Designing Questionnaires for Better Information Gathering

David, Ikwuoche John, Mathew, Stephen, Arigbede, Yetunde Adedoyin, Ikwuoche, Philip Onyejonchi

doi:https://doi.org/10.59232/DSM-V2I2P101

Research Article | Open Access | Download Full Text

Volume 2 | Issue 2 | Year 2025 | Article Id: DSM-V2I2P101 DOI: https://doi.org/10.59232/DSM-V2I2P101

Designing Questionnaires for Better Information Gathering

David, Ikwuoche John, Mathew, Stephen, Arigbede, Yetunde Adedoyin, Ikwuoche, Philip Onyejonchi

Received	Revised	Accepted	Published
02 Feb 2025	04 Mar 2025	05 Apr 2025	30 Apr 2025

Citation

David, Ikwuoche John, Mathew, Stephen, Arigbede, Yetunde Adedoyin, Ikwuoche, Philip Onyejonchi. “Designing Questionnaires for Better Information Gathering.” DS Journal of Multidisciplinary, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1-11, 2025.

Abstract

The use of questionnaires in data collection has increased because of their wide coverage and the ability of a researcher to get them administered to a large group all together. The questionnaire design aims to make respondents have a clear and comprehensive statement of questions and answer them or provide data, and to make the information obtained to facilitate the data processing. Questionnaire design is an important step in any survey and plays a central role in the data collection process. It has a major impact on data quality. Although there are some design theory principles, well-designed questionnaires in any field are still a big challenge. This paper expounds on how to deal with some problems in the questionnaire design process, introduces the method and process of questionnaire testing in practice, and explains the importance of choosing proper respondents and the demands of the organizer’s capability. This study used Nigeria for context on how to obtain adequate and unbiased responses from an agricultural study.

Keywords

Collection processes, Design processes, Data quality, Questionnaire design, Survey.

References

[1] Jill A. McDonald et al., Questionnaire Design, Reproductive Health Epidemiology Series – Module 4, Department Of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., 2003.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[2] Rohit Vishal Kumar, “Questionnaire Design, For Circulation to MBA 3^rd Year Marketing Specialisation, Class of 2003,” pp. 1-21, 2002. [Online]. Available: www.angelfire.com/falcon/neeraja-rohit/3y_mr/QRE_details.pdf

[3] Isaac Ozoemenam Mbachu, Social Science Research Methods: for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kaduna, Nigeria: Medusa Academic Publishers Ltd, 2005.

[Google Scholar]

[4] Philip Rowe, Essential Statistics for the Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2^nd ed, John Wiley and Sons Ltd., England, 2015.

[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[5] E. C. Osuala, Introduction to research Methodology, 3^rd ed, Africana-FEP Publishers Limited, Onitsha, 2005.

[Publisher Link]

[6] X. Tian, Questionnaire Design and Testing for Enterprise Service Survey Center of National Bureau of Statistics. Beijing, China, 2008. [Online]. Available: http://.isi.cbs.nl/iaos/conferences/2008Shanghai.htm

[7] Cleo R. Jenkins, and Don A. Dillman, “Combining Cognitive and Motivational Research Perspectives for the Design of Respondent-Friendly Self-Administered Questionnaires,” Economics, 1993.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[8] S. Sudman, M.N. Bradburn, and N. Schwarz, Thinking About Answers: The Application of Cognitive Processes to Survey Methodology. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, APA PsycNet, 1996.

[Publisher Link]

[9] Janet A. Harkness, Comparative Survey Research: Goal and Challenges, International Handbook of Survey Methodology, Routledge, New York, 2008.

[Publisher Link]

[10] F. J. Fowler and T. W. Mangione, Standardized Survey Interviewing: Minimizing Interviewer Related Error, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publication, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 467-468, 1990.

[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[11] F. J. Fowler and C. F. Cannell, Using Behavioral Coding to Identify Cognitive Problems with Survey Questions, Answering questions: Methodology for determining cognitive and communicative processes in survey research, San Francisco: Jossey -Bass/Wiley, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 15-36, 1996.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[12] William A. Belson, The Design and Understanding of Survey Questions, Gower, 1981.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[13] Hamed Taherdoost, “How to Design and Create an Effective Survey/Questionnaires; A step by Step Guide,” International Journal of Academic Research in Management, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 37-41, 2016.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[14] S. A. Abdulazeez, H. O. Onah, and S. S. Umar, Fundamentals of Statistics, Kaduna, Nigeria: Eskodhab Ventures (Printing and Publishing), 2002.

[15] Hamed Taherdoost, “Determining Sample Size; How to Calculate Survey Sample Size,” International Journal of Economics and Management Systems, vol. 2, pp. 237-239, 2017.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[16] Hamed Taherdoost, Handbook on Research Skills: The Essential Step-By-Step Guide on How to Do a Research Project, Amazon Kindle, 2021. [Google Scholar]

[17] Hamed Taherdoost, “Designing a Questionnaire for a Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide to Design and Develop an Effective Questionnaire,” Asian Journal of Managerial Science, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 8-16, 2022.

[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[18] Hamed Taherdoost, “Development of an Adoption Model to Assess User Acceptance of E-Service Technology: E-Service Technology Acceptance Model,” Behaviour and Information Technology, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 173-197, 2018.

[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[19] D. J. Finney, An Introduction to Statistical Science in Agriculture, 4^th ed., Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1972.

[Publisher Link]

[20] Victoria O. Ajala, Scholarly Writing Guide for Researchers, Maybest Publishers, Ibadan, 1996.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[21] S. Fajana, Collecting the Data, in Social Research Methods for Nigerian Students, Lagos, Nigeria: Institute of Personnel Management Victoria O. Ajala and Malthouse Press Ltd, 1996.

[22] Serene Dalati, and Jorge Marx Gómez, Surveys and Questionnaires, Modernizing the Academic Teaching and Research Environment: Methodologies and Cases in Business Research, pp. 175-186, 2018.

[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]

[23] Ajay S. Singh, “Common Procedures for Development, Validity and Reliability of a Questionnaire,” International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 790-801, 2017.

[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]