Performance Improvement • Volume 43 • Number 4 45

We have all taken surveys before; each of us has filled out questionnaires relatedto our personal and professional lives on many occasions. But how many of ushave significant experience actually creating surveys and writing questionnaireitems? I suspect the answer is not many. Even more important is the question ofhow many of us have experience creating good surveys and writing good ques-tionnaire items? The answer to this question is very few.

Writing reliable and valid surveys is often considered a simple task, but this isthe deceptive nature of creating surveys. There are solid guidelines and acceptedpractices for creating questionnaires and the individual items and responsescales that comprise them. Professionals who create surveys without under-standing how to properly do so run the risk of collecting information that is onlymarginally helpful at best, or completely useless at worst. We certainly want toavoid such fruitless activity during the performance improvement process.

Given that human performance technology is grounded firmly in analysis andevaluation, successful use of surveys as a data collection method is a necessity.In addition to document analysis, personal interviews, and direct observation,surveys and questionnaires are basic tools for gathering information—tools thathuman performance technology professionals must have in their toolboxes,honed and ready for action.

So what should you do if you do not know the intricacies of writing items forquestionnaires? One option is reading all the books you can find on surveyresearch and questionnaire development, then practicing and analyzing theeffectiveness of your own work. Another option, if you do not have the timeavailable to research and learn from square one, is reading and using TheQuestion Book Goes Interactive.

Content

The Question Book Goes Interactive is a follow-up book to the authors’ TheQuestion Book. This new version of their work is a departure from the pastbecause this book is accompanied by a CD-ROM that offers flexible tools andready-made surveys that can be used as-is, or customized for users’ unique ques-tionnaire needs.

The Question Book Goes Interactiveby Robert W. Bauer and Sandra S. Bauerreviewed by Erika R. Gilmore

BOOK REVIEW

46 www.ispi.org • APRIL 2004

While the book is nearly 400 pages long, it is a quick read.There are four chapters; Chapter 2 alone accounts for morethan 200 pages because it exhibits extensive survey questiondatabases covering a variety of topics.

Chapter 1: Getting Started—An Overview

Simply and concisely written, Chapter 1 lays the ground-work for why and how survey developers should use TheQuestion Book Goes Interactive. Perhaps the most com-pelling reason is the jump-start it can provide to gatheringinformation from survey participants quickly, with well-structured questions. When a book like this suggests it canhelp us save time and money as we gather data for perfor-mance improvement initiatives, it definitely deserves alook! Some of the survey needs this book and accompany-ing question databases were created for include employeesurveys, customer/client surveys, and supplier surveys.There is also a convenient “readiness” checklist that sup-ports basic performance technology methodology by focus-ing on questions including why and how the survey will beadministered and what evaluative criteria exist for the sur-vey and results. This single page of straightforward ques-tions is, by itself, a good guide for anyone preparing toadminister a survey—regardless of who is actually writingthe survey questions.

Chapter 1 concludes with a table of survey response scalesto help clarify answer possibilities for survey questions. Thechapter serves as an effective road map for the remainder ofthe book.

Chapter 2: Survey Question Databases

Chapter 2 covers nine sections with targeted master lists ofquestions:• Employee (1820 questions)• 360-degree feedback (167 questions)• Health care (138 questions)• Professional service firm (85 questions)• Customer (152 questions)• Supplier (61 questions)• Comparison (better/worse) (30 questions)• Written comments (63 questions)• Demographics (30 questions)

Each question in the first five master lists is presented intwo formats—question format and statement format—toallow for different response categories. Question formatsquery the extent to which a response exists, while the state-ment format asks about agreement or disagreement with thestatement. For example, a question format item asks, “Towhat extent does your department measure results againstestablished plans?” [To a great extent/To a little extent.] Thestatement format states, “Your department measures resultsagainst established plans” [Agree/Disagree].

The questions that make up the 200-plus page Chapter 2 areduplicated on the CD-ROM for easy preparation of surveys,editing, and mixing and matching of questions. The CD-ROM comes with its own instruction manual.

Chapter 3: Survey Questionnaire Library

After presenting a nearly overwhelming list of more than2000 questions in Chapter 2, the authors offer 22 short sur-veys in Chapter 3. These example surveys are developed totarget specific topics including safety practices, meetingpractices, innovation and creativity, employee opinion, cus-tomer service, and organizational climate. There are quite afew other topics represented in the 22 short surveys. Thelongest of these surveys has 31 questions, and all of themare available on the CD-ROM, fully modifiable like the mas-ter question lists.

Chapter 4: Survey Support Materials

Some mechanical, administrative, and political aspects ofsurvey administration are addressed in Chapter 4. By thetime you see all of the questions and precision required towrite good surveys in Chapters 2 and 3, you will appreciatethe list of references provided in the fourth chapter. Thoughthere are many great survey development resources offered,the list is by no means comprehensive. In fact, while theconceptual foundations of questionnaire item developmentare very well-represented and exemplified in the book (forexample, Survey Design Guidelines is an outstanding one-page job aid!), one minor weakness is the works cited list—it is sound, but surprisingly less thorough and inclusivethan I expected.

Other supporting materials provided include sample coverletters to accompany surveys, coding examples, tally sheetsfor scoring, and optically scannable answer sheets. All inall, the list includes very important documents to round outthe effective administration of any survey.

Conclusion

The Question Book Goes Interactive is a how-to book, per-haps more aptly described as a detailed job aid. As long asthe basic rationale and planning for a questionnaire aresound and made explicit by the user, the actual tedious partof question item development is avoided when this book isused. The questions are grouped in useful categories, andthey are truly well written and paired with simple responseoptions. For example, how many of us have had to admin-ister an employee morale or job satisfaction survey duringour careers? I know this book and CD would have made myturn at that specific task much easier than it was for me todo on my own!

There is a wealth of information in this book and it is very userfriendly in terms of organization and writing style. Havingnoted the many positive attributes of the book and the potentialinvaluable contribution it can make if you are responsible forcreating surveys, I must now reveal the one seemingly signifi-cant drawback to the book. Normally books reviewed inPerformance Improvement cost less than $100. Unfortunately,this book costs more than $450. While this cost might seemhigh at first glance, when justified compared to time and laborexpenditures required to develop equivalent questionnaireitems and complete surveys, the cost is minimal.

Anyone responsible for analysis, evaluation, and overallperformance improvement activity can use this book andwill likely come to rely heavily on it. Much research andexperience has gone into the creation of the book, and it canhelp combat poor questionnaire development and data-col-lection practices that occur every day in our field. Thus, Irecommend that we all take advantage of the effort andexpertise poured into this work by Bauer and Bauer andtheir predecessors, colleagues, and mentors, and improveour own research and practice as performance improvementprofessionals as a result.

Author BiosRobert W. Bauer is a Cofounder and President of Bauer & Associates, Inc. Hewas also a cofounder and Senior Vice President of Aon Consulting’s Loyalty

Institute, from which he retired in 1998. He served as President of RensisLikert Associates, joining RLA in 1973. His early career was with Deloitte,Haskins, & Sells (now Deloitte & Touche). Mr. Bauer received his BA fromDartmouth College and MBA from the Amos Tuck School of BusinessAdministration at Dartmouth.

Sandra S. Bauer is a founding member and Chair of the Board of Bauer &Associates, Inc. Her professional career includes consulting assistance tomore than 100 organizations, both in the United States and overseas. Ms.Bauer was a Senior Associate of Rensis Likert Associates, Inc. from 1973 to1978, prior to co-founding Bauer & Associates, Inc. She received a BA inPsychology and a master’s degree in Clinical/Community Psychology fromCleveland State University.

Review BioErika R. Gilmore, CPT, is a doctoral candidate at Indiana University, majoring inInstructional Systems Technology and minoring in Organizational Behavior. Herinterests include human performance technology theory, evaluation, and orga-nizational theory. Erika is an active ISPI member, publishing in PerformanceImprovement journal, presenting at the annual ISPI conference, and serving asa Track Cochair for the 2004 ISPI conference and Book Review Editor for PI.

Publisher InformationISBN 0-087425-655-0HRD PressPhone: 800.822.2801www.hrdpress.com

Performance Improvement • Volume 43 • Number 4 47

Visit theISPI OnlineBookstoreToday!

HPT RevisitedReviewed and selected by Roger Chevalier, PhD, CPT

Human Performance Technology (HPT) Revisited is a collectionof more than 50 articles focusing on the field of performanceimprovement from the International Society for PerformanceImprovement’s Performance Improvement journal fromFebruary 1998 to August 2003. HPT Revisited is an attempt tofill the gap until the next definitive book on the subject is writ-ten. The collection contains articles from some of the bestpractitioners, researchers, and scholars reporting on the currentstate of the performance technology and its application.

Important New Performance Improvement Book Available

www.ispi.org • Click the Bookstore link found at the top of any ISPI web page.