International Dental & Medical Journal of Advanced Research ● Vol. 2 ● 2016 1 International Dental & Medical Journal of Advanced Research (2016), 2, 1–3 REVIEW ARTICLE Designing and validation of questionnaire Sandesh Jain 1 , Saumya Dubey 1 , Sandhya Jain 2 1 Sri Aurobindo College of Dentistry, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, 2 Department of Orthodontics, Government College of Dentistry, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India Abstract A designing questionnaire which is worthwhile and easy to interpret and generalizable is an art, and it requires careful planning. The usefulness of questionnaire lies in quantifying the findings of initial exploratory phase. Questions may be open ended (descriptive answer type) or close ended (Y/N type). For a questionnaire to be valid, it should be understood by subjects/participants correctly to answer. Thus, the relevant answer is sought. Questions should be simple and unambiguous. Questions should be devised using all concepts related to aim, and validity and reliability of the questions should be checked by pilot study before conducting the main study. Keywords Designing, questionnaire, validity Correspondence Dr. Sandesh Jain, Department of Orthodontics, Sri Aurobindo College of Dentistry, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. Phone: 91-9425045455. Email: researchothodontics@gmail.com Received 04 December 2015; Accepted 23 January 2016 doi: 10.15713/ins.idmjar.39 Designing The questionnaire provides us objective means of collecting information about people’s beliefs, knowledge, attitude, and behavior. The designing questionnaire which is worthwhile and generalizable is an art, and it requires careful planning. The usefulness of questionnaire lies in quantifying the findings of initial exploratory phase. It is not helpful in cases where subjects may withhold information due to some or other reasons such as ignorance or subjects may perceive stigmatizing as they may think they are being judged by others. Types of sampling for questionnaires for research are different according to the type of study of population. [1,2] Sample should be sufficiently large and representative of the entire population. Opportunity/convenience sampling is used for canvassing a known group of participants. It is avoided where we wish to generalize results to a wider population. Random sampling is used for wider homogenous population every 9 th person in contacted. All have an equal chance of selection. For much wider population stratified sampling is preferred where homogenous groups are identified and the sample is drawn from groups. Cluster sampling is used for heterogeneous groups. In cases where are wish to select randomly but can contact only limited number of people, while quota sampling used for a different group of social class (Hindu, Muslims, etc.) age, gender, etc. A definite number of social class is included in the study. Snowball sampling is preferred where confidentiality of disease in required. Subject/participants identify other similar subjects. [3-5] Questions may be open ended (descriptive answer type) or close ended (Y/N type). Close-ended questions are quick to answer and complete does not require much thinking process, but they do not allow subjects to expand the answer or offer alternative views. Moreover, subjects may tick at random to answer the close-ended questionnaire. Open-ended questions allow subjects to answer with creativity and allow for expression. However, the responses/answers are difficult to analyze requiring coding and interpretation. Advance Planning is required (for time, skill, etc.) for open-ended questions. Questions poorly designed (close-ended question) include words such as sometimes and frequently. Frequently implies frequency, so a frequency based rating (once/twice a day, etc.) is more appropriate. Avoid using questions with words such as commonly, usually, many, some, and hardly ever. It is advisable to provide introductory information regarding survey and question filling, etc., to all participants. The questionnaire should be formally approved by specialists. Validity refers to accurately measuring what it claims to measure while reliability is an assessment of reproducibility and consistency of a measurement or instrument. Different dimensions of validity are: A. Apparent validity Question is generated in consultation with opinion of experts and subjects themselves. All questions should be logical.