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

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294 ASKING QUESTIONS<br />

If you are using existing scales developed by other researchers,<br />

the same format should be retained in the version seen or used by<br />

the respondent, since changing the format may change response<br />

distributions. <strong>The</strong> format of the interviewer questionnaire need not<br />

be identical to what the respondent sees.<br />

On a card, verbal responses would usually be listed vertically as<br />

follows:<br />

Strongly Agree<br />

Agree<br />

Disagree<br />

Strongly Disagree<br />

If several successive questions use exactly the same answer categories,<br />

you can save space on paper questionnaires by listing the<br />

answers across. Interviewers and most respondents seem to have no<br />

trouble with this format. This is not necessary for computer-assisted<br />

surveys, where space is not an issue.<br />

Thank You<br />

Researchers are fortunate that most people are still willing to donate<br />

their time and energy to taking surveys. <strong>The</strong>se respondents<br />

deserve to have the process made interesting and enjoyable to<br />

them, and they also deserve a sincere “thank you” at the end of the<br />

interview. This would be automatic for most interviewers, but it is<br />

best to end each questionnaire with a printed thank you. In some<br />

cases additional degrees of personalization are appreciated, such as<br />

by graphically reproducing the first-name signatures of a number of<br />

people on the research team.<br />

Following the interview, it is also appropriate for respondents<br />

who want additional information on the type of studies being done<br />

to be directed to a Web site that gives more general information. In<br />

academic-sponsored research, offering respondents the follow-up

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