In this paper, we discuss several recommendations relevant to the development of self-administered questionnaires, which are being increasingly utilized in population research. Selected aspects are presented from the experience gathered along six rounds of pretests of the questionnaire from the "Censo Saúde VERJ 99", involving 350 volunteers. We emphasize aspects related to the understanding of questions and instructions, the questionnaire layout, and the use of filter questions and clarifying sentences. In addition, we mention the need to minimize the impact of incomplete reading of questions and response options, and of possib1e sequence effects.
Survey methods; pretests; questionnaires