Chapter 7
Methods for the Development, Testing, and Evaluation of Data Collection Instruments
In this chapter, we move from sample design and coordination to methodological activities that support business survey data collection, starting with the development and testing of survey questions, questionnaires, and data collection instruments. There is an extensive literature on methods and best practices in the design, development, pretesting, and evaluation of questionnaires and data collection instruments for various modes, and much of this is applicable in business surveys as well as surveys of households and individuals. Literature on question wording and order, visual design, and mode differences, to a large extent, form a foundation for business surveys as well. However, to ensure successful collection and quality in business surveys, the business context may require that some instrument design, development, testing, and evaluation methodologies be modified or adapted, and new methods created, to effectively meet survey objectives.
Guidelines and best practices that have emerged in the design of business survey data collection instruments are the subject of the next chapter. But first, in this chapter, we will describe methods for assisting business survey designers with development, testing, and evaluation of data collection instruments to improve their effectiveness in obtaining quality response data from business survey respondents, while also controlling ...
