The Complete Guide to Writing Questionnaires: How to Get Better Information for Better Decisions

Disclaimer: I know the author personally and have worked with him on many occasionsWhile the above disclaimer might lead you to think I'm favorably biased toward David's book (I probably am), I can nevertheless impart some insights that will hopefully show the importance of it. My professional field is quantitative analysis, not qualitative, which can put me at the mercy of poorly worded questionnaires. I can think of instances where we engaged the services of high-end consultants (Ph.D.s all around), who would in the course of their work develop a questionnaire. Fortunately for us, before the surveys went out we would pass the draft questionnaire along to David for review. Simply put, he was able to save us from wasting money by pointing out the flaws in the draft and working with the consultants (who were invariably blown away by his expertise) to fix things.The flaws we encountered in real life are exactly the things covered so extensively and so well in the book, things like, "You think you're asking this question but the respondent will interpret it differently", and "What's the unit of measurement: percentage, number, etc.", and "You're really asking two different questions, not one." David's understanding of semantics and the psychology behind questionnaires is profound, and that knowledge is captured and evident throughout the book. What makes it so useful is it's all real-world stuff.If you're going to spend your time putting together a questionnaire or spend money getting someone else to do it, make sure it's done right! This book is far and away the best resource to help you accomplish that goal. And very refreshingly, it's well-written and free of the academic jargon that makes your eyes glaze over.

I think it was Mark Twain who wrote, "I am sorry I did not have enough time to write succinctly". David Harris wrote this book succinctly. Just over 200 pages but it covers topics from the beginning of one's thoughts, though approaches to questions, all the way through planning your analysis - and the survey creation process all the way through launch.Although it is officially targeted to Market Researchers, I think it is for anyone who wants bottom line guidance on the questionnaire creation and analysis process. What's missing is underlying theory, but academics don't need theory when they're putting together surveys that will impact decisions.The new $54 price seems high, but if you value your time I expect you'll still feel value for the money.

I bought this book based on the recommendation of Stanford professor, Chip Heath (author of Made to Stick). I was tasked with a project that involved surveying employees of a large corporation on their satisfaction related to their financial wellness. I'm a financial planner and have no survey design experience and needed help fast! This book helped me engage employees at a much higher level than I could have ever imagined. David's simple framework of making questions clear, answerable, easy, and unbiased will save you tons of time and help you make better decisions. The book is full of examples that make it a fun read. This information is a steal at $40 bucks!

I found this book to be a well-written and thorough guide to writing questionnaires. I don't know of another book on questionnaires that has such a comprehensive list of guidelines. I liked the way the author presents actual questions from questionnaires and shows how two people can interpret the question differently. He then goes on to present the guideline that you need to follow to avoid the ambiguity in the original question. This book is outstanding for writing questionnaires that clearly address the questions you are most interested in answering. And isn't that the point?

I've looked for books on this topic before, but they were mostly for academics. I can't recommend this book enough because it is for market research professionals. As a corporate researcher, questionnaire writing isn't something I normally think about. After reading this book, I can tell that many research suppliers aren't thinking about it either. Do yourself and your company a favor and learn this information.This is a very readable book as well. It is filled with "before and after" examples of how to improve questions.

A GREAT guide to anyone who wants some more information about writing surveys. I found this book to be clear, easy to understand, and very practical and with tons of great examples. I was worried this book might be too overly academic and not as much of a "real-world" guide, but it was the exact opposite. I highly recommend!

I haven't completely finished reading this book yet, but I must say that what I've read so far is very informative. I also find that it is presented in a way that is easily understood. I have already found myself thinking differently when it comes to survey creation, and the prep work that goes into it. Definitely worth it!

A very useful book to understand how to draft a questionnaire without "missing" on important aspects needed for the analysis and the consequent decision-making. This guide helped me a lot. Highly recommended.

This is a tremendously well organised and sensible guide to developing questionnaires.The author nails his colours to the mast early on (p.10): "The questionnaire, which is the primary subject of this book, is a quantitative instrument and simply cannot be used to get information that is inherently qualitative." He thereafter maps out an extremely practical step by step approach to obtaining reliable and useful research results in a manner consistent with that initial premise.Each step is associated with a number of specific guidelines (or protocols) for that step. Compliance with the all the guidelines covering a particular step should ensure that the underlying goal is achieved; both for the step, and eventually, for the entire process of designing and writing the questionnaire.My biggest gripe is that -- so far, at least -- there is no Kindle or e-book edition of the text available. The author and publishers should be encouraged to make one available at the earliest opportunity.

very practically useful

I expected for more academic use.