You may feel that designing a questionnaire is pretty simple. While some people are able to get it right in the very first draft, some others struggle to formulate the questions. If you want your dissertation writing to be successful, you need to be able to draft a proper questionnaire or get its design right. Here are some tips on nailing the questionnaire design.
Make Sure the Questions Are Clear
Make sure that you frame the questions very clearly. For instance, if you ask in your questionnaire as to what the salary of a person is, they will not be able to understand whether you are asking what their monthly salary is or what their annual salary is. Instead, you should be specific and ask what the annual salary of the person is after the deduction of the taxes. Make sure you provide specific information rather than asking generic questions. Do not leave anything for interpretation by the respondents.
Do Not Make the Response Choices Too Long
The more the number of choices, the tougher it will be for your respondents to evaluate all the choices. This is particularly important while requesting the respondents to rank-order a list of items. There should be no ambiguity in the numeric ranges that have been presented to the respondents.
Avoid Using Emotional Language
Do not use unnecessary adverbs or adjectives. Stay away from questions such as, “You do not smoke, do you?” or else it would be highly problematic for the respondent to understand.
Avoid Negatives
Stay away from negative questions such as, “Do you believe that it is not a good idea to not turn in your assignment on time?” or similarly framed questions. This will completely confuse your respondents and they would not know whether to answer with a “yes” or a “no.”