Strategy Survival Guide

• Avoid asking the same question twice in different ways
• Avoid double barrelled questions
• Avoid double negatives
• Beware of ambiguous terms (e.g. lunch versus dinner)
• Make sure the wording is unambiguous and avoid jargon
• Keep questions short and straightforward
Type
A Statement
A list
Yes/No answer
Agree/disagree
with a
statement
Choose from a
list of options
Rank Order
Degree of
agreement and
disagreement:
the Likert scale
Example
What do you think about the UK’s membership of the European Union?
Please list the issues you feel are most important in relation to the UK’s membership of
the EU
Have you travelled from the UK to another European country in the past 12 months?
Yes / No
Would you agree or disagree with the following statement?
“European economic unity carries economic advantages which outweigh the political
disadvantages”. Agree / Disagree / Don’t Know
Which ONE of the following list of European countries do you feel has the strongest
economy?
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
From the following list of European countries choose THREE which you feel have the
strongest economies and put them in rank order. 1= strongest, 2=strongest, 3 third
strongest
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
• Portugal
Membership of the EU is a bad thing for the UK
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree
nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Rate Items
How significant would you rate the following factors in affecting further European
integration?
Very Significant
Not Significant
Political Sovereignty
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. Are the questions in the right order?
• Getting the question order right will help the interview to flow.
• Remember that the nature of the previous question can affect answers.
3. Is the layout of the survey form/questionnaire clear?
4. Is the instruction to respondents clear?
5. Has a cover sheet been produced explaining purpose, return date, confidentiality, thanks etc?
Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Skills
Page 120