11 Questionnaires and interviews (see Ch. 12) have in common the underlying assumption that some information is most accurately known by the informants themselves. Questionnaires are particularly useful for obtaining evidence for mental states, attitudes and events experienced by the participant such as symptom levels or degrees of satisfaction with treatments and information about the use of health services. This chapter focuses on questionnaires and questionnaire design, since they are frequently used to collect data in health sciences research. The specific aims of this chapter are to: Questionnaire construction usually involves the following steps: 1. The researcher specifies the information that is being sought. This may involve considerable thinking and discussion. Inspiration for selection of the required information comes from the investigator’s research objectives, discussions with others, reading and other sources. At this stage, the document is typically a list of information yet to be translated into specific question form. 2. Drafting of the questionnaire. The researcher next takes the list of information he or she wishes to obtain from the respondent and attempts to devise draft questions. As is discussed later in this chapter, the phrasing and design of the questions and the overall design of the questionnaire are important for the validity of the obtained information. If the questionnaire is badly designed, then the responses obtained may not accurately reflect the real situation for the respondents. 3. Questionnaire pilot. It is wise to pilot or trial a new questionnaire with a small group of the intended respondents and with clinical or research colleagues, in order to improve its clarity and remove any problems before the main survey. The pilot respondents may be asked whether the questions were clear. 4. Redrafting of the questionnaire. If the pilot phase uncovers problems with the questionnaire, it will need to be redrafted in order to address these problems. If they are of a major nature, it is usual to repeat the pilot phase. If they are minor, the researcher may make the necessary changes and then proceed to administration of the revised questionnaire to the full sample of respondents. 5. Administration of the questionnaire. After the questionnaire has been developed, it is administered to the full sample of respondents. The responses are then analysed in terms of the researcher’s aims and objectives. In some instances, researchers will not prepare a formal (‘structured’) questionnaire to be filled in by the respondent, but will design a general interview schedule to guide the interviewer who asks the questions of the participant. (Interviews are discussed in more detail in Chapter 12.) There are costs and benefits in both approaches, as shown in Table 11.1. Table 11.1 Costs and benefits of interviews and questionnaires
Questionnaires
Introduction
Questionnaire construction
Questions and questionnaire formats
Costs
Benefits
Interview schedule administered by interviewer
Expensive to administer; requires expert help
Responses much more susceptible to interviewer bias
Lower rejection rate
More detailed responses can be elicited
Greater control over filling out of response form
Self-administered questionnaire
Higher rejection rate
Difficult to elicit detailed responses
Less control over how response form is filled out
Cheap to administer
Less susceptible to interviewer bias
Can be administered by mail
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