ST7: Questionnaire Design
Learn how to design effective questionnaires including open and closed questions, avoiding leading questions, using pilot studies and maximising response rates.
Questionnaire Design
Learn how to design effective questionnaires including open and closed questions, avoiding leading questions, using pilot studies and maximising response rates.
Key Fact: A questionnaire is a set of written questions used to collect data from respondents.
Key Fact: Open questions allow free-text answers (e.g. 'What do you think about…?'); they give detailed responses but are hard to analyse.
Key Fact: Closed questions give a fixed set of response options (e.g. tick boxes, Likert scales); they are easy to analyse but limit answers.
Key Fact: Leading questions influence the respondent to answer in a particular way — they must be avoided.
Key Fact: Questions should be clear, unbiased, relevant and not ask two things at once (double-barrelled).
Key Fact: Response options should be exhaustive (cover all possibilities) and mutually exclusive (no overlap).
Key Fact: A pilot study tests the questionnaire on a small group before the main survey to find problems.
Key Fact: A good response rate means a high proportion of people return the questionnaire — this reduces non-response bias.
Key Fact: Ways to improve response rate: keep it short, make it anonymous, offer incentives, use clear language, provide a deadline.
Key Fact: Non-response bias occurs when people who do not respond differ systematically from those who do.
Key Fact: Sensitive questions should be placed later in the questionnaire and be worded carefully.
Key Fact: Likert scales (e.g. strongly agree → strongly disagree) are a common closed-question format for attitudes.
📋 Key Vocabulary and Concepts
For Questionnaire Design, you must know:
- Open question: A question that allows the respondent to answer freely in their own words.
- Closed question: A question with a fixed set of response options for the respondent to choose from.
- Leading question: A question phrased in a way that suggests or encourages a particular answer.
- Pilot study: A small-scale trial of the questionnaire to identify problems before the main survey.
- Response rate: The proportion of people who complete and return the questionnaire out of those who received it.
- Non-response bias: Bias that occurs when those who do not respond differ systematically from those who do.
❓ Practice Questions
Q: What is the difference between an open and a closed question?
Q: Why should leading questions be avoided?
Q: What is a double-barrelled question?
Q: How can a pilot study improve a questionnaire?
Q: Name two ways to increase the response rate of a questionnaire.
✅ Answers
- An open question allows free-text answers giving detailed responses; a closed question offers fixed options that are easy to analyse but limit responses.
- Because they bias the results by encouraging a particular answer, making the data unrepresentative of respondents' true views.
- A question that asks two things at once, making it unclear which part the respondent is answering, e.g. 'Do you enjoy maths and science?'
- By identifying unclear questions, missing response options, and practical problems before the main survey, so they can be corrected.
- Keep it short and simple; ensure anonymity; offer an incentive; use clear and simple language; send reminders.
🎯 Exam Tips
- When criticising a question, use the correct term: 'leading', 'double-barrelled', 'overlapping options', 'ambiguous'.
- Always suggest an improved version of a flawed question, not just what is wrong.
- Closed question response boxes must be non-overlapping and cover all likely answers — add 'Other' if needed.
- Pilot study questions are very common — remember to say it is a small-scale trial run.
- If asked about response rate, mention both how to maximise it and the problem of non-response bias.
📝 Exam Technique
GCSE Statistics Exam Tips — Questionnaire Design:
1. For Questionnaire Design questions, show every step of your working clearly — method marks count even if the final answer is wrong
2. Check your answer makes sense in context (estimation, units, reasonableness)
3. Use correct mathematical notation and state formulae before substituting values
4. If a Questionnaire Design question asks you to 'prove' or 'show', write a logical chain of reasoning with a conclusion line
5. For problem-solving, identify the topic first, then recall the relevant method
1. For Questionnaire Design questions, show every step of your working clearly — method marks count even if the final answer is wrong
2. Check your answer makes sense in context (estimation, units, reasonableness)
3. Use correct mathematical notation and state formulae before substituting values
4. If a Questionnaire Design question asks you to 'prove' or 'show', write a logical chain of reasoning with a conclusion line
5. For problem-solving, identify the topic first, then recall the relevant method
⚠️ Common Errors
✗ Writing response options that overlap, e.g. '0–5, 5–10, 10–15' ✓ Use non-overlapping intervals, e.g. '0–4, 5–9, 10–14' or '0 ≤ x ≤ 5, 5 < x ≤ 10'.
✗ Using a leading question such as 'Don't you agree that homework is important?' ✓ Using a neutral question such as 'What is your opinion on the importance of homework?'
✗ Forgetting 'Other' or 'Prefer not to say' on closed questions ✓ Include an 'Other' option or allow respondents to opt out of sensitive questions to ensure options are exhaustive.
✗ Asking sensitive questions at the start of a questionnaire ✓ Place sensitive questions later, after rapport is built, and ensure anonymity to encourage honest responses.
✍️ Model Answer
Full-Mark Response
A student writes this question on a questionnaire: 'How many hours of TV do you watch each week? (a) 0–5, (b) 5–10, (c) 10–15, (d) 15+'. Identify two problems and rewrite the question with improved options.
Problem 1: The response options overlap — someone who watches exactly 5 hours could choose (a) or (b), and 10 hours could be (b) or (c). Problem 2: The upper limit of option (d) is open-ended ('15+'), which makes analysis of the upper range difficult. Improved version: 'How many hours of TV do you watch each week?' (a) 0–4, (b) 5–9, (c) 10–14, (d) 15–19, (e) 20 or more. The intervals are now non-overlapping and exhaustive, covering all possible values.
📊 AO Deep Dive
Assessment Objective Analysis
AO1 (Knowledge & Understanding): Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of questionnaire design, including data collection, presentation and calculation techniques relevant to Edexcel 1ST0 & AQA 8382.
AO2 (Application): Apply knowledge and understanding of questionnaire design to interpret data, reason statistically and draw conclusions in context.
AO3 (Evaluation): Evaluate statistical methods and conclusions, assessing appropriateness, reliability, validity and bias through the statistical enquiry cycle.
📝 Exam Questions by Topic
- AQA Past Papers - Topic Questions -- AQA
- Edexcel Past Papers - Topic Questions -- Edexcel
- CCEA Past Papers - Topic Questions -- CCEA
🎬 Video Resources
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