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Survey Design

Survey design is a difficult process that requires careful consideration of aims, variables, existing literature, question wording and flow, and revisions. The goal is to create a valid, reliable, unbiased and discriminating instrument to gather information on concepts related to the study aims from the target population. Key steps involve defining aims and variables, reviewing relevant literature, composing and revising drafts, and assembling the final questionnaire.

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42 views16 pages

Survey Design

Survey design is a difficult process that requires careful consideration of aims, variables, existing literature, question wording and flow, and revisions. The goal is to create a valid, reliable, unbiased and discriminating instrument to gather information on concepts related to the study aims from the target population. Key steps involve defining aims and variables, reviewing relevant literature, composing and revising drafts, and assembling the final questionnaire.

Uploaded by

yoavmike112552
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Survey Design

DATA GATHERING

 Much of the data in clinical research is


gathered using questionnaires or
interviews.
 The validity of the results depends on the
quality of these instruments.
 Good questionnaires are difficult to construct;
bad questionnaires are difficult to analyze.
DATA GATHERING
 Difficult to design for several reasons:
 Each question must provide a valid and
reliable measure.
 The questions must clearly communicate the
research intention to the survey respondent.
 The questions must be assembled into a
logical, clear instrument that flows naturally
and will keep the respondent sufficiently
interested to continue to cooperate.
DATA GATHERING
Goal is to collect information that is:
 Valid: measures the quantity or concept that is
supposed to be measured
 Reliable: measures the quantity or concept in a
consistent or reproducible manner
 Unbiased: measures the quantity or concept in
a way that does not systematically under- or
overestimate the true value
 Discriminating: can distinguish adequately
between respondents for whom the underlying
level of the quantity or concept is different
STEPS TO DESIGNING A SURVEY:
1. Write out the primary and secondary aims of
your study.
2. Write out concepts/information to be collected
that relates to these aims.
3. Review the current literature to identify already
validated questionnaires that measure your
specific area of interest.
4. Compose a draft of your questionnaire.
5. Revise the draft.
6. Assemble the final questionnaire.
STEP 1: DEFINE THE AIMS

 Write out the problem and primary and


secondary aims using one sentence per
aim. Formulate a plan for the statistical
analysis of each aim.
 Make sure to define the target population
in your aim(s).
STEP 2: DEFINE THE VARIABLES

 Write a detailed list of the information to be


collected and the concepts to be measured in
the study. Are you trying to identify:
 Attitudes
 Needs
 Behavior
 Demographics
 Some combination of these concepts
STEP 2 CON’T:

 Translate these concepts into variables


that can be measured.
 Define the role of each variable in the
statistical analysis:
 Predictor
 Confounder
 Outcome
STEP 3: REVIEW THE LIT.
 Review current literature to identify related surveys
and data collection instruments that have measured
concepts similar to those related to your study’s
aims.
 Saves development time and allows for comparison
with other studies if used appropriately.
 Proceed with caution if using only a subset of an
existing questionnaire as this may change the
meaning of the scores. Contact the authors of the
questionnaire to determine if a smaller version of
the instrument exists that has also been validated.
STEP 4: COMPOSE A DRAFT
 Determine the mode of survey administration:
face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, self-
completed questionnaires, computer-assisted
approaches.
 Write more questions than will be included in the
final draft.
 Format the draft as if it were the final version with
appropriate white space to get an accurate
estimate as to its length – longer questionnaires
reduce the response rate.
STEP 4 CON’T:
 Place the most important items in the first
half of the questionnaire to increase
response on the important measures even
in partially completed surveys.
 Make sure questions flow naturally from
one to another.
STEP 5: REVISE
 Shorten the set of questions for the study. If a
question does not address one of your aims,
discard it.
 Refine the questions included and their wording
by testing them with a variety of respondents.
 Ensure the flow is natural.
 Verify that terms and concepts are familiar and easy
to understand for your target audience.
 Keep recall to a minimum and focus on the recent
past.
STEP 6: The Final Product
 At the top, clearly state:
 The purpose of the study
 How the data will be used
 Instructions on how to fill out the questionnaire
 Your policy on confidentiality
 Include identifying data on each page of a
multi-page, paper-based questionnaire such as a
respondent ID number in case the pages
separate.
STEP 6 CON’T

 Group questions concerning major subject


areas together and introduce them by
heading or short descriptive statements.
 Order questions in order to stimulate
recall.
 Order and format questions to ensure
unbiased and balanced results.
STEP 6 CON’T
 Include white space to make answers clear and to help
increase response rate.
 Space response scales widely enough so that it is easy to
circle or check the correct answer without the mark
accidentally including the answer above or below.
 Open-ended questions: the space for the response should be big
enough to allow respondents with large handwriting to write
comfortably in the space.
 Closed-ended questions: line up answers vertically and precede
them with boxes or brackets to check, or by numbers to circle,
rather than open blanks.
 Use larger font size (e.g., 14) and high contrast (black on
white).
A FINAL THOUGHT…
 You need plenty of time!
 Design your questionnaire from research hypotheses
that have been carefully studied and thought out.
 Discuss the research problem with colleagues and
subject matter experts is critical to developing good
questions.
 Review, revise and test the questions on an iterative
basis.
 Examine the questionnaire as a whole for flow and
presentation.

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