1.
Respondent
has the impression that the interview is intended to sell him/her something or
for some commercial purpose (possible solution: introductory letter)
2.
Respondent
may fear that information will be used against him or her (possible solution:
ask the sensitive questions last, assure anonymity)
3.
Other
problems: saturation, respondent feels that the interview will reveal her lack
of education, etc.
ADVISE:
anticipate possible problems to guide you in constructing the questionnaire
1.
Double-barreled Questions: a question that is essentially composed of more
than one question
2.
Ambiguous Questions: questions that can have two or several meanings or those that used
slang language
3.
Level of Wording: wording of the question may be inappropriate to the educational level
and characteristics of respondents
4.
Abstract Versus Factual Questions: questions may involve concepts that are not
familiar to respondents or may be difficult to answer because of possible
memory failure
5.
Leading Questions: questions that lead respondents towards a response
6.
Sensitive or Threatening Questions: questions that can incriminate or put the
respondent in a bad light (how to handle sensitive questions: point out that
there is no consensus on the appropriate norm)
1.
Mutually
exclusive response categories covering all possible responses.
2.
Clear
and without clutter.
3.
Design
questionnaires so that filling-up of responses would not result to difficulty
in data recovery or interpreting respondent’s response.
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