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

ASKING QUESTIONS FAQS 333
activities is to determine relevance of the questions and the extent
to which there may be problems in obtaining responses. For example,
it might be determined that respondents are likely to be
offended by a certain type of question, that a line of questioning is
not useful, or that a question is misunderstood.
Notes
1. For example, if three people report “I hate my boss,” “I detest
my boss,” and “I loathe my boss,” we would probably combine
these responses into a single category, such as “Dislike of Supervisor.”
Many researchers would code these answers into three
categories: “Hate of Supervisor,” “Detestation of Supervisor,”
and “Loathing of Supervisor.” Using trivial differences to classify
data contributes to inaccurate coding. For example, identical
responses by two different people may be classified in
different categories by the same coder—or two different coders
may classify the same response in different categories.
2. A reason frequently given for using open-ended questions is to
capture unsuspected information. This reason is valid for brief,
informal questionnaires given to groups made up of less than
fifty respondents. When surveying small groups, a simple listing
of the responses to each question usually conveys their overall
character. However, in the case of a larger sample, it is necessary
to categorize responses to each question in order to analyze
these responses. This process is time-consuming and introduces
error. It is far better to determine the prevalent categories in
advance and ask the respondents to select among those offered.
In most cases, obscure categories that apply only to very small
minorities of respondents should not be included. A preliminary
open-ended questionnaire sent to a small group of people
is often a good way to establish the prevalent categories in
advance.