Introduction to Writing Questions for Standardized Interviews

Nora Cate Schaeffer
Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Faculty Director, University of Wisconsin Survey Center

Abstract
This course includes an analysis of the structure of two common types of survey questions: questions about events and behaviors and questions about subjective things. The course then presents an overview of the decisions one must make in writing these two types of questions. For questions about events and behaviors, these decisions include naming the event, selecting a response dimension (e.g., occurrence or frequency), and structuring response categories. For questions about subjective things, these decisions include naming the attitude object and evaluative dimension and labeling response categories. These decisions are used as a framework for bringing research about survey questions to bear on these decisions. The course summarizes relevant research and applies that research to solving common problems in designing questions for standardized interviews. For questions about events and behaviors, topics include how to use the structure and wording of questions to clarify concepts and support retrieval. For questions about subjective things, topics include how to structure response scales. The course provides conceptual tools and practical examples to use in writing survey questions.

Instructor
Nora Cate Schaeffer is Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she teaches courses in survey research methods and conducts research on instrument design and survey measurement and on interaction in the survey interview. She also serves as Faculty Director of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center. She has taught instrument design at the Summer Institute of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan and through the University of Michigan-University of Maryland Joint Program in Survey Methodology. Recent publications include, with Stanley Presser, "The Science of Asking Questions" (Annual Review of Sociology 2003) and Standardization and Tacit Knowledge: Interaction and Practice in the Survey Interview, co-edited with Douglas W. Maynard, Hanneke Houtkoop-Steenstra, and Johannes van der Zouwen.