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

328 ASKING QUESTIONS
Since almost all responses would be choice B, very little information
is learned. Design your questions so that they are sensitive
to differences among respondents. For example, the question “Are
you against the unlawful discharge of firearms within the city limits?”
would have little variability in response and should probably
not be asked.
A Good Question Follows Comfortably
from the Previous Question
Writing a questionnaire is similar to writing anything else. Transitions
between questions should be smooth. Questions should
be grouped so that they are similar and easier to complete. Questionnaires
that skip from one unrelated topic to another feel
disjointed and require too much effort of respondents; such questionnaires
are less likely to produce reliable responses and high
response rates.
When Should I Ask Ranking Questions?
Asking respondents to rank a long series of items (by their importance,
for instance) can be very difficult. (See Chapter Five.) It is
feasible, however, to have people rank either the three most favored
items or the three least favored items. Another method is to ask for
explicit comparisons in a sequential manner, as in the following
example:
Following are three colors for an office wall: yellow, white,
and light green.
Which color do you like best?
Yellow White Light green
Which color do you like second best?
Yellow White Light green
Which color do you like least?
Yellow White Light green