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Developing a Questionnaire. Goals Discuss asking the right questions in the right way as part of an...
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Transcript of Developing a Questionnaire. Goals Discuss asking the right questions in the right way as part of an...
Goals Discuss asking the right
questions in the right way as part of an epidemiologic study.
Review the steps for creating a questionnaire and the categories of information typically collected.
Review types of questions and how to properly organize them into a questionnaire.
Steps in creating a questionnaire
1. Identify the leading hypotheses about the source of the problem
2. Identify the information needed to test the hypotheses
3. Identify the information needed for logistics of the study and to examine confounding
Steps in creating a questionnaire
4. Write the questions to collect this information
5. Organize the questions into questionnaire format
6. Test the questionnaire7. Revise the questionnaire8. Train interviewers to administer
the questionnaire
Categories of information for an epidemiologic questionnaire
Identifying information Demographic information Clinical information Exposure or risk factor information Source of information
Identifying information Important for the logistics of the study Includes
Respondent's name or other identifiers Contact information: address and telephone
number Allows
Subject identification Questionnaire updates as more information
becomes available Linkage of questionnaire to other records Prevention of duplicate entry of records
Demographic information Includes items such as age, sex,
education level, and location Is used to characterize the population at
risk Is important in the search of potential
confounders Needs to be evaluated to determine if it
affects the relationship between exposure and disease
Clinical information Includes
Signs and symptoms of disease Date of onset of illness Results of laboratory testing
Allows To characterize the illness To decide who has the outcome of
interest To chart the time course of the problem
Exposure or risk factor information
Is used to test the hypotheses under investigation
Is probably the major focus of the questionnaire
Should be specific to the problem under investigation
Often includes: The respondent’s exposure to the factor of
interest The route, amount, and timing of exposure
and other details of exposure (e.g., brand, distributor)
Source of the information Identifies the individual supplying
the information Helps to assess validity
Is the interviewee the study subject or a surrogate?
Identifies the interviewer Helps to correct problems
Unanswered questions, illegible handwriting, nonsensical responses, inadequately trained interviewers
Types of questions
Open-ended Fill-in-the-blank Closed-ended
Categorical responses Ordinal responses
Types of questions
Open-ended Do not provide response choices,
therefore possible responses are limitless
Are useful in characterizing attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
Are usually limited to hypothesis-generating activities
Types of questions
Fill-in-the-blank Do not provide response choices Require short responses (one or two
words) Are used to measure a simple
respondent attribute, collect a date, or quantification
Require categorization and coding of responses
Types of questions
Closed-ended Response choices are provided
Categorical responses: categories have no particular order or inherent numerical value with respect to one another
Ordinal responses: responses describe a range of choices and have a quantitative values with respect to each other.
Types of questions
Closed-ended Investigator must
Anticipate likely responses Present the responses as a list of
mutually exclusive choices State responses clearly and concisely
Selecting the type of question
Depends on: The kind of information you need Your expectations about that
information During early exploration, when you know
little about a problem, you will be more likely to use open-ended questions
As you learn more about the problem and can anticipate responses, you will be more likely to use closed-ended questions
Writing questions
Wording depends on: Knowledge of the problem Hypothesis being tested Information being collected Affected population
Wording of questions Use language respondents can
understand Test translated questionnaires with
native speakers and “backtranslate” to test the translation
Limit each question to a single idea Word each question as precisely as
possible
Wording of questions Do not phrase questions in a way
that suggests a response Avoid double negatives Always include a “Don’t know” or
“Refused” category option In closed-ended questions, be sure
that categories cover all potential responses and are mutually exclusive
Questionnaire design
Introduction Identify the sponsoring organization Explain the purpose of the study State how long the interview is likely
to take and reassure the participant that their answers are confidential
Questionnaire design Length
As short and focused on the hypothesis being tested as possible
Try to gather additional information of interest to the investigators without compromising parsimony
Logic Organize questions in a way that promotes
rapport between respondent and interviewer Do not skip from topic to topic; the
questionnaire should appear logically organized
Questionnaire design Layout
Clearly state instructions Number questions and pages Include an identifying code for the
respondent on each page Separate responses from questions Include skip patterns
Ending statements Thank the respondent Provide contact information
Conclusions The first step in questionnaire
development is to frame and refine the hypotheses under study and decide what information is needed to test the hypotheses. Then design the questionnaire paying careful attention to the type of question used, wording and organization.