A Model for Cross‐National Questionnaire Design and Pretesting

Questionnaire design and pretesting are critically important parts of the survey life cycle, helping to create an instrument that captures valid and reliable answers while allowing the investigators to tailor the instrument to answer theoretical research questions. Designing such an instrument for a cross‐national survey has challenges in addition to those of a single nation, having to cover multiple languages and cultures. In this chapter, we consider this additional challenge in more detail, looking at how a large, cross national survey – the European Social Survey (ESS) – develops its questionnaire in order to provide high‐quality and comparable measures. This design and pretesting model is evaluated for its “fitness for purpose” using the Logical Framework Approach. Critical examples are used to highlight strengths and weaknesses. The authors conclude that the approach is fit for purpose for the ESS and may also serve as a point of reference for other similar surveys.