Questionnaire items

Questionnaire items

1. Closed-Ended

   • In this case respondents are provided with response options to choose from. The items provided do not require the respondents to offer a free answer; instead, they are to choose one of the alternatives, regardless of whether their preferred answer is among them.

2. Rating scales

   • These questions require the respondent to make an evaluative judgement of the target by marking one of a series of categories organized into a scale. A scale can refer to a cluster of items measuring the same thing, or it can refer to a measurement procedure utilizing an ordered series of response categories.
   • Likert Scales
     • A Likert scale consists of a series of statements all of which are related to a particular target. Respondents are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with these items by marking one of the responses ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree.
   • Numerical scale
     • Numerical scales involve assigning one of several numbers corresponding to a series of ordered categories describing a feature of the target.
   • True-false items
     • In the case of this scale the only two response options are true and false (or 'yes' or 'no'), resulting in what is usually referred to as a 'true-false item.
   • Multiple-choice items
     • The item type is frequently used in questionnaires with respondents being asked to mark, depending on the question, one or more options.

3. Rank order items

   • These kinds of items contain a list and respondents are asked to order the items by assigning a number to them according to their preferences.

4. Numeric items

   • These items ask for a specific numeric value and what makes these items similar to closed questions is that we can anticipate the range of the possible answers and the respondent's task is to specify a particular value within the anticipated range.

5. Checklists

   • They consist of a list of descriptive terms, attributes, or objects, and respondents are instructed to mark the items on the list that apply to the particular question.

6. Open-ended questions

   • This kind of questionnaire includes items where the actual question is not followed by response options for the respondent to choose from but rather by some blank space for the respondent to fill.
   • Specific open-ended questions
     • Specific open questions ask about concrete pieces of information, such as facts about the respondent, past activities, or preferences.
   • Short-answer questions
     • Shortanswer questions involve a real exploratory enquiry about an issue; that is, they require a more free-ranging and unpredictable response.