of heuristic strategies to enable the nurse researcher to
achieve this (Deary et al. 1993, Kline 1993, Agius et al.
1996).
While there has been an increase in the use of question-
naires within the nursing literature, few such measures have
been developed using the full set of strategies used by Rattray
et al. (2004) and Jones and Johnston (1999), summarized
here. In developing the evidence base of nursing practice
using this method of data collection, it is vital that the nurse
researcher incorporates methods to establish the reliability
and validity, particularly of new questionnaires. Failure to
develop a questionnaire sufficiently may lead to difficulty
interpreting results. For example, failure to demonstrate an
expected correlation of a new measure with an established
scale may arise because of limited variation in scores on a
developing questionnaire and the subsequent suppression of
correlations between scores on the two questionnaires.
Alternatively, there may really be no reliable relationship
between such variables. If a measure is poorly designed and
has had insufficient psychometric evaluation, it may be
difficult to judge between such competing explanations. In
addition, it may not be possible to use the findings from an
established measure, if that measure cannot be shown to be
reliable in a particular sample.
If clinical or educational practice is to be enhanced or
changed using findings derived from questionnaire-based
methods, it is vital that the questionnaire has been sufficiently
developed. This paper presents a critical evaluation of the
questionnaire design and development process and demon-
strates good practice at each stage of this process. This paper
will enable the informed nurse researcher to plan the design
and development of their own questionnaire, to evaluate the
quality of existing nursing measures, and to inspire confid-
ence in applying findings into practice.
Contributions
Study design: JR, MCJ; data analysis: JR, MCJ and manu-
script preparation: JR, MCJ.
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