How can you ensure the reliability of closed-ended questions in a questionnaire?

1 Define your research objectives

Before you start creating your closed-ended questions, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your questionnaire. What is the main purpose of your research? What are the specific questions you want to answer? What are the key variables you want to measure? Having a well-defined research objective will help you focus on the most relevant and meaningful questions for your target audience and avoid unnecessary or irrelevant ones.

2 Choose the appropriate question type

Depending on your research objective, you may want to use different types of closed-ended questions to elicit different kinds of responses. For example, if you want to measure the frequency or intensity of a behavior or an attitude, you may use a Likert scale or a semantic differential scale. If you want to compare preferences or choices among different options, you may use a single-select or a multi-select question. If you want to rank items in order of importance or preference, you may use a ranking question. Each question type has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you need to choose the one that best suits your research goal and provides the most accurate and reliable data.

3 Write clear and concise questions

When creating closed-ended questions, it is essential to write them in a clear and concise way to ensure reliability. To do this, use simple and familiar words; avoid jargon, double negatives, double-barreled questions, leading questions, or loaded questions; and avoid vague or general terms. Instead, use specific and concrete terms that are measurable and consistent. Additionally, make sure your questions are relevant and appropriate for the target audience and the context of your research. Doing so will help you avoid ambiguity, confusion, or bias that may affect how your respondents understand and answer your questions.

4 Provide clear and exhaustive answer options

To ensure the reliability of closed-ended questions, it is essential to provide clear and exhaustive answer options that cover all possible responses. To do this, use mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive answer options that do not overlap or leave out any potential response. Additionally, make sure that the answer options are consistent, logical, balanced, and neutral. Labels and anchors should be used to indicate the meaning and value of each option for rating or ranking scales. Finally, an "other" or "don't know" option should be included when appropriate, but not overused.

5 Test and refine your questions

To ensure the reliability of closed-ended questions, you need to test and refine them before you launch your questionnaire. Validity, reliability, and consistency are key; your questions must measure what you intend to measure. To begin, conduct a pilot test with a small sample of your target audience to check comprehension and answer accuracy. Analyze the results to identify any issues, such as low response rates or skewed distributions, then revise and improve based on the analysis and feedback. Repeat the testing and refining process until you are satisfied with the quality and reliability of your questions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?