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

290 ASKING QUESTIONS
which it is to be added from Question 2 is coded 3, you cannot
combine these without first recoding one of the questions in the
proper order. Paying attention to matters of numerical precoding
before you begin to ask questions will save considerable time and
confusion during the analytical phase.
Coding Open-Ended Questions
It is a difficult, complex, and expensive task to plan for the coding
of open-ended questions. This is one reason why they are usually
only used in pilot studies. Unfortunately, a small test cannot provide
the full range of answers that will be obtained from a much
larger sample. Some provision must be made for coding unanticipated
answers either during the field period or after interviewing is
completed.
If the open-ended question has only a single dimension, then
only a single set of codes will be required. Some open-ended questions,
however, will be coded and analyzed in multiple dimensions.
Thus, an open-ended response might be coded on such dimensions
as favorability, relation to respondent, and subject of comment.
Each of these dimensions will need its own set of codes.
A more complex problem occurs when respondents are asked
for and may provide multiple answers to the same question, such as
“What are the three or four main things a school should try to teach
children?” In this case, a straightforward procedure is to prepare
(and update) a list of all possible items and then for a respondent to
code each item as follows:
Mentioned first 1
Mentioned later 2
Did not mention 3
The codes distinguish between “mentioned first” and “mentioned
later,” since the item mentioned first may be the most