An online questionnaire needs to be carefully thought through before it is launched. There are several important paradigms that should be considered when creating an online questionnaire.
In designing a questionnaire, the evaluation method should be kept in mind when choosing the response format. In this section, there are various response formats that can be used on online questionnaires.
The respondent is required to click on the circle, which corresponds to the desired answer. A dot in the middle will appear once an answer is chosen. Only one answer can be chosen.
The respondent is required to click on the box next to the answer that corresponds to the desired choice. A checkmark will appear in the box once an answer is chosen. More than one answer can be selected.
The respondent is required to click on the arrow on the far right side of the box. Once clicked, a display with a list of answers will appear. A scroll bar may appear on the right hand side if a large number of answers are displayed. The respondent can click on the highlighted section of the list to select an answer. This answer will then appear in the box. Only one answer can be selected for this type of question.
Open-ended questions are those that allow respondents to answer in their own words. In an online survey, textboxes are provided with the question prompt in order for respondents to type in their answer. Open-ended questions seek a free response and aim to determine what is at the tip of the respondent's mind. These are good to use when asking for attitude or feelings, likes and dislikes, memory recall, opinions, or additional comments.
The respondent is required to click inside of the text box to get the cursor inside the box. Once the cursor is blinking inside of the box, the answer of the question can be typed in.
The respondent must select one value from a scale of possible options; for example, poor, fair, good, or excellent. Rating scales allow the person conducting the survey to measure and compare sets of variables.
Response rates are frequently quite low and there is a danger that they will continue to drop due to over-surveying of web-users.
Jon Krosnick argues that the following three factors determine the successfulness of the questionnaire and the likelihood of achieving decent levels of response.
Bosnjak and Tuten argue that there are at least seven ways in which online surveys are responded to.
Once the questionnaire is designed, it must be administered to the appropriate sample population for data collection. Attracting the appropriate target audience often requires advertisement. There are various methods used to attract participants
This usually helps in attracting willing participants which ultimately provide better quality data as opposed to reluctant participants.
Location of administration for the online questionnaire may be a factor in the administration if a specific environment is required. A quiet environment may be needed for questions, which require a certain amount of concentration. The questionnaire may need to be administered in a secluded environment to protect sensitive information provided by the participant. Security measures in the software may also need to be added in these cases. In contrast, online questionnaires may also be very informal and relaxed and can be conducted in the comfort of someone’s home.
Questionnaire quality can be measured through the value of the data obtained and participant satisfaction. To maintain a high quality questionnaire length, conciseness and question sequence should be considered. First, questionnaires should only be as long as they need to be. Conciseness can be achieved through removing redundant and irrelevant questions, which can add frustration to the participant, but not value to the research. Finally, placing questions in a logical sequence also gives the participants a better mental map as they are filling out the questionnaire. Moving randomly between subjects and having answers in a non-intuitive sequence can confuse the participant.
Ethical issues should be considered when gathering data from a target audience. Below are common things one should keep in mind when considering the rights and interests of the participant.
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
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Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Shatz, Itamar (2017). "Fast, free, and targeted: Reddit as a source for recruiting participants online" (PDF). Social Science Computer Review. 35 (4): 537–549. doi:10.1177/0894439316650163. S2CID 64146439. http://itamarshatz.me/wp-content/uploads/Fast-Free-and-Targeted-Reddit-as-a-Source-for-Recruiting-Participants-Online.pdf
Online Questionnaire Design Guide, "Web Based Questionnaires" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP[permanent dead link] http://lap.umd.edu/questionnaire_design/questionnaires.html
StatPac, "Questionnaire Design - General Considerations" [cited Feb 24, 2007]. Available HTTP http://www.statpac.com/questionnaires/questionnaire-design.htm
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Groves, Robert M., Fowler, Floyd J., Couper, Mick P., Lepkowski, James M., Singer, Eleanor, Tourangeau, Roger, Questionnaire Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 exactly
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
National Research Council of Canada, "Online Questionnaire Design" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP Archived 2007-05-15 at the Wayback Machine http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/projects-projets/questionnaire_e.html
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Levenbach, Ella (2019-07-14). "What Is Skip Logic?". Opinion Stage. Retrieved 2024-11-24. https://www.opinionstage.com/blog/what-is-skip-logic/
Online Questionnaire Design Guide, "Web Based Questionnaires" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP[permanent dead link] http://lap.umd.edu/questionnaire_design/questionnaires.html
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Survey Monkey, Smart Survey Design (2007), http://s3.amazonaws.com/SurveyMonkeyFiles/SmartSurvey.pdf http://s3.amazonaws.com/SurveyMonkeyFiles/SmartSurvey.pdf
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
See "Jon Krosnick". Archived from the original on 2007-08-19. Retrieved 2008-02-20. for a list of Krosnick's publications https://web.archive.org/web/20070819110858/http://www.stanford.edu/group/polisci/faculty/krosnick.html
Bosnjak, M. and Tuten, T. L. (2001) Classifying response behaviors in web-based surveys, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 6, 3. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol6/issue3/boznjak.html http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol6/issue3/boznjak.html
Groves, Robert M., Fowler, Floyd J., Couper, Mick P., Lepkowski, James M., Singer, Eleanor, Tourangeau, Roger, Questionnaire Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 exactly
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Couper, Mick P., Baker, Reginald P., Clark, Cynthia Z. F., Martin, Jean, Nicholls, William L., O'Reilly, James M., Computer Assisted Survey Information Collection. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998 /wiki/Cynthia_Clark
National Research Council of Canada, "Online Questionnaire Design" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP Archived 2007-05-15 at the Wayback Machine http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/projects-projets/questionnaire_e.html
Online Questionnaire Design Guide, "Web Based Questionnaires" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP[permanent dead link] http://lap.umd.edu/questionnaire_design/questionnaires.html
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Couper, Mick P., Baker, Reginald P., Clark, Cynthia Z. F., Martin, Jean, Nicholls, William L., O'Reilly, James M., Computer Assisted Survey Information Collection. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998 /wiki/Cynthia_Clark
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Shatz, Itamar (2017). "Fast, free, and targeted: Reddit as a source for recruiting participants online" (PDF). Social Science Computer Review. 35 (4): 537–549. doi:10.1177/0894439316650163. S2CID 64146439. http://itamarshatz.me/wp-content/uploads/Fast-Free-and-Targeted-Reddit-as-a-Source-for-Recruiting-Participants-Online.pdf
Groves, Robert M., Fowler, Floyd J., Couper, Mick P., Lepkowski, James M., Singer, Eleanor, Tourangeau, Roger, Questionnaire Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 exactly
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
National Research Council of Canada, "Online Questionnaire Design" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP Archived 2007-05-15 at the Wayback Machine http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/projects-projets/questionnaire_e.html
National Research Council of Canada, "Online Questionnaire Design" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP Archived 2007-05-15 at the Wayback Machine http://iit-iti.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/projects-projets/questionnaire_e.html
Online Questionnaire Design Guide, "Web Based Questionnaires" [cited Mar 10, 2007]. Available HTTP[permanent dead link] http://lap.umd.edu/questionnaire_design/questionnaires.html
Couper, Mick P., Baker, Reginald P., Clark, Cynthia Z. F., Martin, Jean, Nicholls, William L., O'Reilly, James M., Computer Assisted Survey Information Collection. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998 /wiki/Cynthia_Clark
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
Presser, Stanley, Rothgeb, Jennifer M., Couper, Mick P., Lessler, Judith T., Martin, Elizabeth, Martin, Jean, Singer, Eleanor, Methods for Testing and Evaluating Questionnaire Questionnaires. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004 /wiki/Judith_T._Lessler
Bradburn, Norman M., Sudman, Seymour, Wansink, Brian, Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires. Jossey-Bass. 2004
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece, J., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002