Questionnaires for primary school
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Transcript of Questionnaires for primary school
Designing Questionnaires for Children and Young People
Alice Bell
Families and Children Group
National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
Royal College of Nursing Conference
‘Consulting with Children and Young People’
Friday 9th June 2006
Session outline
• Quantitative and qualitative research• When to use questionnaires with children and young
people• Designing questions for children and young people -
the Question and Answer Model• Question testing techniques
• Interactive quiz!
Two types of research
Quantitative Qualitative
Two types of research
Quantitative
• Fixed (questionnaires)
Qualitative
• Flexible (e.g. topic guides)
Two types of research
Quantitative
• Fixed (questionnaires)• Incidence & prevalence
Qualitative
• Flexible (e.g. topic guides)• Reasons & explanation
Two types of research
Quantitative
• Fixed (questionnaires)• Incidence & prevalence• Representative sample
Qualitative
• Flexible (e.g. topic guides)• Reasons & explanation• Purposive sample
Two types of research
Quantitative
• Fixed (questionnaires)• Incidence & prevalence• Representative sample• Data ordered & numerical
Qualitative
• Flexible (e.g. topic guides)• Reasons & explanation• Purposive sample• Data disorderly & rich
Choosing an appropriate methodology (1)
• Traditional leaning towards using qualitative techniques with children and young people
• Quantitative research widely considered feasible from age 7…
• …but age only a rough proxy for various aspects of ‘development’
Choosing an appropriate methodology (2)
• Be clear about your research questions• Identify your population• Consider time and budget• Quant and qual in combination?
Range of quantitative options
• Face-to-face interviewing (paper or computer-assisted)
• Telephone interviewing (paper or computer-assisted)• Self-completion questionnaires (paper or computer-
based - including online)
Question-Answer ModelComprehend
question
Respond
Judge
Retrieveinformation
(Tourangeau 1984)
Comprehension
• Vocabulary • Question length• Ambiguity• Double-barrelled questions• Depersonalised/indirect questions• Complex constructions• Negative questions• Suggestively phrased questions
Retrieval
• Level of recall
• Complexity of retrieval process
• Reference periods
Judgement
• Filtering responses - social desirability
• Context effects
• ‘No right or wrong answers’
• Sensitive questions and topics
Response
• Number of response categories
• Ordering of response categories
• Scales and labels
• Explicit vs implicit ‘Don’t Know’s
• Showcards
Question testing
• Sometimes called ‘cognitive testing’
• Used to revise and refine questionnaire
• In-depth interviews; retrospective probing and ‘think-
aloud’ techniques
• Other options: expert appraisal, focus groups,
observation
Question testing - example (1)Do you have a personal computer (PC) at home?(Tick one box)YesNo
Question testing - example (1) revised
Do you or your family have a computer at home?(Tick one box)
YesNo
Question testing - example (2)
How often, if ever, are you punished at school e.g. detention, sent to see the head teacher, sent out of the classroom?NeverRarelySometimesOften
Question testing - example (2) revised
In the last four weeks, how many timeshave you been punished at school?
NeverOnce or twiceThree or more times