Chapter 5: How to Effectively Communicate with Respondents: Principles of Survey Design

Fielding a survey is a complex process that encompasses the entire data collection process, from the identification of the population of interest to the procedures required to report the data. However, one of the most important steps in this process—designing the questionnaire—often receives too little attention or becomes relegated to predetermined, generic survey templates. Throughout this chapter, we demonstrate questionnaire design considerations and best practices using methods, experimental results, and general guidelines from survey methodology research. Many of the experiments and designs presented come from nationally representative postsecondary education studies to demonstrate how to implement these designs in education research. The survey development process for these large-scale, cross-sectional, and longitudinal studies offers a wealth of knowledge for anyone planning to conduct survey research in education.