Constructing questionnaires based on the theory of planned behaviour: A manual for health services researchers

Abstract

This manual is a response to a request from health services researchers wishing to predict and understand behaviour, in particular, researchers throughout the European Union involved in the ReBEQI project (Research-Based Education and Quality Improvement).It is based on a psychological model of behaviour change, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1988), which evolved from the Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein, 1967) and is designed to assist psychologists and nonpsychologists involved in health services research to produce an effective questionnaire to measure the TPB constructs.Advice from the TPB literature (e.g.Ajzen, 1988;Conner & Sparks, 1995;Godin & Kok, 1996) has been integrated, resulting in a guide to writing questionnaires that is based on current practice among TPB researchers.Questionnaires based on the TPB can be used to investigate the attitudes and beliefs underlying health-related behaviour.In implementation (or knowledge transfer) research with health care professionals, these questionnaires have been used to investigate the uptake of evidence-based practice.The Theory of Planned Behaviour is the explicit theoretical basis for 222 studies published in the Medline database, and 610 studies published in the PsycINFO database, from 1985 to January 2004.Apparently, hundreds of researchers have used this theory and have gone about the fascinating but time consuming task of reading the source materials and considering current debates about measurement strategies, before constructing a questionnaire to investigate their topic of interest.This manual is a tool that may help researchers to fast-track through this process.For those who have the time to investigate the background issues, we have included a full discussion of our operational decisions in Appendix C.This manual has been subjected to a wide range of reviewing and trialling procedures.We are grateful to many colleagues who reviewed earlier drafts, to workshop participants who used the manual as an 'instant' guide to writing questions and to our bilingual colleagues who provided translations, back-