Questionnaire design checklist

Check every item before fieldwork. An unchecked item signals a need to review the design.

When to use this worksheet and what completion involves Fictional completed example

EvalCompass Worksheet

Questionnaire design checklist

Method: Survey / Questionnaire

Check every item before fieldwork. An unchecked item signals a need to review the design.

Basic information

Enter purpose and targets

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Survey title: Training use survey
Evaluation question: what to measure: Was the plan used in a meeting within 3 months?
Target group and population definition: 40 trainees in the same cohort
Fieldwork period: July 1–14, 2026 (fictional)
Owner and entry date: Survey lead / July 1, 2026 (fictional)

Reason for this entry: Align targets and follow-up periods.

Survey title

Evaluation question: what to measure

Target group and population definition

Fieldwork period

Owner and entry date

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Enter purpose and targets

Align targets and follow-up periods.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Follow each field’s heading to record the program name, focus, period, and other details. Leave undecided matters clearly marked as unresolved.

Read the full fictional example

Measurement design

Map questions to evaluation questions

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Evaluation questions	Measurement concept	Scale used and question number	Existing scale source, if any
Was it used at work?	Use in meetings	Q1: used in the past 3 months / not used / do not know	Original question, not an existing validated scale

Reason for this entry: Do not substitute satisfaction for behavior change.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Evaluation questions	Measurement concept	Scale used and question number	Existing scale source, if any

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Map questions to evaluation questions

Do not substitute satisfaction for behavior change.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Keep the information in each row aligned. Scroll wide tables horizontally to see every column.

Read the full fictional example

Sampling plan

Enter sampling and target-size rationale

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Population size: 40 people
Sampling: random / stratified / convenience, etc.: Distribute to all
Target sample size and rationale: Distribute to 40; not a random inferential sample
Oversampling number: 0 people; no additional targets
Target response rate (%): Planned 75%; observed 30/40=75% too (fictional)

Reason for this entry: The response target is a planning assumption, not a quality threshold.

Population size

Sampling: random / stratified / convenience, etc.

Target sample size and rationale

Oversampling number

Target response rate (%)

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Enter sampling and target-size rationale

The response target is a planning assumption, not a quality threshold.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Follow each field’s heading to record the program name, focus, period, and other details. Leave undecided matters clearly marked as unresolved.

Read the full fictional example

Response improvement measures

Check intended measures and enter details

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

☑ Checked: Explain purpose and anonymity in the initial cover letter
☑ Checked: Send reminders through timing and modes fitting targets and fieldwork period
☑ Checked: Provide a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) or online URL
☐ Not checked: Provide an incentive (details: ____)
☑ Checked: Pretested with intended respondents and checked time and understanding

Reason for this entry: No incentive. Assume a 5-person pilot and information after 7 days; 5 is not a universal requirement.

Explain purpose and anonymity in the initial cover letter
Send reminders through timing and modes fitting targets and fieldwork period
Provide a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) or online URL
Provide an incentive (details: ____)
Pretested with intended respondents and checked time and understanding

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Check intended measures and enter details

No incentive. Assume a 5-person pilot and information after 7 days; 5 is not a universal requirement.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Read each item and check those you have confirmed. Do not use the fictional example’s checkbox states as findings about your own program.

Read the full fictional example

Question design checks

Check the final questionnaire

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

☑ Checked: Piloted necessity, time and burden and adjusted volume
☑ Checked: No leading, double-barreled or negatively worded questions
☑ Checked: Options are exhaustive and mutually exclusive
☑ Checked: Likert-scale extremes such as very and not at all are symmetric
☐ Not checked: Personal information is minimal and ethics review and consent procedures are completed

Reason for this entry: A brief questionnaire focused on use. Actual consent and review procedures remain incomplete pending pre-fieldwork confirmation.

Piloted necessity, time and burden and adjusted volume
No leading, double-barreled or negatively worded questions
Options are exhaustive and mutually exclusive
Likert-scale extremes such as very and not at all are symmetric
Personal information is minimal and ethics review and consent procedures are completed

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Check the final questionnaire

A brief questionnaire focused on use. Actual consent and review procedures remain incomplete pending pre-fieldwork confirmation.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Read each item and check those you have confirmed. Do not use the fictional example’s checkbox states as findings about your own program.

Read the full fictional example

Analysis and reporting preparation

Enter analysis plan and approach to disclosing limitations

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

18 of 30 respondents used the plan. Report 10 non-respondents separately and also state confirmed users as 45% of all 40 recipients. For item missingness, further exclude missing items from the 30 valid responses and show denominators.

Reason for this entry: Distinguish response rates from outcome proportions.

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Enter analysis plan and approach to disclosing limitations

Distinguish response rates from outcome proportions.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Use the example as a reference and record what you have established about your own program. Distinguish assumptions and unchecked matters from confirmed facts.

Read the full fictional example

Before writing, check when to use the worksheet and what completion involves

Questionnaire design checklist is a worksheet for applying Survey / Questionnaire in meetings or individual work. For the overall duration of the method, use “Illustrative planning durations, not common standards: design 2–4 weeks, fieldwork 1–4 weeks, analysis 1–2 weeks, depending on scale” as a reference, adjusting for scale and resources. Fill in what you know provisionally and leave unresolved matters as questions to check next.

When this worksheet is useful

Collect comparable quantitative responses using common questions
Numerically show attitude, knowledge or behavior changes before and after participation
Compare groups by area or characteristics

Participants and preparation

People responsible for design, distribution, collection, management and analysis. Set target numbers from population, sampling, required precision, comparison groups and expected response.

Bring the materials used for decisions, existing data, and differing stakeholder views to help complete the worksheet.

Suggested order

1. Basic informationEnter purpose and targets
2. Measurement designMap questions to evaluation questions
3. Sampling planEnter sampling and target-size rationale
4. Response improvement measuresCheck intended measures and enter details
5. Question design checksCheck the final questionnaire
6. Analysis and reporting preparationEnter analysis plan and approach to disclosing limitations

Signs the worksheet is ready for review

Collected questionnaire dataset
Aggregation and analysis report: descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation
Methodological records: sampling, response and limitations

Cautions for review

Distribution to everyone does not ensure representation. Report response rates, non-response reasons and known characteristic differences, explaining remaining bias.
Do not judge burden from item count alone. Pilot time and difficulty, remove unnecessary items and examine dropout.
Retrospective assessment of pre-program conditions is vulnerable to recall bias even if respondents are asked how things were before. Build pre/post collection into the original design.

Guides to read before starting

Read a completed fictional example (your entries will not change)

Fictional example; not actual results

A fictional illustration: ask all 40 evaluation trainees about plan use after 3 months.

Basic information

Survey title: Training use survey
Evaluation question: what to measure: Was the plan used in a meeting within 3 months?
Target group and population definition: 40 trainees in the same cohort
Fieldwork period: July 1–14, 2026 (fictional)
Owner and entry date: Survey lead / July 1, 2026 (fictional)

Reason for this entry: Align targets and follow-up periods.

Measurement design

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Evaluation questions	Measurement concept	Scale used and question number	Existing scale source, if any
Was it used at work?	Use in meetings	Q1: used in the past 3 months / not used / do not know	Original question, not an existing validated scale

Reason for this entry: Do not substitute satisfaction for behavior change.

Sampling plan

Population size: 40 people
Sampling: random / stratified / convenience, etc.: Distribute to all
Target sample size and rationale: Distribute to 40; not a random inferential sample
Oversampling number: 0 people; no additional targets
Target response rate (%): Planned 75%; observed 30/40=75% too (fictional)

Reason for this entry: The response target is a planning assumption, not a quality threshold.

Response improvement measures

☑ Checked: Explain purpose and anonymity in the initial cover letter
☑ Checked: Send reminders through timing and modes fitting targets and fieldwork period
☑ Checked: Provide a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) or online URL
☐ Not checked: Provide an incentive (details: ____)
☑ Checked: Pretested with intended respondents and checked time and understanding

Reason for this entry: No incentive. Assume a 5-person pilot and information after 7 days; 5 is not a universal requirement.

Question design checks

☑ Checked: Piloted necessity, time and burden and adjusted volume
☑ Checked: No leading, double-barreled or negatively worded questions
☑ Checked: Options are exhaustive and mutually exclusive
☑ Checked: Likert-scale extremes such as very and not at all are symmetric
☐ Not checked: Personal information is minimal and ethics review and consent procedures are completed

Reason for this entry: A brief questionnaire focused on use. Actual consent and review procedures remain incomplete pending pre-fieldwork confirmation.

Analysis and reporting preparation

Reason for this entry: Distinguish response rates from outcome proportions.

Common errors in judgment

Ask usefulness and behavioral change in one question

How to revise: Ask usefulness and actual use separately

Reason: A single response covering different concepts has no clear meaning.

Count all non-respondents as non-users

How to revise: Classify non-response separately and show denominators

Reason: Reasons for non-response differ from whether use occurred.

Editorial and checking information

Content updated: 2026-09-13Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)No documented human reviewIncludes fictional examplesEditorial policy and scope of checking Cite this page Report a correction

References and checked sections

Questionnaires
BetterEvaluation
Section consulted
Advice for using this method
How it relates to the text
Pretest questions and interpret results in light of population reach and non-response.
Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)

How to cite this page

EvalCompass Editorial Team. “Questionnaire design checklist”. EvalCompass, updated 2026-09-13. https://evalcompass.jun-nakatani.com/en/worksheets/survey/

Add the date you accessed the page. Text created by this site is available under CC BY 4.0. Quotations, external materials, and bundled fonts have their own terms of use. When reusing content, credit the source, link to the license, and indicate any changes.

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Change history

2026-09-13 — Checked sources for definitions and conditions and added fictional examples, judgment rationales and completed entries for every field. Revised unsupported historical or uptake claims. Reviewed procedures and cautions, adjusting fixed counts, thresholds and institutional generalizations. Preserved field positions, types and counts while revising fixed conditions and thresholds.