Editor’s note: The following article is an excerpt from a paper entitled “Designing and Using Questionnaires.” David Walonick is president of Walonick Associates, a software publisher for the marketing research industry.

Questionnaires have many advantages and disadvantages. Each of these must be weighed to decide if a questionnaire is the best research method. The importance of an advantage or disadvantage depends upon the individual study and there are no absolute rules. It is, however, important for the researcher to be aware of the possible problems.

Advantages

Questionnaires are very cost effective when compared to face-to-face interviews. This is especially true for studies involving large sample sizes and large geographic areas. Written questionnaires become even more cost effective as the number of research questions increases.

Questionnaires are easy to analyze. Data entry and tabulation for nearly all surveys can be easily done on a PC. What’s more, there is a large selection of statistical analysis software packages available for the PC.

Questionnaires are familiar to most people. Nearly everyone has had some experience completing questionnaires and they generally do not make people apprehensive.

Questionnaires reduce bias. There is uniform question presentation and no middle-man bias. The researcher’s own opinions will not influence the respondent to answer questions in a certain manner. There are no verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent.

Questionnaires are less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys. When a respondent receives a questionnaire in the mail, he or she is free to complete the questionnaire on his or her own timetable. Unlike other research methods, the respondent is not interrupted by the research instrument.

Disadvantages

One major disadvantage of written questionnaires is the possibility of low response rates. Low response is the curse of statistical analysis. It can dramatically lower our confidence in the results. Response rates vary widely from one questionnaire to another (l 0%–90%), however, well-designed studies consistently produce high response rates.

Another disadvantage of questionnaires is the inability to probe responses. Questionnaires are structured instruments. They allow little flexibility to the respondent with respect to response format. In essence, they often lose the “flavor of the response” (i.e. respondents often want to qualify their answers). By allowing space for comments, the researcher can partially overcome this disadvantage. Comments are among the most helpful of all the information on the questionnaire, and they usually provide insightful information that would have otherwise been lost.

Nearly 90 percent of all communication is visual. Gestures and other visual cues are not available with written questionnaires. The lack of personal contact will have different effects depending on the type of information being requested. A questionnaire requesting factual information will probably not be affected by the lack of personal contact. A questionnaire probing sensitive issues or attitudes may be severely affected.

When returned questionnaires arrive in the mail it’s natural to assume that the respondent is the same person you sent the questionnaire to. This may not actually be the case. Many   times business questionnaires get handed to other employees for completion. Wives sometimes respond for their husbands. Kids respond as a prank. There are a variety of reasons that the respondent may not be who you think it is. It’s a confounding error inherent in questionnaires.

Finally, questionnaires are simply not suited for some people. For example, a written survey to a group of poorly educated people might not work because of reading skill problems. Or more frequently, some people are just turned off by written questionnaires.

Well-defined goals

Most problems with questionnaire analysis can be traced back to the design phase of the project. Well-defined goals are the best way to assure a good questionnaire design. When the goals of a study can be expressed in a few clear and concise sentences, the design of the questionnaire becomes considerably easier. One of the best ways to clarify your study goals is to decide how you intend to use the information. Do this before you begin designing the study. This sounds obvious, but many researchers neglect this task. Why do research if the results will not be used?

Be sure to commit the study goals to writing. Whenever you are unsure of a question, refer to the study goals and a solution will become clear. Ask only those questions that directly address the study goals. Avoid the temptation to ask questions because it would be “interesting to know.”

As a general rule with only a few exceptions, long questionnaires get less response than short questionnaires. Keep your questionnaires short. In fact, the shorter, the better. Response rate is the single most important indicator of how much confidence you can place in the results. A low response rate can be devastating to a study. Therefore, you must do everything possible to maximize the response rate. One of the most effective methods of maximizing response is to shorten the questionnaire.

If your survey is over a few pages, try to eliminate questions. Many people have difficulty knowing which questions could be eliminated. For the elimination round, read each question and ask, “How am I going to use this information?” If the information will be used in a decision-making process, then keep the question. If not, throw it out.

One important way to assure a successful survey is to include other experts and relevant decision makers in the questionnaire design process. Their suggestions will improve the questionnaire and they will subsequently have more confidence in the results.

Formulate a plan for doing the statistical analysis during the design stage of the project. Know how every question will be analyzed and be prepared to handle missing data. If you cannot specify how you intend to analyze a question or use the information, do not use it in the survey.

Make the envelope unique. We all know  how important first impressions are. The same holds true for questionnaires. The respondent’s first impression of the study usually comes from the envelope containing the survey. The best envelopes (i.e., the ones that make you want to see what’s inside) are colored, hand-addressed and use a commemorative postage stamp. Envelopes with bulk mail permits or gummed labels are perceived as unimportant and this will generally be reflected in a lower response.

Provide a well-written cover letter. The respondent’s next impression comes from the cover letter. The importance of the cover letter should not be underestimated. It provides your best chance to persuade the respondent to complete the survey. Give your questionnaire a title that is short and meaningful to the respondent. A questionnaire with a title is generally perceived to be more credible than one without.

Include clear and concise instructions on how to complete the questionnaire. These must be very easy to understand, so use short sentences and basic vocabulary. Be sure to print the return address on the questionnaire itself (since questionnaires often get separated from the reply envelopes).

Begin with a few non-threatening and easy to answer items. If the first items are too difficult or threatening, there is little chance that the person will complete the questionnaire. People generally look at the first few questions before deciding whether or not to complete the questionnaire. Make them want to continue by putting the easy questions first.

Use simple and direct language. The questions must be clearly understood by the respondent. The wording of a question should be simple and to the point. Do not use uncommon words or long sentences. Make items as brief as possible. This will reduce misunderstandings and it will make the questionnaire appear easier to complete. One way to eliminate misunderstanding is to emphasize crucial words in each item by using boldface, italics or underlining.

Leave adequate space for respondents to make comments. As mentioned above, one criticism of questionnaires is their inability to retain the flavor of a response. Leaving space for comments will provide valuable information not captured by the response categories. Leaving white space also makes the questionnaire look easier and this increases response.

Place the most important items in the first half of the questionnaire. Respondents often send back partially completed questionnaires. By putting the most important items near the beginning, the partially completed questionnaires will still contain important information.

Hold the respondent’s interest. We want the respondent to complete our questionnaire. One way to keep it interesting is to provide variety in the type of items used. Varying the questioning format will also prevent respondents from falling into “response sets.” At the same time, it is important to group items into coherent categories. All items should flow smoothly from one to the next.

If the questionnaire is more than a few pages and is held together by a staple, include some identifying data on each page (such as a respondent ID number). Pages often get accidentally separated.

Provide incentives as a motivation for properly completed questionnaire. What does the respondent get for completing your questionnaire? Altruism is rarely an effective motivator. Attaching a dollar bill to the questionnaire works well. If the information you’re collecting is of interest to the respondent, offering them a free summary report is also an excellent motivator. Whatever you choose, it must make the respondent want to complete the questionnaire.

Use professional production methods for the questionnaire—either desktop publishing or typesetting and key lining. Be creative. Try different colored inks and paper. The object is to make your questionnaire stand out from all the others the respondent receives.

Make it convenient. The easier it is for the respondent to complete the questionnaire the better. Always include a self-addressed postage-paid envelope. Envelopes with postage stamps get better response than business reply envelopes (although they are more expensive since you also pay for the non-responders).

The final test of a questionnaire is to try it on representatives of the target audience. If there are any problems with the questionnaire, they almost always show up here. If possible, be present while a respondent is completing the questionnaire and tell him or her that it’s okay to ask you for clarification of any item. The questions the respondent asks are indicative of problems in the questionnaire (i.e., the questions on the questionnaire must be without any ambiguity because there will be no chance to clarify a question when the survey is mailed).

Copyright 1989, Walonick Associates, Inc.