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Formulation of questionnaires

Wording questions – For the creation of questionnaire questions

Author: Rolf Porst

GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim
Centre for Survey Design and Methodology
The field of pretesting

The book deals with the rules for formulating questions, items and answer categories in Social Science questionnaires. These rules refer to basic aspects of the formulation of questions and are applicable to all forms of questioning (personal, verbal, by telephone, written).

	Introduction
	Survey tip 1: Use simple, unambiguous terms, which can be understood by all respondents in the same way!
	Survey tip 2: Avoid long and complex questions!
	Survey tip 3: Avoid hypothetical questions!
	Survey tip 4: Avoid stimuli and negatives!
	Survey tip 5: Avoid assumptions and suggestive questions!
	Survey tip 6: Avoid questions which target information to which many respondents probably don't have access!
	Survey tip 7: Use questions with a clear temporal reference!
	Survey tip 8: Use answer categories which are exhaustive and disjointed (free from overlap)!
	Survey tip 9: Make sure that the context of a question does not have an (uncontrolled) effect on the answer!
	Survey tip 10: Define unclear terms!
	Book tip: Questionnaires – a practical guide

	Buchtipp
	Fragebogen Ein Arbeitsbuch Aus der Reihe 'Studienskripten zur Soziologie' im VS Verlag 4. erw. Aufl. 2014. 203 S. Autor: Rolf Porst ISBN: 978-3658021177 Preis: 14,99 Euro

10 survey tips

Formulation of questions
• Introduction
• Survey tip 1
• Survey tip 2
• Survey tip 3
• Survey tip 4
• Survey tip 5
• Survey tip 6
• Survey tip 7
• Survey tip 8
• Survey tip 9
• Survey tip 10
• Book tip