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Some questionnaires are designed to gather a standard set of information about each of the segments of the organization. The organization may be a household from which information on persons living there is being sought. The organization might be a business which has several satellite offices about which information is being requested. The organization may also be a grouped living situation which is both a business or establishment and also a household of sorts for the people staying there. And, as in the case of households, information for this third type is desired on the individuals staying at the facility. The questionnaire format utilized in obtaining repetitive sets of information has sometimes been a grid design with the questions along one axis and persons' names or organizational unit designations along the other axis. In Sudman and Bradburn's book Asking Questions (1982), the authors point out that, although meeting all interested parties' needs should be the goal of the questionnaire format, the order of importance is respondent first, followed by interviewer and, finally, data processing requirements. Although the grid design (Appendix A as an example) is efficient for survey planners, there is question whether it is the best design for survey respondents. An alternative design (Appendix B as an example) has been suggested. It is a grouped questions design which has the questions clustered together for each reported segment of the organization. The entire question set is repeated on subsequent pages for each additional reported unit. This design has been recommended as a better one for respondents.
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