Background Questionnaire - I

The background questionnaire provides historical information about the participants that will help you to understand their behavior and performance during a test. It is composed of questions that reveal the participant's experience, attitudes, and preferences in all areas that might affect how they perform.

For example, if you are testing a database management system (DBMS), it will be helpful to know if the participants have used a DBMS before, and, if so, which one(s) and for how long. While you will not know if that experience will affect their performance negatively or positively, you almost certainly know that it will affect their performance differently than a person without DBMS experience.

The background questionnaire is typically filled out just prior to the test. 

Sometimes, particularly if it is lengthy, you might mail it to the participant ahead of time.

The information you include in the background questionnaire is initially culled from the participant profile in your test plan. The background questionnaire is similar to a phone screener, although more detailed. The phone screen need only determine if a potential participant meets the selection requirements and can be classified in a user group. The background questionnaire, however, goes further by exploring previous training and experience. This more specific information can help explain a participant's behavior during the test. Perhaps the participant is choosing buttons or menu selections based on expectations formed from using a competitive product that no other participant used.

In addition to the previously stated reasons for acquiring the correct crosssection of participants and providing insight about each person's performance from a historical perspective, there are two more purposes for the background questionnaire. Both come into play on the day of the test, just prior to its

beginning.