Assessment and Reflection on Survey Design

Survey Design and Reflection

One of the major health-related problems considered the root causes for all chief diseases in the later stages of life is reduced physical activity and improper diet. The problem needs to be addressed even in developing countries to reduce healthcare costs and the economic impacts (Dubasi et al., 2019). This paper aims to design a survey (see Appendix) that would help gain information from the individuals impacted by the health-related issue. Also, the reasons for formulating the questionnaire would be provided based on the relevant literature and the rationale for choosing the questions according to best practices.

Use of Best Practices in Design and Analysis in Construction of Survey Questions

The primary best practice for formulating any survey advises keeping the survey simple. This strategy was used explicitly in the survey of this paper as no fancy words were used to make it easy to understand for the respondent. Also, acronyms and jargon were avoided so that easy interpretation of the language supports unerring comprehension of the survey responses.

The best practice relevant to the fact that each question should pertain to the best relevant data required for the research should be obtained (Vannette, 2014). The questions are devised keeping this practice in mind so that the relevant information is acquired, which should be connected to the health-related issue and how adherence to physical activity and diet impacts the individuals’ health. The more the survey results show that diet is healthy and physical activity is high, the more the health patterns would be positive. The health patterns would also be recorded by taking weight, height, and illness-related information from the respondents.

Another best practice for the formulation of the survey taken into account in this survey was devising mutually exclusive multiple-choice queries (My Market Research Methods, 2020). The scales for answering in a multiple-choice approach were mutually exhaustive so that the responses should not appear overlapping. For example, it is also for ease that people in question1, for example, should select only ‘less than 5’ and not more than that, and ‘exactly 5’ and not lower or higher than that.

Best practices for planning a questionnaire also suggest that subjective language should be avoided. The survey in this paper involves questions that begin with ‘Do you often’ rather than ‘Why do you often,’ for instance. Objective measures like ‘once a month’ and ‘rarely’ have been used repetitively to give the respondents open options to answer the questions with comfort.

The respondent would not like to be coerced into answering the survey questions. Therefore, keeping this notion in mind, best practices propose that neutral choices should also be given to the participants. The survey presented in this paper also has addressed this practice and has included the ‘not sure’ option in most of the questions. The respondent would select appropriate choices as they would feel comfortable answering from the given choices.

Double-barreled questions are strictly avoided in the survey to evade the confusion possibly created for the respondents. The questions have been designed first to ask about the diet choices and then distinctly about the physical activity. If the questions were to be asked for both, such as ‘Do you have an intake of sugar and exercise daily?’ it would have created a misunderstanding for the respondent to reply accurately.

Why the Questions Were Chosen and the Help Research Gave for their Formulation

Questions 1-7 were chosen for this survey since the patterns for unhealthy diets were to be explored for the respondents. The research about the health-related issue suggested that physical activity and nutrition helps in improving body structure, locomotor health, and physical along with the intellectual performance of humans (Koehler & Drenowatz, 2019). It became necessary to investigate the diet patterns so that the later stages of the survey scrutinize their health status based on the diet-related findings from the survey.

Question 8-12 were chosen to interrogate their intake of healthy food items and abstinence from junk and outside food. Research has shown that low intake of fruits and vegetables and high intake of junk food in adolescents have a greater rate of sedentary behaviors (SB), high obesity and body mass index (BMI), and greater risk of developing later life diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol, etc. (Borraccino et al., 2016). The adherence levels are also reported to be strongly related to social circle and the eating habits of peers. Though questions about peers and social circle are not added, questions about the frequency of eating out are included in the survey. It is assumed that it would have referred to another domain if the influence of social circle upon the eating habits of adolescents was to be probed in the survey of this paper that would lead to the deductions about the socio-economic status of teenagers as well. The survey’s focus was only to examine the adherence to a healthy and balanced diet and physical activity levels among the respondents.

Questions 13-15 are created for checking the engagement levels in physical activity. Several studies have been conducted to see the effect of low physical activity and the development of chronic diseases in adult years, for which morbidity and mortality are greatly impacted (Kumar, Robinson & Till, 2015). The alarming rates in the surge of obesity during adolescent years that have been patently discussed in research helped prepare these questions of the survey.

Selection of Method for Conducting Survey and Why

It is proposed that the survey should be conducted among the adolescent population with a simple random sampling, such as in a chosen college or university. The rationale for selecting this strategy is that the physical and mental development of the adolescents would affect their later life years, overtly visible in their bone, muscular, and fat maturation and growth, directly impacting their morbidity and mortality (Meredith & Dwyer, 1991).

Choosing simple random sampling for surveying over the other methods is the equal chances of representation of the chosen sample that would be an accurate rendition of the population (Depersio, 2018). It is also easy to carry out since there is no additional requirement to arrange or divide data onto certain strata, which are needed in other sampling methods. Large populations could be easily studied with this sampling method as the only condition for this method is the equal chance of being selected. Therefore, the chances of bias are fairly low, making the study authentic, reliable, credible, and valid.

Conclusion

The proposed survey is about health-related issues, which are adherence to a nutritional diet and physical activity. The target population for this survey is assumed to be adolescents. Selecting this particular health issue is considered a chief major cause for lifestyle diseases in later years of life, such as hypertension, obesity, sugar, cholesterol, etc. Furthermore, selecting the target population to be adolescents is that research has suggested that the diet and physical activity patterns during these years reflect the body composition, musculoskeletal performance, and cognitive development in adulthood. The questions are formulated by keeping best practices to gather accurate responses from the respondents for reliable and valid results.

References

Borraccino, A., Lemma, P., Berchialla, P., Cappello, N., Inchley, J., Dalmasso, P., Charrier, L., Cavallo, F. & Italian HBSC 2010 Group. (2016). Unhealthy food consumption in adolescence: Role of sedentary behaviors and modifiers in 11-, 13- and 15-year-old Italians. European Journal of Public Health, 26(4), 650-656. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckw056

Depersio, G. (2018, February 13). Using simple random sample to study larger populations. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042915/what-are-advantages-using-simple-random-sample-study-larger-population.asp

Dubasi, S.K., Ranjan, P., Arora, C., Vikram, N.K., Dwivedi, S.N., Singh, N., Kaloiya, G.S. & Shalimar. (2019). Questionnaire to assess adherence to diet and exercise advices for weight management in lifestyle-related diseases. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(2), 689-694. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_338_18

Koehler, K. & Drenowatz, C. (2019). Integrated role of nutrition and physical activity for lifelong health. Nutrients, 11(7), 1437. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11071437

Kumar, B., Robinson, R. & Till, S. (2015). Physical activity and health in adolescence. Clinical Medicine (London, England), 15(3), 267-272. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.15-3-267

Meredith, C.N. & Dwyer, J.T. (1991). Nutrition and exercise: effects on adolescent health. Annual Review of Public Health, 12, 309-333.