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Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

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ORGANIZING AND DESIGNING QUESTIONNAIRES 285<br />

multiple answers are possible, or how the question should be administered,<br />

such as with cards or other special forms. Instructions<br />

should be placed just after the question if they relate to how the<br />

answer should be recorded or how the interviewer should probe.<br />

Probing instructions tell the interviewer what to do or say to determine<br />

that the answer is complete and can be interpreted and coded.<br />

In addition to these instructions on the questionnaire, careful<br />

researchers also prepare separate question-by-question written or<br />

computer instructions for interviewers. <strong>The</strong>se are used both in the<br />

interviewer training and for review and reference purposes. <strong>The</strong><br />

separate instructions do not replace the instructions found on the<br />

questionnaire and are used to cover what the interviewer should do<br />

in a few unusual cases. <strong>The</strong> instructions found on the questionnaire<br />

are included so that interviewers do not need to rely on their memory.<br />

In computer-assisted interviewing, these detailed instructions<br />

may be stored in the computer so that the interviewer may access<br />

them anytime during an interview.<br />

Numbering of <strong>Questions</strong><br />

Standard programs for computer-assisted interviewing require that<br />

all questions be numbered. Even for paper questionnaires, there are<br />

several good reasons to number the questions. First, numbering<br />

questions can alert either the respondent or the interviewer that a<br />

question has been skipped. Thus, a respondent who answers Question<br />

2 and then starts to read Question 4 realizes that Question 3<br />

has been skipped and goes back to it. Second, a small number of<br />

questions will suggest to potential respondents that the task is not<br />

too difficult and will not take too much of their time if they agree<br />

to participate. Finally, follow-up debriefings have indicated that<br />

some people find satisfaction in seeing they have answered a certain<br />

number of questions and are progressing through the questionnaire<br />

at a satisfactory rate.<br />

If data processing is required, numbered questions serve as important<br />

reference points in communications between the researcher

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