What are the best ways to pretest a questionnaire before administering it?

1 Expert review

An expert review involves asking one or more experts in your field, topic, or methodology to evaluate your questionnaire and provide feedback. They can help you check the clarity, relevance, accuracy, and completeness of your questions, as well as the alignment with your research objectives and hypotheses. You can also ask them to suggest improvements or alternatives for your question wording, order, format, and scaling. An expert review can be done in person, by phone, or online, depending on your preference and availability.

2 Cognitive testing

Cognitive testing involves asking a small sample of respondents who are similar to your target population to answer your questionnaire and think aloud as they do so. You can observe how they interpret, process, and respond to your questions, and probe them for more details if needed. You can also ask them to rate the difficulty, clarity, and appropriateness of each question, and to explain any confusion, hesitation, or inconsistency in their answers. Cognitive testing can help you uncover any cognitive or psychological barriers that may affect your respondents' ability to answer your questions accurately and honestly.

3 Pilot testing

Pilot testing involves administering your questionnaire to a larger sample of respondents who are representative of your target population. You can use the same mode and method of data collection that you plan to use for your main survey, such as online, mail, phone, or face-to-face. You can then analyze the data and calculate the response rate, completion rate, item nonresponse rate, and reliability and validity of your measures. Pilot testing can help you assess the feasibility, efficiency, and effectiveness of your questionnaire, and identify any technical or operational issues that may arise during the data collection process.

4 Revision and refinement

Revision and refinement involves making changes to your questionnaire based on the feedback and results from the previous steps. You can modify, add, delete, or rearrange your questions, as well as adjust your format, layout, instructions, and skip logic. You can also revise your sampling strategy, sample size, data collection mode and method, and incentive scheme if needed. You should document all the changes and the reasons behind them, and test them again until you are satisfied with your questionnaire. Revision and refinement can help you optimize your questionnaire and ensure its validity and reliability for your marketing research project.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?