Coming soon · Book Profile
Survey & Questionnaire Design: Collecting Primary Data to Answer Research Questions
A practice-oriented guide to designing surveys and questionnaires that collect valid, reliable primary data to answer well-formulated research questions.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
This concise, practice-focused ebook walks researchers, students, and managers through the full arc of survey design—from formulating a sharp research question and hypothesis, through writing clear factual and non-factual questions, choosing appropriate levels of measurement, coding responses, and ensuring validity and reliability, to laying out a self-completion questionnaire. Drawing on the authors' years of teaching survey methods at University College Cork and grounded in established survey-methodology literature (Fowler, Dillman, Sudman & Bradburn, Oppenheim), it pairs concrete examples, exercises, video links, and a sample small-business questionnaire to help readers avoid the common pitfalls that produce confused respondents and useless data. If you want to collect primary data that actually answers your question, this book gives you the practical decision rules to do it.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A researcher, student, or manager who wants to collect primary data that genuinely answers their research question.
- The problem
- They need to design a survey that produces valid, reliable, analysable data. They feel uncertain and overwhelmed about whether their questions are good enough and fear collecting useless data.
- The plan
- Formulate and clarify your research question, hypothesis, and objectives.
- Review the literature and choose a deductive or inductive approach.
- Design clear, standardised factual and non-factual questions.
- Choose appropriate levels of measurement and code responses systematically.
- Test the instrument for validity and reliability.
- The payoff
- A valid, reliable questionnaire that yields analysable data and answers the research question.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- Causal Inferences in Nonexperimental Research · Blalock, H. M. Jr. (1964)
Cited as a foundational text for causal modeling, which is the basis for the structural equation models used throughout the book to analyze measurement quality and correct for error.
- Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrices · Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959)
The seminal paper that introduced the Multitrait-Multimethod (MTMM) matrix, which is the core experimental design for evaluating question quality in this book.
- Questions and Answers in Attitude Survey: Experiments on Question Form, Wording and Context · Schuman, H., & Presser, S. (1981)
The classic text on experimental survey methodology, frequently cited for its split-ballot experiments demonstrating the powerful effects of question wording and format on responses.
- Mail and Internet Surveys. The Tailored Design Method · Dillman, D. A. (2000)
Referenced as the key source for practical guidance on questionnaire layout, ordering, and administration across different survey modes, topics which the book touches on but does not cover in depth.
- Structural Equations with Latent Variables · Bollen, K. A. (1989)
Cited as a comprehensive textbook for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the advanced statistical technique required to implement the MTMM models and error-correction procedures central to the book's methodology.
- The Psychology of Survey Response · Tourangeau, R., Rips, L. J., & Rasinski, K. (2000)
Frequently referenced for its comprehensive model of the cognitive processes underlying survey responses (comprehension, retrieval, judgment, and reporting), which provides the theoretical explanation for why question characteristics affect data quality.
- Survey Sampling · Kish, L. (1965)
The book frequently refers to this text, recommending it as a primary resource for its comprehensive discussions of sampling practice.
- Sampling Techniques · Cochran, W. G. (1977)
Recommended by the author as a key text for its thorough treatment of the statistical theory underlying survey sampling.
- Sample Survey Methods and Theory · Hansen, M. H., Hurwitz, W. N., and Madow, W. G. (1953)
Cited as a foundational text for its discussion of the practical application of sampling methods.
- Survey Methods in Social Investigation · Moser, C. A. and Kalton, G. (1971)
Co-authored by the book's author, it provides a broader introduction to survey methods, placing sampling in context.