Questionnaire-based surveys

Questionnaire-based surveys. It looks technically a simple task to create a Google form, but in some cases common errors appear.

-> Multiple choice questions (the respondent may choose several options) covering some of the possible answers. Some important aspects are missed.

-> Single select questions (the respondent may choose only one option) covering some of the possible answers. Some options were not taken in mind by the author of the questionnaire, but most of the respondents think that the missed options are important.

-> Mandatory questions are not a good option. In many cases, the respondent may not be competent to give an answer on a specific topic.

-> The questionnaire preamble states that filling it in will take 5-6 minutes, but it takes much longer.

-> Questions with similar meaning will result in strong correlation after aggregating and analyzing the answers.

-> Adding “NOT” in the text of some questions may mislead the respondent when choosing an answer on a Likert scale (strongly agree … strongly disagree).

-> Adding too many questions in the survey may be annoying or demotivating for the respondent.

Pretesting the questionnaire is an important step. Do all pretest procedures. When you write a scientific article, it is very important to choose correct methods to aggregate data. If you have a set of items, assess the reliability of the scale (the internal consistency). Please, add the questionnaire as an Appendix or a reference to previous research where readers may see it or use it.

Prof. Julian Vasilev, Editor-in-chief