Typography

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Typography LayoutTop Tips!

• FOLIO ASQ Course
• May 2006

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Some Typography Tips

• Always make sure that the text on your
  questionnaire is large enough and clear enough
  for people to read.
• A slight reduction in type size may reduce the
  length of your questionnaire - but make sure it
  will still be readable for your respondents.

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Font Style Recommendations

• Times New Roman and Arial are the preferred font
  style for high levels of legibility and
  readability. Verdana is also a good choice.
• Both the Basic Skills Agency (BSA)
  (http//www.basic-skills.co.uk/) and the Royal
  National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
  (http//www.rnib.org.uk/) express a slight
  preference for san serif fonts (such as Arial).

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Font Size Recommendations

• The RNIB recommends a font size of 12 points for
  documents intended for general readers, and a
  minimum of 14 points if readers are likely to
  have a visual impairment.

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Line Spacing Recommendations

• It is recommended to use at least double spacing
  between one question and the next, and between a
  question and the first related response category.
  Within a set of response categories, 1.5 line
  spacing is recommended.

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Some More Typography Tips

• Use a combination of bold and/or underlining
  where appropriate to provide emphasis in the text
  of a question and to distinguish instructions
  from questions.
• However, be aware that if you use underlining on
  an online questionnaire, people may confuse it
  with hypertext links.

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Some Layout Tips

• The quality of your questionnaire represents your
  organisation - make sure it looks professional.
• Try not to overfill the page - using lots of
  lines, borders and boxes can make the page appear
  too dense.
• Dont split questions over pages.

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The Order of Questions

• The order of the questions on your questionnaire
  is important. Some general rules are
• Go from general to particular.
• Go from easy to difficult.
• Go from factual to abstract.
• Start with closed format questions.
• Start with questions relevant to the main
  subject.
• Do not start with demographic questions.

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White Space

• Dont cramp questions together to make your
  questionnaire appear shorter - using white
  space makes your questionnaire appear easier to
  complete.
• Use more blank space between questions than
  subcomponents of questions.

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Your Respondents

• Put yourself in the respondents place and come up
  with ways to make the questionnaire as appealing
  to the eye and as easy to answer as possible.
• Dont forget that your respondents are seeing
  your questionnaire for the first time. They may
  be in a hurry so they need to orientate
  themselves very quickly to the flow of a
  questionnaire1, therefore it is a good idea to
  be consistent and avoid switching between
  landscape (e.g. Likert scales) and portrait (e.g.
  vertical list of choices) for the text layout.
• 1. Booth, A (2005) Mind your Ps and Qs (pitfalls
  of questionnaires).
• Health Information Libraries Journal 22 (3)
  228-231.

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Some More Layout Tips

• Number all questions sequentially.
• Try to be consistent in aspects such as wording.
• Use a consistent style of questions (i.e. not a
  mixture of ticking boxes, circling answers etc.)
• If you are using tick boxes etc., dont make the
  boxes too small!

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And Finally

• Proof read, proof read and proof read again! - Be
  absolutely sure that there are no errors on your
  questionnaire before you distribute it.

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References

• Booth, A (2005) Mind your Ps and Qs (pitfalls of
  questionnaires). Health Information Libraries
  Journal 22 (3) 228-231.
• Burgess, T.F. (2001) A general introduction to
  the design of questionnaires for survey research
  online Accessed May 2006
• Frary, R. (2002) A Brief Guide to Questionnaire
  Development online Accessed May 2006
• Learning Technology Dissemination Initiative
  (1999) Evaluation Cookbook Questionnaires
  online Accessed May 2006
• Leung W.C. How to design a questionnaire.
  StudentBMJ 2001 9 187-9 online Accessed May
  2006
• McColl E. et al. Design and use of
  questionnaires a review of best practice
  applicable to surveys of health service staff and
  patients. Health Technology Assessment, 2001 5
  (31) 1-256 online Accessed May 2006
• Taylor, C.L. Summerhill, W.R. (2006) Formatting
  a Mail Questionnaire online Accessed May 2006
• University of Illinois (2005) Introduction to
  Questionnaire Design online Accessed May 2006
• University of Leicester (2006) Design on online
  questionnaires 1 Appearance online Accessed
  May 2006
• WebSurveyor for Marketing (2006) Survey Design
  Considerations Recommendations for Writing
  Effective Questionnaires online Accessed May
  2006

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Further Reading

• Smith, T.W. (1995) Little Things Matter A
  Sampler of How Differences in Questionnaire
  Format Can Affect Survey Responses online
  Accessed May 2006

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The End