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Effect of Questionnaire Design Training on Questionnaire Development Skills among Public Health Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Questionnaires are important tools for collecting reliable information in public health research, community assessments, programme evaluations, and health surveys. Public health students require adequate knowledge and practical skills in questionnaire design to develop instruments that are clear, relevant, unbiased, logically structured, and capable of generating valid and reliable data. However, limited practical training, inadequate understanding of question construction, poor knowledge of measurement principles, and insufficient experience with questionnaire testing may affect students' ability to develop effective research instruments. Questionnaire design training provides an opportunity to strengthen students' competencies in identifying research variables, developing appropriate questions, selecting suitable response options, organizing questionnaire sections, and evaluating the quality of research instruments. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of questionnaire design training on questionnaire development skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on Experiential Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Classical Test Theory. Experiential Learning Theory emphasizes learning through practical experience, reflection, observation, and application, making it relevant to hands-on questionnaire development exercises. Social Cognitive Theory explains how modelling, observational learning, self-efficacy, feedback, and reinforcement may influence students' ability to develop effective questionnaires. Classical Test Theory provides a framework for understanding measurement reliability and the relationship between observed scores, true scores, and measurement error, which is relevant to evaluating the quality of questionnaires used in public health research. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how questionnaire design training may influence questionnaire development skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate and postgraduate public health students enrolled in selected universities and other accredited tertiary institutions offering public health programmes in Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, institutions, public health departments, academic levels, and eligible students. Questionnaire design training will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to structured questionnaire-design sessions, frequency and duration of training, identification of research objectives, translation of research objectives into measurable variables, question wording, selection of appropriate question types, response-option design, sequencing and organization of questions, avoidance of leading and ambiguous questions, use of appropriate language, handling of sensitive questions, questionnaire formatting, skip patterns, coding procedures, pilot testing, validity assessment, reliability assessment, and revision of research instruments. Questionnaire development skills will be assessed using indicators such as ability to identify relevant variables, develop clear and concise questions, select appropriate response options, organize questionnaire sections logically, avoid bias and double-barrelled questions, construct appropriate scales, develop skip patterns, prepare coding frameworks, conduct pilot testing, identify potential measurement errors, revise questionnaires based on feedback, and produce a complete questionnaire suitable for public health research. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, questionnaire-design knowledge tests, practical questionnaire-development tasks, standardized assessment checklists, case scenarios, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, previous research experience, exposure to questionnaire-design training, and baseline questionnaire-development skills. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of questionnaire design training on questionnaire development skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, questionnaire-development scores before and after the training may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that questionnaire design training has a significant positive effect on questionnaire development skills among public health students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured and practical questionnaire-design training are expected to demonstrate greater competence in developing clear, relevant, unbiased, and appropriately structured research instruments than students without comparable training. Training may improve students' ability to translate research objectives into measurable variables, construct appropriate questions and response options, organize questionnaire sections, avoid common wording errors, develop measurement scales, prepare coding frameworks, and conduct pilot testing. Practical exercises involving the development and critique of questionnaires may further strengthen students' ability to identify weaknesses and revise research instruments before data collection. However, limited access to statistical and research software, inadequate supervision, large class sizes, limited practical time, and insufficient exposure to real-world survey projects may reduce the effectiveness of training alone. The study therefore expects practical, competency-based, participatory, and adequately supervised questionnaire design training to contribute significantly to improved questionnaire development skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on public health education, research methodology, questionnaire design, survey research, measurement, data collection, research validity, research reliability, and public health research competencies in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, universities, schools of public health, public health departments, research institutions, professional and accreditation bodies, development partners, public health practitioners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening research competencies among future public health professionals. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating practical questionnaire-design training into public health curricula, expanding hands-on research-instrument development exercises, strengthening pilot-testing activities, improving supervision of student research projects, and developing competency-based research-methodology programmes that prepare public health students to design high-quality questionnaires for health research and community assessments across Nigeria.

Keywords: Questionnaire design training, questionnaire development skills, public health students, survey research, research methodology, research instrument, data collection, measurement, public health education, Nigeria.