Declaration design principle #3: Ask the right questions in the right way

(from previous posts)
Once the general focus of the survey or declaration statement is determined, it is
important to make sure that the correct questions are ask of the respondent. The
questions that are asked in the survey should be very focused in nature. The
questions should not be leading, but whenever possible they should be closed end in
nature.

Closed end questions, because they yield a choice based response, allow
the results of the declaration statement to be analyzed in a more quantitative manner.
Furthermore, important issues concerning the wage and hour case should be probed
in a couple of different ways to ensure that all angles of the issue are covered
appropriately. Differently worded questions can yield different responses by potential
class member. When appropriate, the declaration statement document should
include follow-up or check questions that help check the validity of the initial
response.

In the unpaid meal break cases study example above it was important to determine if
the fact that they person did not clock out for a meal break meant that the person did
not actually take a meal break. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of the
pharmacists took uninterrupted meal breaks but simply did not clock out for the
meals.