Developing Effective Questionnaires

Abstract

Many research questions are effectively answered by collecting data about the opinions, beliefs, and perceptions of large numbers of persons in widely dispersed areas. The questionnaire is an economical means of gathering such information. Properly designed questionnaires can collect valid and reliable data for analyzing a research problem. This article reviews fundamental principles of questionnaire design and presents a matrix to guide the construction of a questionnaire. Methods to avoid common problems and pitfalls in developing a questionnaire are also presented. Field testing is recommended to ensure validity and reliability.

The impact of the Virtual Ophthalmology Clinic on medical students’ learning: a randomised controlled trial

“…[6][7][8][9][10] Questionnaires were designed drawing from literature on questionnaire-wording skills. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The aim was to design questionnaires that were logically structured and worded to not influence the students' answers. 19,20 A total of 188 medical students from the University of Sydney commencing their clinical ophthalmology rotation were randomised either to VOC incorporated into their ophthalmic rotation or to traditional ophthalmic rotation (Figure 1a).…”

The effect of the general practice registrar year on perceived skills in palliative care in the West Midlands

“…However, the improvement is not as dramatic as one might wish and ways of seeking to improve these skills require further research. 20,21 Improving these skills could start, as one registrar suggests, with`encouragement within the practice to take on terminally ill patients' and, as another registrar states`The trainer should take the GP Registrar to the hospice or home after discussing the 34% stated that an attachment to a hospice would be helpful 13% stated that they would like teaching by a Macmillan nurse 11% wished to be allocated to terminally patients within the training practice 10% would like more teaching on palliative care during their half-day release 7% believed there should be a 3±6-month post in palliative care during vocational training 6% would like a training day in palliative care situation and should himself get involved'. The teaching also needs to be structured and the following comments of registrars should be borne in mind:`A major concern of mine is that I have very little experience in dealing with the dying and I feel that dealing with the dying inpatient is a radically different situation to coping with people dying in the community where your relationship is so much more involved', and another registrar who said,`Death and bereavement is one of the most dif®cult and potentially frightening areas to deal with'.…”

Development and evaluation of a new questionnaire for rating perceived participation1

“…It was structured in accordance with the domains of the participation dimensions 9,10 and it was developed in five steps -drafting, expert review, first revision, pilot test, and final revision. 18,19 • Drafting, expert review, and first revision: A team including a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, nurse and rehabilitation assistants selected items from the nine domains of ICIDH-2 that they judged to be important for adult patients with mild to severe signs and symptoms of neurological disease. Three other teams of multidisciplinary staff reviewed the proposed items for relevance, comprehensibility and clarity.…”