ABSTRACT
Key definitions Questionnaire – A structured data collection mechanism involving a range of question formats and completed orally or in print. Questionnaires may be administered by interviewers or self-completed by the respondent. Coding – Turning responses into a form that enables analysis usually by allocating a unique number to each response. Semantic differential – A scaling question that asks respondents to indicate the strength of their views on normally a 5-or 7-point scale between bipolar adjectives and statements. Open questions – Questions that ask for the respondent’s own response. Dichotomous questions – Questions for which there are two possible replies. Multiple choice questions – Questions with a number of predetermined answers. Closed questions – Questions to which there are a limited number of predetermined responses. Forced scale – A scaling question that does not allow for a neutral response. Likert scales – A scaling approach that asks respondents to indicate their strength of agreement or disagreement with a range of statements on a 5-point scale. Scaling questions – Questions assigning numerical values to subjective concepts. Skip questions – Questions that take respondents to other questions determined by the answer. Biased question – A question that is phrased so that it influences the answer.
