Qualitative Testing for Official Establishment Survey Questionnaires

Abstract

Research into the best practice for testing questionnaires used to obtain survey data from establishments (businesses and other organisations) is largely the province of official statistics, and has developed more slowly than the corresponding procedures in household surveys. Nonetheless, establishment survey questionnaire design and testing procedures are now supported by a substantial literature, and we use this to review the background and approaches to development and testing of questionnaires. The key points are summarised in a series of recommendations, primarily targeted at the production of official statistics. We then report a survey of National Statistical Institutes which gathered information on the penetration of these practices into standard survey design procedures, and identified some of the characteristics of these methods as they are implemented. We conclude with an assessment of the levels of maturity in application of these approaches.