Top Ten Tips - Length

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Top Ten Tips - Length

• Consider the ticking clock Ideally a
  questionnaire should take no more than 10-12
  minutes to complete (1).
• Consider length and l-e-n-g-t-h Length of
  questions is just as important as length of
  questionnaire.
• Length is in the eye of the beholder Perceived
  respondent burden (how long they think it will
  take) and actual response burden (how long it
  actually takes) are both important (2).
• Whats in it for them? Individuals with strong
  negative/positive opinions are more likely to
  complete long questionnaires (2).
• Theyre tired! Fatigue/boredom may make
  individuals careless or adopt strategies that
  reduce burden of answering, especially in latter
  part of questionnaire (2).

• Small is beautiful Compared with a postcard,
  each additional page more than halves the odds of
  response (3).
• Stay below three pages A single page is twice as
  likely to be completed as a three page
  questionnaire (4).
• Prefer short to long You must send out 125 more
  7-page than single page questionnaires for one
  extra response (No. needed to send) (5)
• Keep it interesting Regardless of length,
  apparent relevance, importance and interest to
  the respondent (saliency) best predicts response
  (2).
• Consider your purpose Ultimately length of
  questionnaire is determined by its purpose (1).

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References 1. Tenopir Top Tips on User Surveys
http//elsevier.com/wps/find/librariansinfo.librar
ians/LCN040102 2. McColl E, Jacoby A, Thomas
L, Soutter J, Bamford C, Steen N, Thomas R,
Harvey E, Garratt A, Bond J. Design and use of
questionnaires a review of best practice
applicable to surveys of health service staff and
patients. Health Technol Assess.
20015(31)1-256. Review. 3. Edwards P, Roberts
I, Sandercock, P and Frost C. Follow-up by mail
in clinical trials does questionnaire length
matter? Controlled Clinical Trials 25 (1) ,
February 2004, Pages 31-52 4. Edwards P, Roberts
I, Clarke M, DiGuiseppi C, Pratap S, Wentz R,
Kwan I. Increasing response rates to postal
questionnaires systematic review. BMJ. 2002 May
18324(7347)1183. 5. Kalantar JS and Talley NJ.
The Effects of Lottery Incentive and Length of
Questionnaire on Health Survey Response Rates. A
Randomized Study. J Clin Epidemiol. 1999
Nov52(11)1117-22.