ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the elements of good questionnaire content and instrument development. Good questionnaires have the following features: a strong purpose; short and to the point; questions that everyone can understand in the same way; questions that proceed from general statements to more specific statements; and, response options that make sense for the questions. Whatever type of questionnaire people decide to use for data gathering, the questionnaire must be based upon the underlying assumption that the respondents gives truthful answers. There are no limits as to what can be measured with questionnaires in a school setting when one sets out to continuously improve all aspects of the system. The intended use of the information collected has a major impact on the questionnaire content. Effective open- ended questions provide texture and deeper insight into the scaled questions that make up the main body of the questionnaire.
