A single badly worded question can quietly ruin an entire research project — the data still comes in, the report still gets written, but the conclusions are wrong from the start. Questionnaire design is the discipline that prevents exactly that: choosing the right data-collection method, wording questions cleanly, and anticipating how respondents actually think and answer.

This course focuses on that practical skill set — reading respondent psychology, spotting and fixing weak questions, applying sound measurement guidelines, and following a tested development-and-testing process — so participants leave able to build a questionnaire that produces data decision-makers can actually trust.

Who should attend?

• Existing and potential staff working in commercial and marketing research.
• Researchers within private institutions, public-service bodies and non-governmental organisations.
• Managers who commission or use business and marketing research services.
• Marketing and advertising department heads.
• Purchasing and sales staff who rely on survey data for decisions.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain the role questionnaires play within wider survey research.
• Recognise how different data-collection methods shape the way a questionnaire should be designed.
• Read respondent psychology and questioning behaviour, and design around it.
• Identify the main sources of measurement error in survey questions.
• Spot and fix weak or biased questions using general measurement guidelines.
• Follow a complete, tested process for developing and testing a questionnaire from first draft to final version.

Module 1: Questionnaires Inside the Bigger Research Picture

• The role questionnaires play within wider survey-based research.
• How the choice of data-collection method shapes questionnaire design decisions.

Module 2: Understanding the Respondent

• The psychology behind how respondents read and answer questions.
• Different dimensions of questioning behaviour to watch for.

Module 3: Where Measurement Goes Wrong

• The main sources of measurement error in survey questions.
• Identifying and correcting weak or biased questions.

Module 4: Measurement Guidelines in Practice

• Applying general measurement guidelines to real question wording.

Module 5: From Draft to Final Questionnaire

• Questionnaire development and testing procedures.
• Working through a practical, step-by-step questionnaire-design checklist.