Suppose you want to find out what your students think about your course; maybe not the content, so much, but how you’re teaching it. It sounds simple enough, but even the simplest of surveys requires forethought.
“Writing good questions is not easy,” warns Don Dillman, WSU Regents Professor and expert in survey methodology.
“The first thing I usually suggest to people is to keep questions short and simple,” Dillman said. “Sometimes people use several sentences when one sentence will do.”
“I always ask myself for each question in a survey, ‘Will it make sense to the respondent?’ ” he said. “If it doesn’t make sense to them, it probably isn’t going to produce a good answer.”
According to Dillman, long or multi-part questions have two disadvantages. One is that some readers simply won’t read it all; they’ll answer the first part without ever considering the rest. Second, long questions provide more grist for various interpretations.
Dillman’s second tip is to stay “within the culture.” Understand who your respondents are and what their expectations are. For instance, if you want students to rank class objectives by relative importance, give them a scale that they are comfortable with, not one that seems overly complicated and abstract.
“Recently I saw someone write a question that asked people to allocate 100 points to the five most important objectives the respondent hoped to realize by taking a particular course,” Dillman said. “Most people don’t have five distinct objectives, and allocating points among abstract objectives was hard for them to do.” Some didn’t answer the question, he said, and others thought it was silly.
A third suggestion, Dillman said, is to verbally test drive your survey question, particularly if it is innovative. If you ask the question and then listen while people talk through their answers, he said, you’ll have a much better idea whether the question elicits the type of information you want or need. If a question provokes more questions than answers, he said, you know you need to rework it.
Next Story
Students design outdoor story walk for Keller schools
A group of WSU landscape architecture students is gaining hands‑on experience by designing an outdoor classroom with members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation.
Recent News
WSU institutes new wildfire smoke policy for employees
The emergence of regular wildfire seasons in the Pacific Northwest recently prompted the state of Washington to enact new regulations to protect outdoor workers.
Diversity in STEM conference shapes DGRP student’s perspective on research, and career path
Shawnee Kasanke was selected to attend the 2023 Society of Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science National Diversity in STEM Conference last fall.
WSU Press, Whitworth University team up for new publishing deal
Pines Press, a first-of-its-kind collaboration, was conceived by WSU Press Editor-in-Chief Linda Bathgate and Amanda Clark, Whitworth University’s dean of the library and special programs.
E-tongue can detect white wine spoilage before humans can
While bearing little physical resemblance to its namesake, the strand-like sensory probes of the “e-tongue” still outperformed human senses when detecting contaminated wine in a recent WSU-led study.
Provost selection process ongoing
WSU expects to name its next provost before the end of April. President Kirk Schulz is actively considering two finalists, with feedback provided by the university community being a key factor in the decision.
Employee Assistance Program hosts special sessions, April 17
Washington State Employee Assistance Program Director Jennifer Nguyen will lead two discussions tomorrow on the topics of change and personal wellbeing. Both presentations will be livestreamed.