A review of ENT consultant postal questionnaires

Abstract

In recent years, there appears to have been an increase in the number of postal questionnaires being received by ENT consultants. Questionnaires with unsound methodology waste the time of those who send and receive them, as inferences cannot be made from their results. In this study, a review was performed on a sample of 19 questionnaire studies published in two ENT journals between January 1998 and December 2002. Each study was given a 30-point score, based on the quality of its methodology. The average score assigned to each study was 32 per cent, suggesting that the quality of methodology was generally poor. These results should serve as a warning to those embarking on and those interpreting research of this kind.