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Asking the Right Questions: Developing Effective Surveys

An evaluation capacity-building trainingfrom the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center

by Robin Kipke & Travis SatterlundJune 10, 2011

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What We’ll Be Covering10:00 Introductions, take knowledge pre-test10:40 End-use strategizing11:35 Question types11:50 Dillman principles for writing questions12:15 Lunch break 1:15 Dillman continued 1:35 Writing Questions -- Practice 2:25 Survey sequencing & construction 3:00 Field testing surveys 3:10 Learning recap, setting action plans 3:20 Complete exit survey 3:30 Optional consultation with TCEC associates

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Training Objectives

Participants can explain and apply these concepts:

o A survey is like a conversation o The 1st step of developing a survey is

end-use strategizingo The aim of survey design is to reduce

non-response and measurement error

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A survey is like a conversation in that…

o Is communication with a purposeo Begins with an introductiono Needs to capture respondent’s interesto Starts with easy-to-answer ?s, builds to more

substantialo Follows logical order, uses transitions to change topico Finds a delicate way to raise sensitive issueso Winds down with less consequential subjecto Indicates end with a sign off

Photo by Robert Thivierge

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Where Survey Design Fits In

Source: Youth Media Evaluation Toolkit 2005

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What Surveys Can Tell YouTo inform your project abouto Need for education or outreacho Community priorities or policy optionso Level of support or opposition among

stakeholder groupso Makeup of local populationso Extent of any change effectedo Satisfaction with services

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Thinking about What Information to Collect

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Using Reverse Logic to Develop QuestionsApply process to evaluation planning and

development of data collection instrumentso Purpose of datao Target audience for the datao How information to be usedo Likely criticso Credibility thresholdo Pieces of datao Data sources and formats

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How It Works

o An example o Try it out – pair activity

o Think of the project you work on and how a survey could inform your efforts

o Discuss with your team what you might want a survey to tell you, how it could be used

o Work together to fill in each of the boxes of the End-use Strategizing worksheet

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Questions –Information Types

o Attitudes—What one wants or prefers

o Beliefs—What one thinks to be trueo Behavior—What one does or has

doneo Attributes—What one is

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Questions—Structure Types

o Open-ended—No answer choices are offered

o Closed-ended—Answer choices are offered

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Open-Ended QuestionsExamples:o Short Answer

o How long have you lived in this apartment?

o Clarification (as part of skip pattern)o If you answered “yes” to the previous

question, please explain why... o Comments

o Please write any additional comments you may have about the potential smoke-free policy.

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Open-Ended Questions

Drawbacks:o Respondents may find it difficult to

express their feelingso They take more time o Can yield inadequate answers without

probing, follow-up questionso Analysis is time consuming and

difficult

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Closed-Ended QuestionsExamples:o Yes/No questions

o Have you used any tobacco products in the last 30 days? Yes No

o Multiple Choiceo How many bedrooms does this apartment have? Zero (Studio) One Two Three Other _________________

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Closed-Ended Questionso Likert-type Scales

o To what degree would you favor or oppose a policy to make at least half of the individual units in this apartment complex non-smoking?

o How often do you attend coalition meetings?

Strongly Favor

Somewhat Favor

Neither Favor nor

Oppose

Somewhat

Oppose

Strongly Oppose

1 2 3 4 5

All of the time

Most of the time

Some of the time

Rarely Never

1 2 3 4 5

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Closed-Ended QuestionsExamples (continued):o Ranking

o On a scale of 1 to 5, rank the issues that matter most to you with 1 being most important.

___ Health care___ Environmental protection___ Safe neighborhoods___ Quality of education___ Fair wages

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“Survey design is all about motivating people adequately so they complete the cognitive steps necessary for answering

questions accurately and return the questionnaire.”

~ Don Dillman

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The Dillman Principleso The aim of survey design is to minimize

measurement and non-response erroro Measurement error: poor question wording

or formatting leads to inaccurate answerso Non-response error: people who respond to

the survey are different from those who did not

Don A. Dillman. 2007. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

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Creating Respondent Buy-in

o Motivate people to begin and complete surveyo Use introduction/cover lettero Give compelling reason to participateo Ask interesting first question

o Build trust by demonstrating competenceo Employ good survey designo Make it easy to understand what to do

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Example Introductions1. The Bonanza County Public Health Department is

interested in finding out about how tenants feel about being around tobacco smoke. There are no right or wrong answers and they will be kept anonymous. We hope you will share your opinions with us.

2. To help protect Bonanza County multi-unit housing (MUH) residents from the dangers of secondhand smoke, the county Tobacco Prevention Program will be working with MUH owners and managers to adopt and implement a voluntary policy that prohibits smoking in…

3. The Bonanza County Tobacco Education Coalition is seeking public opinion on the effects of exposure to secondhand smoke and possible smoking policies. Your opinions are very important to us.

4. Smoke-Free Apartment Complexes – Tenant Survey

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Managing Cognitive Energyo Respondents will devote only a limited

amount of mental effort to complete your survey

o Make survey easy to understand, navigate and respond to

o Cluster related topicso Cluster similar response typeso Weigh need for survey length vs.

complexity of questions

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Keep Population of Interest in Mind

o What cultural characteristics might affect their ability to understand the survey?

o What is their literacy level? o What language do they feel most comfortable

with? o How much time will they be willing to spend on

taking the survey? o Is this a topic that interests them?

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Dillman #1: Keep It Simpleo Choose simple rather than specialized

wordso Use as few words as possibleo (Sometimes these two rules conflict)

Use Rather ThanCustomers PatronsSmoke from other people’s cigarettes

Secondhand smoke

Apartments or condominiums

Multi-unit housing

People who live here Occupants of this household

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Dillman #2: Say What You Mean

o Use complete sentences to ask questions(even when they seem self-evidently clear)

1. Please check one: Male Female

2. Age: ____

1. What is your gender? Male Female 2. How old are you? _____ years

Problematic:

Revised:

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Dillman #3: It’s All about Timingo Avoid vague qualifierso Instead use more specific frames

o How often do you dine out at a restaurant?Problematic: Never Rarely Occasionally Regularly

Revised: Not at all A few times 1-2 times a month 3 or more times a month

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Dillman #4: Balancing Acto To avoid bias, state both sides of the

attitudinal scale in the question stemo Would you favor or oppose a city policy to make

all parks non-smoking?

o Balance scales with equal number of positive and negative choices

o Very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely

o Neutral position is different from undecidedo Neither supportive nor unsupportive vs. don’t

know

Problematic:

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Balancing Act ExampleGood Example:

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement “Smokers have a right to smoke”?

Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree I don’t know

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Dillman #5: Pick Me!o Beware of primacy effects in “mark all

that apply” listso Lists are OK for factual questions but not

attitudes or preferenceso Make each issue a yes/no or scalar

question1. Which type of organization do you represent

in the coalition? (mark all that apply) Local lead agency Service organization Law enforcement Educational institution Other ____________ I don’t represent an

organization

Ok for list

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Problematic:Which of the following areas in the apartment complex do you think should be made non-smoking? (Mark all that apply) courtyard pool area barbeque areas balconies/patios mailboxes laundry roomsRevised:Would you like any of the following areas of your apartment complex to be made non-smoking?Courtyard yes noPool area yes noBarbeque areas yes noBalconies/patios yes noMailboxes yes noLaundry rooms yes no

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Dillman #6: Framing the Issueo Use cognitive techniques to improve

recallo Guided imageryo Layer questions

Problematic:

When you have watched movies where actorswere smoking, did it make smoking seem more appealing to you?

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Framing the RecallRevised:

Think about the last three movies you saw. 1. What type of movies were they? (mark all that apply) Action Comedy Drama Documentary 2.In any of those movies, did any of the characters

smoke? Yes No (go to question 4)3. Did seeing the characters smoking make cigarettes

seem more appealing to you? Yes No

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Framing Sensitive Issues

o Save more sensitive questions towards the endo Once you’ve established a rapporto In case respondents refuse to proceed

o Soften the impact of potentially objectionable questionso Preface personal questions with more

general ones about the issue or ask about other people

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Problematic:1. Have you ever shoplifted any tobacco products

from a store?

Revised Versions:The questions which follow are being asked to help us understand where young people get tobacco products when they are underage. We really appreciate your help and that of students all over the state who have been asked to complete this survey honestly.

V1. Have you ever taken any tobacco products from a store without paying for them?

V2. Have you ever obtained tobacco products from…a friend or relative? yes noa store without paying? yes no

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Dillman #7: Six of One, Half Dozen of the Othero Make sure answer choices are mutually

exclusive (numbers, conceptual overlaps)Problematic: How old are you?

15-18 yrs. old 18-30 yrs. old 30-50 yrs. old 50+ yrs. old

When you tried to quit, where did you turn to for help? my doctor support group online service quitline clinic or hospital on my own

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Dillman #8: It Doesn’t Add Upo Ensure that respondents can answer the

questiono Is it beyond the knowledge of

respondents?o Were you aware that the California Air

Resources Board has declared secondhand smoke to be a toxic air contaminant?

o If the city were to pass a tobacco retail ordinance, how much should a license cost?

o Avoid excessive specificityo How many cigarettes have you smoked within

the last 30 days?

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It Doesn’t Add Up continuedo Use timeframes within memory

In the last year, how many tenants complained about drifting tobacco smoke?

o Avoid unnecessary calculationsHow long have you lived in this apartment?

______ months

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Dillman #9: Don’t Be Negative!o Avoid asking respondents to say “yes” in order

to mean “no”Problematic:

In which areas of the apartment complex should people not be able to smoke?

Revisions:

v1 Which areas of the apartment complex would you like to be non-smoking?v2 In which areas of the apartment complex should smoking be prohibited?

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Dillman #10: Over a Barrelo Avoid double-barreled questions

where two things are being asked in the same question

o Watch out for “and”o Instead collapse into illustrative

category, split into two questions, use “or”

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Over a Barrel?Is either of these double-barreled?o If the downtown area was free of

secondhand smoke and cigarette litter, do you think you would be more or less likely to shop and attend events there?

o Do you think retailers should have to pay for a license to sell tobacco which would earmark a portion of the funds to cover the expense of enforcement?

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Now You Try ito Write one question using each of these

formats:o Yes/noo Multiple choiceo Scalar o Open-ended

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Survey Design Considerations

o Create a clear navigational patho Provide signposts to guide respondentso Use graphic elements as clues

START ❶ Circle the response

o Keep format visually uncluttered

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Survey Design Considerationso Cluster like topics (e.g., knowledge,

preferences, support)o Also cluster similar response formats

(Likert scales, statements of agreement, etc.)

o Use consistent scale directions throughouto Organize choices vertically, not horizontallyo Beware of response set effecto Use pamphlet layout

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Sequencing Questionso Remember a survey is like a

conversationo First engage interest, build trust, ensure

successo Move from easy-to-answer to complexo General to more specifico Less personal to more sensitiveo Balance open-ended vs. closed-endedo Save demographic questions for the end

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Field Testing Your Surveyo Why it’s importanto Who to involveo How to go about ito What to look foro What to do with the feedback

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TCEC: Your Resource Centero Recorded webinars & training modules:

o Online Surveys: Techniques & Tips (12/2/10)o Reducing Error: Designing Surveys that Work

(9/30/10)o Journey of a Survey (1/28/10)o Developing a Survey Instrument (3/26/09)o End-use Strategizing for Creating DCIs

(12/10/08)o Public Opinion Surveys (mini training)

o End Use Strategizing Checklisto Tips & Tools #2 on writing questionso Hundreds of survey instruments in repositoryo Individualized help from Evaluation Specialists

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Reflecting on Learningo Surveys are more than a brainstormed

list of ???so Start with end-use strategizing processo A survey is like a conversationo Follow design principles to reduce erroro Need to motivate respondents o Manage finite amount of cognitive energy o Create navigational patho Make it easy to complete!

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To reach us:Email: tobaccoeval@ucdavis.eduhttp://programeval.ucdavis.edu Main phone line: 530.752.9951