The questions you ask are more important than the answers you get. I think that should be the mantra of every public opinion researcher and consumer of polls.

More important, good researchers must be inquisitive, open-minded, and prepared to understand and appreciate the true nature of the human being who is about to be tasked with completing your questionnaire.

My guest this week on inFocus knows a thing or two about writing survey questionnaires. She wrote a book about it.

Dr. Annie Pettit is a public opinion and market researcher with more than 20 years experience working with some of the leading research agencies in Canada. Dr. Pettit has a PhD in psychology from York University where she specialized in online survey data quality. She currently consults for a range of traditional and technology research suppliers, is a member of the Canadian Research Insights Council Standards Committee, and is chair of the Canadian ISO standards committee.

She’s also the author of the book “People Aren’t Robots: A practical guide to the psychology and technique of questionnaire design” published in 2016.

She joined me this week to talk about asking questions, writing questionnaires, and why this step in the research process is so important.