ABSTRACT
Why test survey questions? This question is well answered by the quote of Sudman and Bradburn. It is true that no expert can write the perfect questionnaire simply sitting in his or her office. Respondents’ experiences and attitudes are too multitudinous in nature. Survey questions created without thorough testing on members of the population for whom the questionnaire is intended will always miss these complexities. This is summarized well by van der Zouwen and Smit (2004, p. 128) who state that an expert review of a questionnaire “differs from field testing as next week’s weather forecast differs from today’s weather report.”
