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

ORGANIZING AND DESIGNING QUESTIONNAIRES 289
be done to transpose the numbers. If you forget to recode, you get
meaningless data and misleading results.
There are two simple ways to prevent this problem from occurring.
First, the response categories can be printed in the order in
which they are scaled rather than in the order in which they were
asked. Second, the numerical codes can be given in the right scale
order even though they are not in proper numerical sequence.
These two alternatives are shown in versions B and C in the previous
example.
Note also that on short 5- or 7-point scales the category “don’t
know” is sometimes coded numerically as an 8. If possible, the
number used for “don’t know” should be one that is separated
numerically from the last substantive response category by two or
more digits (say an 11 or 12) to avoid confusing it with a substantive
answer.
Questionnaire constructors have an overwhelming tendency to
code response categories numerically, beginning with 1 and proceeding
sequentially as far as is needed. In several instances, however,
serious consideration should be given to some other sequence.
In questions where the response categories have an implicit numerical
direction (for example, “high,” “medium,” “low,” or “above
average,” “average,” “below average”) it is better to give a higher
number code to the response category that has the higher implicit
numerical value. It is confusing to the analyst to have a set of response
categories “high,” “medium,” “low” with “high” coded as 1
and “low” coded as 3. That is, it is better that 1 equal “low” and 3
equal “high.” Otherwise, it is too easy to forget that the high number
actually means the “low” category and vice versa.
Numerical categories should be given considerable attention
when you intend to combine responses into an overall scale, particularly
when the numerical codes for the response categories are
to be added up. In these cases, it is vital that the numerical codes be
scaled in the same direction for all questions that you want to combine.
If there are two questions, each with three response categories,
and the response category in Question 1 is coded 1 and the item to