knowledge to answer the question, and give a true answer.
It is also important to think about the style of the question - open ended and closed ended.
Information sheet on designing your questionnaire
Clackmannanshire Council, Research and Information team have produced a short information sheet to help you design your questionnaire which includes sections on:
- What to think about prior to designing a questionnaire;
- What order should the questions go;
- Basic principles of asking questions.
See documents section below to access the information sheet.
Publications & Documents
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Contact information
For further information about this page please contact:
Performance and Partnership Support
Lime Tree House, Castle Street, Alloa, FK10 1EX
Tel: 01259 450000
Email: customerservice@clacks.gov.uk
Or use the on-line contact form
