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Asking the Right Questions: Developing Effective Surveys

An evaluation capacity-building training

from the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center

by Robin Kipke & Travis Satterlund

June 10, 2011

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What We’ll Be Covering

10:00 Introductions, take knowledge pre-test10:40 End-use strategizing11:35 Question types11:50 Dillman principles for writing questions12:15 Lunch break 1:15 Dillman continued 1:35 Writing Questions -- Practice 2:25 Survey sequencing & construction 3:00 Field testing surveys 3:10 Learning recap, setting action plans 3:20 Complete exit survey 3:30 Optional consultation with TCEC associates

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Training Objectives

Participants can explain and apply these concepts:

o A survey is like a conversation o The 1st step of developing a survey is

end-use strategizingo The aim of survey design is to reduce

non-response and measurement error

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A survey is like a conversation in that…

o Is communication with a purposeo Begins with an introductiono Needs to capture respondent’s interesto Starts with easy-to-answer ?s, builds to more

substantialo Follows logical order, uses transitions to change

topico Finds a delicate way to raise sensitive issueso Winds down with less consequential subjecto Indicates end with a sign off

Photo by Robert Thivierge

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Where Survey Design Fits In

Source: Youth Media Evaluation Toolkit 2005

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What Surveys Can Tell You

To inform your project about

o Need for education or outreach

o Community priorities or policy options

o Level of support or opposition among stakeholder groups

o Makeup of local populations

o Extent of any change effected

o Satisfaction with services

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Thinking about What Information to Collect

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Using Reverse Logic to Develop Questions

Apply process to evaluation planning and development of data collection instruments

o Purpose of datao Target audience for the datao How information to be usedo Likely criticso Credibility thresholdo Pieces of datao Data sources and formats

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How It Works

o An example o Try it out – pair activity

o Think of the project you work on and how a survey could inform your efforts

o Discuss with your team what you might want a survey to tell you, how it could be used

o Work together to fill in each of the boxes of the End-use Strategizing worksheet

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Questions –Information Types

o Attitudes—What one wants or prefers

o Beliefs—What one thinks to be true

o Behavior—What one does or has done

o Attributes—What one is

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Questions—Structure Types

o Open-ended—No answer choices are offered

o Closed-ended—Answer choices are offered

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Open-Ended Questions

Examples:o Short Answer

o How long have you lived in this apartment?

o Clarification (as part of skip pattern)o If you answered “yes” to the previous

question, please explain why... o Comments

o Please write any additional comments you may have about the potential smoke-free policy.

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Open-Ended Questions

Drawbacks:o Respondents may find it difficult to

express their feelingso They take more time o Can yield inadequate answers without

probing, follow-up questionso Analysis is time consuming and

difficult

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Closed-Ended Questions

Examples:

o Yes/No questions

o Have you used any tobacco products in the last 30 days? Yes No

o Multiple Choiceo How many bedrooms does this apartment have? Zero (Studio) One Two Three Other _________________

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Closed-Ended Questions

o Likert-type Scaleso To what degree would you favor or oppose a

policy to make at least half of the individual units in this apartment complex non-smoking?

o How often do you attend coalition meetings?

Strongly Favor

Somewhat Favor

Neither Favor nor

Oppose

Somewhat

Oppose

Strongly Oppose

1 2 3 4 5

All of the time

Most of the time

Some of the time

Rarely Never

1 2 3 4 5

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Closed-Ended Questions

Examples (continued):

o Ranking

o On a scale of 1 to 5, rank the issues that matter most to you with 1 being most important.

___ Health care

___ Environmental protection

___ Safe neighborhoods

___ Quality of education

___ Fair wages

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“Survey design is all about motivating people adequately so they complete the cognitive steps necessary for answering

questions accurately and return the questionnaire.”

~ Don Dillman

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The Dillman Principles

o The aim of survey design is to minimize measurement and non-response error

o Measurement error: poor question wording or formatting leads to inaccurate answers

o Non-response error: people who respond to the survey are different from those who did not

Don A. Dillman. 2007. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

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Creating Respondent Buy-in

o Motivate people to begin and complete surveyo Use introduction/cover lettero Give compelling reason to participateo Ask interesting first question

o Build trust by demonstrating competenceo Employ good survey designo Make it easy to understand what to do

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Example Introductions

1. The Bonanza County Public Health Department is interested in finding out about how tenants feel about being around tobacco smoke. There are no right or wrong answers and they will be kept anonymous. We hope you will share your opinions with us.

2. To help protect Bonanza County multi-unit housing (MUH) residents from the dangers of secondhand smoke, the county Tobacco Prevention Program will be working with MUH owners and managers to adopt and implement a voluntary policy that prohibits smoking in…

3. The Bonanza County Tobacco Education Coalition is seeking public opinion on the effects of exposure to secondhand smoke and possible smoking policies. Your opinions are very important to us.

4. Smoke-Free Apartment Complexes – Tenant Survey

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Managing Cognitive Energy

o Respondents will devote only a limited amount of mental effort to complete your survey

o Make survey easy to understand, navigate and respond to

o Cluster related topicso Cluster similar response typeso Weigh need for survey length vs.

complexity of questions

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Keep Population of Interest in Mind

o What cultural characteristics might affect their ability to understand the survey?

o What is their literacy level? o What language do they feel most

comfortable with? o How much time will they be willing to spend

on taking the survey? o Is this a topic that interests them?

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Dillman #1: Keep It Simple

o Choose simple rather than specialized words

o Use as few words as possibleo (Sometimes these two rules conflict)

Use Rather Than

Customers Patrons

Smoke from other people’s cigarettes

Secondhand smoke

Apartments or condominiums

Multi-unit housing

People who live here Occupants of this household

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Dillman #2: Say What You Mean

o Use complete sentences to ask questions(even when they seem self-evidently clear)

1. Please check one: Male Female

2. Age: ____

1. What is your gender? Male Female

2. How old are you? _____ years

Problematic:

Revised:

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Dillman #3: It’s All about Timingo Avoid vague qualifierso Instead use more specific frames

o How often do you dine out at a restaurant?Problematic:

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Regularly

Revised:

Not at all

A few times

1-2 times a month

3 or more times a month

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Dillman #4: Balancing Act

o To avoid bias, state both sides of the attitudinal scale in the question stemo Would you favor or oppose a city policy to make

all parks non-smoking?

o Balance scales with equal number of positive and negative choices

o Very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely

o Neutral position is different from undecidedo Neither supportive nor unsupportive vs. don’t

know

Problematic:

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Balancing Act Example

Good Example:

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement “Smokers have a right to smoke”?

Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree I don’t know

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Dillman #5: Pick Me!

o Beware of primacy effects in “mark all that apply” lists

o Lists are OK for factual questions but not attitudes or preferences

o Make each issue a yes/no or scalar question

1. Which type of organization do you represent in the coalition? (mark all that apply)

Local lead agency Service organization Law enforcement Educational institution Other ____________ I don’t represent an

organization

Ok for list

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Problematic:

Which of the following areas in the apartment complex do you think should be made non-smoking? (Mark all that apply)

courtyard pool area barbeque areas

balconies/patios mailboxes laundry rooms

Revised:

Would you like any of the following areas of your apartment complex to be made non-smoking?

Courtyard yes no

Pool area yes no

Barbeque areas yes no

Balconies/patios yes no

Mailboxes yes no

Laundry rooms yes no

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Dillman #6: Framing the Issue

o Use cognitive techniques to improve recallo Guided imageryo Layer questions

Problematic:

When you have watched movies where actorswere smoking, did it make smoking seem more appealing to you?

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Framing the RecallRevised:

Think about the last three movies you saw.

1. What type of movies were they? (mark all that apply)

Action Comedy Drama Documentary

2.In any of those movies, did any of the characters smoke?

Yes No (go to question 4)

3. Did seeing the characters smoking make cigarettes seem more appealing to you?

Yes No

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Framing Sensitive Issues

o Save more sensitive questions towards the endo Once you’ve established a rapporto In case respondents refuse to proceed

o Soften the impact of potentially objectionable questionso Preface personal questions with more

general ones about the issue or ask about other people

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Problematic:

1. Have you ever shoplifted any tobacco products from a store?

Revised Versions:The questions which follow are being asked to help us understand where young people get tobacco products when they are underage. We really appreciate your help and that of students all over the state who have been asked to complete this survey honestly.

V1. Have you ever taken any tobacco products from a store without paying for them?

V2. Have you ever obtained tobacco products from…

a friend or relative? yes noa store without paying? yes no

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Dillman #7: Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other

o Make sure answer choices are mutually exclusive (numbers, conceptual overlaps)

Problematic:

How old are you? 15-18 yrs. old 18-30 yrs. old 30-50 yrs. old 50+ yrs. old

When you tried to quit, where did you turn to for help? my doctor support group online service quitline clinic or hospital on my own

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Dillman #8: It Doesn’t Add Up

o Ensure that respondents can answer the question

o Is it beyond the knowledge of respondents?o Were you aware that the California Air

Resources Board has declared secondhand smoke to be a toxic air contaminant?

o If the city were to pass a tobacco retail ordinance, how much should a license cost?

o Avoid excessive specificityo How many cigarettes have you smoked

within the last 30 days?

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It Doesn’t Add Up continued

o Use timeframes within memory In the last year, how many tenants complained about drifting tobacco smoke?

o Avoid unnecessary calculationsHow long have you lived in this apartment?

______ months

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Dillman #9: Don’t Be Negative!o Avoid asking respondents to say “yes” in order

to mean “no”

Problematic:

In which areas of the apartment complex should people not be able to smoke?

Revisions:

v1 Which areas of the apartment complex would you like to be non-smoking?v2 In which areas of the apartment complex should smoking be prohibited?

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Dillman #10: Over a Barrel

o Avoid double-barreled questions where two things are being asked in the same question

o Watch out for “and”o Instead collapse into illustrative

category, split into two questions, use “or”

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Over a Barrel?

Is either of these double-barreled?o If the downtown area was free of

secondhand smoke and cigarette litter, do you think you would be more or less likely to shop and attend events there?

o Do you think retailers should have to pay for a license to sell tobacco which would earmark a portion of the funds to cover the expense of enforcement?

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Now You Try it

o Write one question using each of these formats:o Yes/noo Multiple choiceo Scalar o Open-ended

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Survey Design Considerations

o Create a clear navigational patho Provide signposts to guide respondentso Use graphic elements as clues

START ❶ Circle the response

o Keep format visually uncluttered

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Survey Design Considerations

o Cluster like topics (e.g., knowledge, preferences, support)

o Also cluster similar response formats (Likert scales, statements of agreement, etc.)

o Use consistent scale directions throughouto Organize choices vertically, not

horizontallyo Beware of response set effecto Use pamphlet layout

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Sequencing Questions

o Remember a survey is like a conversation

o First engage interest, build trust, ensure success

o Move from easy-to-answer to complexo General to more specifico Less personal to more sensitiveo Balance open-ended vs. closed-endedo Save demographic questions for the end

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Field Testing Your Survey

o Why it’s importanto Who to involveo How to go about ito What to look foro What to do with the feedback

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TCEC: Your Resource Center

o Recorded webinars & training modules:o Online Surveys: Techniques & Tips (12/2/10)o Reducing Error: Designing Surveys that Work

(9/30/10)o Journey of a Survey (1/28/10)o Developing a Survey Instrument (3/26/09)o End-use Strategizing for Creating DCIs

(12/10/08)o Public Opinion Surveys (mini training)

o End Use Strategizing Checklisto Tips & Tools #2 on writing questionso Hundreds of survey instruments in repositoryo Individualized help from Evaluation Specialists

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Reflecting on Learning

o Surveys are more than a brainstormed list of ???s

o Start with end-use strategizing processo A survey is like a conversationo Follow design principles to reduce erroro Need to motivate respondents o Manage finite amount of cognitive energy o Create navigational patho Make it easy to complete!

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To reach us:

Email: tobaccoeval@ucdavis.edu

http://programeval.ucdavis.edu

Main phone line: 530.752.9951