Completing Questionnaires

Questionnaires are an important component of participant interviews. An interview can include several questionnaires. In Onyx, each questionnaire is considered a stage of the participant interview, so the general procedures for controlling an interview stage (see this figure) apply to questionnaire stages.

Questionnaires are highly customizable. Each study creates its own questionnaires from scratch and writes the directions to staff members that appear in the questionnaire.

Since your study has defined its own questionnaire stages, this guide cannot give you advice about how to answer particular questions in your study's questionnaire(s). Instead, this chapter covers the types of questions you will see in your questionnaires and gives you pointers about working on questionnaires in Onyx. Example questions are taken from an example Onyx web application. In particular, this chapter covers these topics:

• Key concepts related to questionnaires
• Pointers for completing assisted questionnaires with participants
• Example questions from assisted questionnaires
• Example questions from self-administered questionnaires

Key Concepts

Touchscreen vs. Regular Screen

Onyx can display questionnaires on two different types of screen:

• Touchscreen. A touchscreen is a screen that allows you to select buttons by touching them on the screen with your finger. Your finger takes the place of the mouse on a regular screen. See this figure. Usually, a keyboard is not used with a touchscreen. If an Onyx questionnaire is configured for display on a touchscreen:
  • The buttons are larger (so they're easier to point at with a finger).
  • The questions are often multiple-choice (so you don't need a keyboard to enter an answer).
  • If you have to enter a number, a number pad is displayed on the touchscreen.
    Touchscreen display mode is especially suitable for self-administered questionnaires. The recommended resolution to use for a touchscreen is 1024 x 768.
• Regular Screen. By a regular screen, we mean the kind of screen used with most desktop computers and the screens of laptop computers. You select onscreen objects with a mouse (or a touchpad on a laptop). If an Onyx questionnaire is configured for display on a regular screen, the buttons are usually smaller than in touchscreen mode, and number pads are not displayed since a keyboard is available.
  Regular display mode is used for assisted questionnaires for assisted questionnaires.

Self-administered Questionnaires

A self-administered questionnaire is a questionnaire that the participant answers on their own, rather than being interviewed by a member of the study team. The questionnaire is usually displayed on a touchscreen. The participant answers the question by touching the appropriate answer on the touchscreen.

Assisted Questionnaires

An assisted questionnaire is that an interviewer assists the participant with. The interviewer sits with the participant, asks the questions that appear on the workstation screen, and enters the participant's answers in Onyx. The questionnaire is usually displayed on a regular workstation with a keyboard available. See Example Questions from Assisted Questionnaires.

Contraindication Questionnaires

Questionnaires can be used to establish whether a physical measurement or biospecimen stage is contraindicated. Contraindication questionnaires would typically be one of the earlier stages in the interview and, of course, have to be done before the stages that may subsequently be contraindicated. Contraindication questionnaires are just like any other questionnaire stage. You control them in the same way and answer the questions in the same way.

Answer Validation

Studies can validate the answers you enter in text fields. For example, if you have to enter a number such as the participant's age, Onyx may validate if it is in a certain range. If an answer you enter does not pass validation, you will see an error message that will usually give you some indication of how to correct the error.

Pointers for Completing Assisted Questionnaires

This section gives some general pointers for completing assisted questionnaires with participants— the type that you read to the participant and enter their answers for them. Before reading these pointers, you should experiment with the assisted questionnaires that are part of your study. You can also look at the Example Questions from Assisted Questionnaires section of this chapter.

• Here are some keyboard shortcuts that you can use in any page of Onyx—including questionnaires:
  • To increase the font size of text: Press Ctrl and + keys.
  • To decrease the font size of text: Press the Ctrl and - keys.
  • To jump forward between fields and/or buttons: Press the Tab key.
  • To jump backward between fields and/or buttons: Press the Shift and Tab keys.
• Always read the question clearly to the participant and let them know if they will be able to select just one answer or several answers.
  • If the answers are preceded by round buttons , the participant can only choose one answer. See this figure:
  • If the answers are preceded by square checkboxes , the participant can choose several answers. See this figure.
  • If the answer includes a drop-down list , you click and hold on the arrow to read the list of options, and then release on the participant's answer.
  • If the answer includes a text box , the participant may or may not have to supply an answer—depending on how your study defined it. For example, they might need to tell you about a condition they have that was not among the options they could choose from. One or more alternative answers are usually provided, in case the participant cannot or does not want to provide the particular bit of information that you would usually enter in the text box.
• You can use the Next and Previous buttons to go to the next page of a questionnaire or to return to the previous page of a questionnaire. See this figure.
• You can also use hot keys to go forward and back through the pages of the questionnaire. See Hot Keys.
• With practice, you will learn how quickly you can proceed through a questionnaire. While learning, do not click the Next button too quickly, because some pages show only one question initially, and show additional question(s) after you answer the first question. See this figure. If you click Next too quickly, you will see an error message.
• Some questions that take the same type of answers are grouped together in a table (for example, medical history questions—see this figure). Be careful to select the correct answer for each question in the table.
• Always read on-screen directions carefully and follow them.
• If you need to pause or cancel the questionnaire, click the Administration button.

Example Questions from Assisted Questionnaires

This section gives examples of the various types of questions and answers that you will see in your study's assisted questionnaire stages. They are not actual questions taken from your study's questionnaires.

Exclusive Choice Questions

If a question proposes several answers, but only allows the participant to choose one answer, it will look like the question in this figure. You click on the round button (called a radio button) beside the answer that the participant chooses.

Multiple Selection Questions

If a question proposes several answers, and allows the participant to choose more than one answer, it will look like the question in this figure. You click in the checkbox beside each answer that the participant chooses.

Open Answer Questions

Some questions provide a text field where you can enter the participant's reply. Such a question might look like the question in this figure. The question may also provide some default answers if the participant does not provide an answer that you can enter in the text field. You enter the answer that the participant says in the text field or select one of the other answers. If you enter some text in a text field, the round button beside that answer will automatically be selected.

If you must enter a date in a field, it may have a calendar beside it. You can click on the calendar and choose a date. The date you chose will be inserted in the field, and you can modify it, if necessary.

Multiple Questions on a Page

Some pages in a questionnaire contain several questions. Sometimes the page shows all the questions at once, as shown in this figure.

Sometimes, a page only shows one question initially, and after you enter the answer to the first question, another question is displayed as shown in this figure. For this type of page, if you select the Next button quickly, you may see an error message that tells you to reply to a question that was not displayed intially. Be sure to answer all questions on a page before selecting the Next button.

Questions with Shared Category Answers

Some questions can be grouped together into a table because the answers to all of them can be selected from the same set of options. this figure shows a page with a set of questions with shared category answers. Take your time in order to select the correct answer for each question in the table.

Example Questions from Self-Administered Questionnaires

This section gives examples of the types of questions that the participant will see in a self-administered questionnaire. They are not actual questions that you will see in a self-administered questionnaire in your version of Onyx. They are taken from an example Onyx web application, and serve to show the different types of question and answer formats that are possible.

Exclusive Choice Questions on a Touchscreen

If a question proposes several answers, but only allows the participant to choose one answer, it will look like the question in this figure.

You must tell participants that they simply have to touch the answer that they want to choose.

Visual Choice Questions on a Touchscreen

Some questions in a self-administered questionnaire allow the participant to choose their answer from a number of images. See this figure.

You must tell the participant to touch the image that best represents their answer to the question.

Number Pad Questions on a Touchscreen

Some questions in a self-administered questionnaire require the participant to use an onscreen number pad to enter a numeric value. See this figure.

You can give the participant the following explanation of how to use a number pad:

• To display the number pad, they must touch an onscreen button labelled Press here.
• They touch the keys on the number pad to tap out the number that answers the question.
• If they make a mistake, they can touch the Clear button.
• When the correct answer is displayed in the text box, they touch the OK button.

Questions in a Table on a Touchscreen

Some questions in a self-administered questionnaire may be grouped together into a table because the choice of answers can be used for all the questions. this figure shows a table with a set of questions with shared category answers.

You can give the participant the following explanation of how to complete a table:

• The column headings show the answers that they will choose from for each question in the table.
• Each row contains a question. They slide their finger along the row and press when they arrive at the best answer for the question. A checkmark will be displayed in the box they pressed on.
• If they want to change an answer, they simply press a different box. The check for the previous answer will be removed and a checkmark will be displayed in the box for their new answer.
• If they decide they want to start the table over from scratch, they press the Clear button. Any checkmarks that were in the table are removed.

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