Difference between revisions of "Measuring Difficult Topics"
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How to design your questionnaire to measure outcomes that are hard for respondents to remember or estimate? | |||
== Read First == | |||
Best practice is to rely on objective indicators as much as possible. For example, rather than asking a respondent the size of her agricultural plot, it is better to measure the plot area directly using GPS devices. However, objective measures are often more expensive, and may not always be possible. Below find recommendations and strategies for how to best capture difficult-to-know topics in a questionnaire. | |||
== Guidelines == | |||
=== Internal Consistency Checks === | |||
How much did you spend in the last week on X? How much did you spend in the last 4 weeks on X? | |||
=== Multiple Measurements === | |||
How many minutes does it take to walk to the grocery store? How many miles away is the grocery store? | |||
== | === Contextual References === | ||
In some contexts, it may be hard for respondents to tell you their age, or the year of important life events (e.g. marriage, sexual debut). Providing enumerators with a calendar of significant national events, such as elections (or other change of leadership), political independence, national holidays, notable meteorologic or natural history events (floods, droughts, earthquakes, etc), can be useful in prompting people to estimate. | |||
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== Back to Parent == | == Back to Parent == | ||
This article is part of the topic [[ | This article is part of the topic [[Questionnaire Design]] | ||
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* list here other articles related to this topic, with a brief description and link | * list here other articles related to this topic, with a brief description and link | ||
[[Category: | [[Category: Questionnaire Design]] | ||
Revision as of 18:13, 6 February 2017
How to design your questionnaire to measure outcomes that are hard for respondents to remember or estimate?
Read First
Best practice is to rely on objective indicators as much as possible. For example, rather than asking a respondent the size of her agricultural plot, it is better to measure the plot area directly using GPS devices. However, objective measures are often more expensive, and may not always be possible. Below find recommendations and strategies for how to best capture difficult-to-know topics in a questionnaire.
Guidelines
Internal Consistency Checks
How much did you spend in the last week on X? How much did you spend in the last 4 weeks on X?
Multiple Measurements
How many minutes does it take to walk to the grocery store? How many miles away is the grocery store?
Contextual References
In some contexts, it may be hard for respondents to tell you their age, or the year of important life events (e.g. marriage, sexual debut). Providing enumerators with a calendar of significant national events, such as elections (or other change of leadership), political independence, national holidays, notable meteorologic or natural history events (floods, droughts, earthquakes, etc), can be useful in prompting people to estimate.
Back to Parent
This article is part of the topic Questionnaire Design
Additional Resources
- list here other articles related to this topic, with a brief description and link