There are two main sections to this quiz. Please respond to the queries in each section by circling the most logical response.
Your demographic information is presented in part 1, and other risk variables associated with alcohol consumption are presented in part 2.
The responses are neither incorrect nor correct. Simply provide a response that reflects your feelings or what you believe to be true.
DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN PART I
Where do you call home? Please only list the precise neighborhood name, not the metropolis.
Please select a gender.
Male
Female
What age range are you?
12-14 years.
15-19 years.
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RISK FACTORS IN PART II
Please only encircle one number.
Family Influences
How old were you when you first tasted alcohol?
Answer
Score
12-13 years
4
14-15 years
3
16-17 years
2
18-19 years
1
Who introduced you to alcohol consumption?
Answer
score
A friend or the neighbors
4
A family member
3
Self
2
I cannot remember
1
Is the community around you responsible for your current alcohol intake?
Answer
Score
Yes, I learnt drinking alcohol from the people around me
4
Partly responsible as I drink sometimes because I watch the members of the community taking alcohol.
3
No, I decided to start taking alcohol out of curiosity
2
I am not sure
1
Cultural factors
Is it a culture for people to take alcohol in the community? Do they consume it out in the open?
Answer
Score
Yes, both men and women take alcohol in my neighborhood
4
Yes, but only men are allowed to consume alcohol openly
3
It is a culture but it is never done openly
2
No, the people around my neighborhood never consume alcohol
1
When do the people in your geographic region engage in alcohol consumption?
Answer
Score
Always, everyday even when there is no ceremony
4
Occasionally, during special ceremonies such as weddings
3
Rarely, alcohol consumption only takes place during particular
2
The people in my geographic region do not consume alcohol at all
1
Economic Conditions
Please circle one number only
Is money a factor you consider when buying alcohol?
Answer
Score
There is always someone to buy me alcohol even when I do not have money
4
I always set aside money to purchase alcohol.
3
I buy alcohol only when I have enough money.
2
I do not know
1
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
Questionnaire Development
The objective of this study is to find out whether there is any relationship between the geographic residence and alcohol consumption among Australian teenagers. The study focuses on individuals between the ages of 12 to 19 years. The aim of this questionnaire is to collect statistical data that will confirm that there is a relationship between the variables under study. The process began with the identification of a hypothesis which read “there is a positive relationship between alcohol consumption in Australian teenagers aged 12 to 19 years, and the geographic area they come from”. Thus, the questionnaire has an interpretable scoring system where the highest values indicate a positive relationship between the two variables (geographic area and alcohol consumption) in the research (Kelley et al., 2003; Wright, 1997).
The consumption of alcohol is also affected by other risk factors including the social and cultural factors (Bryden, Roberts, McKee & Petticrew, 2012). Thus the questionnaire put into consideration factors such as the economic position of an individual, culture, and familial influences. Based on the advice of Kelley et al., (2003) and Bowling (2002), the questionnaire was developed to be administered to students in particular schools. Considering that this is a quantitative study, all questions are close-ended as this makes it possible to collect quantitative data (Bowling et al., 2002; Dillmman, 2000; Martin & Polivka, 1995).
Questionnaires are supposed to begin with an introduction, proceed to warm-up questions and then end with more complex questions thus the format adopted in this tool (Fanning 2005; Tourangea, 2000). When questionnaire is too long, it takes a lot of time to administer and answer thus deterring participants from giving honest answers (Bowling, 2002). The questionnaire is divided into sections and this makes it easy to collect the data as well as giving the respondents enough time to collect data.
Pre-testing
Pre-testing Procedures
According to Czaja (1998), it is impossible to develop a perfect questionnaire and this is why it is always important to pre-test the tool. During the pilot test, the researcher began by identifying 5 respondents as is common during this stage (Kelley et al., 2003). The idea behind this pre-test was to identify the existence of any ambiguity in word meanings, misinterpretations, and inability to answer some questions. The second step during the pre-testing procedure was to debrief the respondents. This is particularly significant in finding out whether the respondents understood the questions (Czaja, 1998). The researcher then gave the respondents the questionnaire. The pre-test questionnaire included some open-ended questions at the end specifically for the purpose of improving the structure of the tool. I chose this approach so as to make the respondents comfortable as some of them were quite young (12 years old).
Summary of Responses and Changes Made
During the pre-test period, the researcher used the forms appraisal or the questionnaire appraisal system (QAS) suggested by the Research Triangle Institute. QAS contains eight items including assumptions, reading, instructions, response categories, and bias (Tourangea, 2000). Each question was supposed to meet each of these criteria, failure to which it was adjusted. The identification of these factors confirms what Czaja (1998) calls the aspects of a perfect questionnaire as a survey tool. For each question, meeting all these criteria means that the tool is credible.
One of the most significant factors considered during the pre-test was the coding and analysis. The consideration in this case is to ensure that the respondents understand the questions. Each question was then adjusted to meet the language level of 12 to 19 year olds. The respondents made it clear that they understood the language. The language level chosen was found suitable during the pre-test. There were four levels of scoring and all of them were deemed reasonable for providing sufficient details. The study was focusing on the geographic area and thus the researcher opted to use the phrase ‘your neighborhood’ than ‘your community’. The questionnaire was of reasonable length as the respondents said they did not get tired while giving answers.
Here is a list of questions that led to the development of the newest questionnaire.
Is the language appropriate?
Ye
Were the questions ambiguous?
There was a confusion between the phrase ‘your community’ and ‘your geographic area’. Initially, there was confusion between the phrase ‘your community’ and ‘your geographic area’.
Have all the options for each question been covered?
Yes, but question 1 is confusing because of the word region.
Did you feel comfortable when answering each question
Yes. I had no problem giving answers.
Is the questionnaire too long?
No. I did not get tired when answering the questions.
Pre-test Questionnaire
This questionnaire is divided into two major parts. Please answer questions from each part by circling the most reasonable answer.
Part 1 is a collection of your demographic factors and part 2 is a collection of other risk factors related to the consumption of alcohol.
The answers are neither wrong nor right. Just give an answer that is whole dependent on how you feel or consider correct.
PART I: DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
Where do you live? Please indicate the name of the region and not the city.
Please indicate your gender
Male
Female
What is your age group?
12-14 years.
15-19 years.
PART II: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RISK FACTORS
Please circle one number only
Family Influences
How old were you when you first tasted alcohol?
Answer
Score
12-13 years
4
14-15 years
3
16-17 years
2
18-19 years
1
Who introduced you to alcohol consumption?
Answer
score
A friend or the neighbors
4
A family member
3
Self
2
I cannot remember
1
Is the community around you responsible for introducing you to alcohol?
Answer
Score
Yes, I learnt drinking alcohol from the people around me
4
Partly responsible as I drink sometimes because I watch the members of the community taking alcohol.
3
No, I decided to start taking alcohol out of curiosity
2
I am not sure
1
Cultural factors
Is it a culture for people to take alcohol in the community? Do they consume it out in the open?
Answer
Score
Yes, both men and women take alcohol in my community
4
Yes, but only men are allowed to consume alcohol openly
3
It is a culture but it is never done openly
2
No, the people around my community never consume alcohol
1
When do the people in your geographic region engage in alcohol consumption?
Answer
Score
Always, everyday even when there is no ceremony
4
Occasionally, during special ceremonies such as weddings
3
Rarely, alcohol consumption only takes place during particular
2
The people in my geographic region do not consume alcohol at all
1
Economic Conditions
Please circle one number only
Is money a factor you consider when buying alcohol?
Answer
Score
There is always someone to buy me alcohol even when I do not have money
4
I always set aside money to purchase alcohol.
3
I buy alcohol only when I have enough money.
2
I do not know
1
PART III: PERSONAL FEELINGS
Please give us any other kind of information you think is necessary. Be as detailed as you want to be.
Is there anything else you would like us to know about you or the geographical region you come from?
Do you think the questionnaire took too much of your time?
Are you satisfied with the way we asked the questions? If not, please state why.
Any suggestions on improvement of the questionnaire?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
References
Bowling A. (2002). Research Methods in Health. Investigating Health and Health Services. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Bryden, A., Roberts, B., McKee, M., & Petticrew, M. (2012). A systematic review of the influence on alcohol use of community level availability and marketing of alcohol. Health & Place, 18(2), 349–357.
Czaja, R. (1998). Questionnaire pretesting comes of age. Marketing Bulletin, 9, 52-66.
Dillman, D. (2000). Constructing the questionnaire. Mail and internet surveys. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Fanning, E. (2005). Formatting a paper-based survey questionnaire: best practices. PracticalAssessment, Research & Evaluation, 10(2), 1-15.
Kelley, K., Clark, B., Brown, V., & Sitzia, J. (2003). Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 15(3), 261–266.
Martin, E., & Polivka, A. E. (1995). Diagnostics for redesigning questionnaires. Public Opinion Quarterly, 59(4), 547-567.
Oksenberg, L., Cannell, C. F., & Kalton, G. (1991). New strategies for pretesting surveyquestions. Journal of Official Statistics, 7(3), 349-365.
Tourangea, P., L., Rips, J., & Pasinski, P. (2000). The psychology of survey response. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wright, D. B. (1997). Understanding Statistics: An Introduction for the Social Sciences. London: SAGE Publications
