Step 3: Justify the use of a questionnaire in the evaluation. Details:

(I) = instrument example

To use a questionnaire, you must determine whether the following conditions can be met:

Criterion A. The members of the population must be able to give you useful information on the issues. In order to determine this, you must be able to say "yes" to one or more of these questions about the population:

1. Do they have opinions (I) on the issues that interest you?
2. Are they qualified to give you facts (I) or informed judgments (I) on the issues?
3. Are they the best or sole source of background information (I) about them (i.e., background information that is either not available or not as desirable to obtain from alternative sources, such as test scores or other records?)

Criterion B. You must have a clear idea of what variables you want to gather data about, and you need to be reasonably sure you will get those data by posing standardized questions.

Criterion C. You must believe that the respondents can be relied on to give you the information you need, perhaps with incentives.

This means that they must be:

• Proficient enough in the language to comprehend the questions and respond properly.
• Truthful.
• Motivated enough to complete the questionnaire and respond carefully.