GCCCD Minimum Wage versus Poverty Questionnaire
Questionnaire Design Steps
- Choose a topic and dependent variable. Start with a simple question that you want to know the answer to: “What do Cuyamaca students (or millennials, women, Americans, etc) think about _____________?”
- Operationalize your dependent variable. Think of what questions you could ask in order to find out what people think about your dependent variable. Think of a number of different ways you could have people give their answers. Construct at least two measures of the dependent variable (two questions). Be as specific and objective as possible. Use closed ended questions (multiple choice with one choice possible, Likert scale (Links to an external site.), etc.).
- Choose your independent variables. Think about ways that your targeted group differs. They could be demographic characteristics (race, age, sex, income, religion, education, location/residence, student/non student, etc.), identities, attitudes or opinions they hold, or something about their position in life/work. Select at least 6 of these as independent variables: characteristics of respondents that might shape their attitude towards your dependent variable.
- Operationalize your independent variables. Think about the best ways to get respondents to report these characteristics. Construct one measure for each of your independent variables. Be as specific and objective as possible. Use closed ended questions (multiple choice with one choice, Likert scale (Links to an external site.), etc.).
- Write your hypothesis. Write a hypothesis about what you think is the likely answer to this research question. Remember, your hypothesis should testable and provable or falsifiable: you should be able to imagine different results that would “support” or “not support” your hypothesis.
- Construct your survey questionnaire. Construct a questionnaire that includes all of your measures of independent and dependent variables. Include several additional items in the questionnaire to make it less obvious what your research question is (and to make it less likely that your questionnaire format will bias the responses). Your questionnaire should have a minimum of 10 separate items/questions.
