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Furthermore, questions will be phrased so they are not "loaded," <br />i.e., so they do not suggest that one answer may be socially <br />preferred or more "correct" than some other answers. Also, words <br />that may stimulate strong emotional reaction on the part of <br />respondents will be avoided as will words that may offend, <br />confuse, or alienate respondents. <br />Questionnaire Format: <br />For the surveys of residents and businesses, we recommend <br />using primarily closed questions with a predetermined set of <br />response options. These exhaustive and mutually exclusive <br />response options will ensure that all possible options are included <br />and that no one will be able to legitimately respond with more than <br />one answer to a given question. This structure avoids <br />confusing respondents and prevents problems of interpreting <br />multiple responses. If desired, we will work with the City to <br />develop a limited number of open -ended questions (two or three). <br />Anderson - Niebuhr will draft the questionnaires and submit them to <br />the City for review and critique. Suggestions for additions, <br />deletions, or other changes will be incorporated into the <br />questionnaires. <br />Pretest: For the survey of residents, we will pretest the <br />questionnaire. Pretesting consists of trial administration of a <br />questionnaire on a small sample using the same methods that will <br />be used in the main study. <br />Pretesting a questionnaire with respondents in the defined <br />population allows us to ensure that all questions are <br />understood clearly and can be answered by those selected for <br />the survey. Our pretest procedures are extensive and have been <br />developed through years of experience and as a result of research <br />regarding survey methodology. <br />For this project, we recommend completing a total of 10 pretest <br />interviews with residents and 10 with businesses. <br />Pretest results will be shared with City representatives, and the <br />questionnaire will be revised based on the pretest and discussion <br />of the results. Data collection will begin only after final approval of <br />the questionnaire by the City. <br />Page 16 8 <br />