Towards a comprehensive Questionnaire Origin and Development Appraisal tool: A literature review and a modified nominal group

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Hamzeh, Joshua^a | Kaur, Navdeep^b | Bush, Paula^a | Hudon, Catherine^c | Schuster, Tibor^b | Vedel, Isabelle^b | Hong, Quan Nha^d | Pluye, Pierre^{a; b; *}

Affiliations: [a] Method Development, Quebec SPOR Support Unit, Montréal, QC, Canada | [b] Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada | [c] Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada | [d] EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Pierre Pluye, Method Development, Quebec SPOR Support Unit, 5858 Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges-3rd Floor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada. E-mail: pierre.pluye@mcgill.ca.

Abstract: The questionnaires’ origin (sources from which elements of the questionnaire are derived) and initial development (process of making a questionnaire from elements) should be assessed before their measurement properties. There is no Critical Appraisal Tool (CAT) that comprehensively assesses the origin and initial development of questionnaires therefore, our objective was to develop one. To develop the Questionnaire Origin and Development Appraisal (QODA) tool, we first developed QODA version-one from psychometric tool development guidelines, and pilot tested it, resulting in QODA version-two. Second, we performed a review that identified six CATs that evaluate origin and initial development. A pool of items was derived from these six CATs and QODA version-two. Using a nominal group method, this item pool was reduced and QODA version-three (20 items) was developed. The QODA may be useful to academic librarians who assist researchers and students from various disciplines. Information professionals including research trainees can learn how to use QODA and ensure sound questionnaire origin and initial development. This will improve the accuracy of data collected in research and professional practice (e.g., information service evaluation). Future research will study the QODA’s measurement properties.

Keywords: Critical appraisal tools, questionnaires, questionnaire origin and development

DOI: 10.3233/EFI-180216

Journal: Education for Information, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 7-20, 2019