The importance of pretesting questionnaires: a field research example of cognitive pretesting the Exercise referral Quality of Life Scale (ER-QLS)

Abstract

The development of questionnaires, surveys and psychometric scales is an iterative research process that includes a number of carefully planned stages. Pretesting is a method of checking that questions work as intended and are understood by those individuals who are likely to respond to them. However, detailed reports of appropriate methods to undertake pretesting are currently underrepresented within the literature. This study presents a detailed protocol of a cognitive interview pretesting approach that informed the development of the Exercise Referral Quality of Life Scale – a measure of life-quality designed specifically for structured clinical exercise settings. This documented approach to pretesting proved a vital stage in the scale development process, without which the item problems detected would have carried forward into the statistical analyses. The current protocol intends to contribute to reducing the current shortfall in pretesting guidance for practitioners and researchers.

Keywords:

• cognitive Interviewing
• pretesting
• questionnaire design
• questionnaire development
• item generation
• quality of life

Acknowledgements

The researcher wishes to acknowledge Dr Antoinette Minniti and Dr Richard Trigg for their roles in peer debriefing throughout the development of the ER-QLS.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.