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

42 ASKING QUESTIONS
Household Health Diary
Another procedure for obtaining health information is the use of
a diary for recording events as they occur. Figure 2.4 illustrates a
sample page from such a diary, including instructions, and sample
entries inserted in the blanks.
The diary also includes sections on “felt ill but went to work or
school,” “visited or called a doctor,” “went to a hospital,” “obtained
medical supplies,” and “paid doctor or hospital bills.” Although it
would have been possible to ask about the details of the illness, such
as why did the person feel ill, and what medicine or treatment was
used, this information would be difficult to recall, especially for
minor illnesses such as colds and headaches.
Childrearing Practices
Two comments can be made about the questions on childrearing
shown in Figure 2.5. The first question is an open-ended, fieldcoded
question (SRL, 1978). That is, respondents are not given the
answers, but the interviewers have a list of categories into which to
put the answers. (If the response is ambiguous, this procedure may
introduce an additional source of error. This problem is especially
important for attitude questions. Field coding is discussed in greater
detail in Chapter Six.)
Note that multiple answers are allowed but are not actively
sought. Question 4 is a two-part question with skip instructions.
The B part would be asked only if a “yes” is obtained in part A.
Both the numbering and the skip instructions help guide the interviewer
in asking questions of the respondents.
Religious Practices
Figure 2.6 illustrates that the Gallup Poll’s wordings on religious
questions (2001) are similar to its wordings on the jogging question
in Figure 2.2. It might be argued that membership in a church or