2 management - School of International Business and ...

Günter Lehmann
Questionnaire structure
– Pose clear and understandable questions.
– The questions should not lead to dodges. The starting questions should be interesting and
relatively easy to answer.
– Avoid foreign words in the questions which are not used by the target group.
– Establish conscious answer formats.
– Open answer format:
– A verbal answer should as a rule be used only to extend or give reasons for previous-
ly-given answers.
– Dichotomous answer format:
YES/NO/DON'T KNOW or FALSE/TRUE/DON'T KNOW
– Multi-category answer format:
Assess qualities:
VERY CONTENT/CONTENT/LESS CONTENT/NOT CONTENT/SERVICE WAS NOT USED
Quantitative information: Give a realistic range, for example, 0 to 10, 11 to 20, etc.
– Avoid double negatives in the questions.
Example »Are you against repealing the statute of limitations for Nazi crimes?« can lead to
misunderstandings
– Use value-laden terms (e.g. »justice« or »freedom«) as economically as possible in the
questions. Steer answer reactions!
– Don't ask multi-dimensional questions with answer categories »yes«, »no«, or »don't know.«
Example »Atomic power plants reduce the costs of energy production, but present a safety
risk.«
– Place hot or sensitive questions in the second part of the questionnaire.
– Ask demographic questions at the end of the questionnaire.
– Limit questionnaires to about 10 primary questions, and make it possible to conduct it in,
at most, 20 minutes.
Recommendations for implementation:
– Letters:
Official stationery, address on the letter, exact date, use of the investigation, importance of
the subjects, declaration of confidentiality, encourage return questions, give feedback ap-
points, stamped, addressed envelope should be provided, offer a short report if desired, thank
them, personal signature.
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