Optimizing Survey Questionnaire Design in Political Science

Abstract

Abstract This article provides a summary of the literature's suggestions on survey design research. In doing so, it points researchers toward question formats that appear to yield the highest measurement reliability and validity. Using the American National Election Studies as a starting point, it shows the general principles of good questionnaire design, desirable choices to make when designing new questions, biases in some question formats and ways to avoid them, and strategies for reporting survey results. Finally, it offers a discussion of strategies for measuring voter turnout in particular, as a case study that poses special challenges. Scholars designing their own surveys should not presume that previously written questions are the best ones to use. Applying best practices in questionnaire design will yield more accurate data and more accurate substantive findings about the nature and origins of mass political behavior.