I don't understand what you're asking me... Interviewees' understanding of questionnaires relating to safe and reliable water and sanitation services

Globally, governments and many agencies use data collected through questionnaire-based research instruments such as a national census or large-scale surveys to measure progress on service delivery goals and targets from the perspective of citizens/consumers. The data generated serves to inform planning and policy decisions. These strategic decision-making processes rely heavily on the quality and integrity of the information emanating from census and survey data. Research has shown that the target audiences of quantitative research in many cases do not understand, mentally process, and respond to questions as the survey designers intended. This gap between survey designers and their target audiences is exacerbated by cultural, socioeconomic and language differences. The result is response errors or inappropriate answering, which could seriously undermine data integrity, and ultimately the validity of the decisions that are based on the data. It is in this context and with this concern in mind, especially in view of the challenges prevailing in South Africa, that a Water Research Commission (WRC) study examined the validity of these processes with the aim of developing a more pragmatic and citizen/consumer-friendly instrument which will generate more reliable information. This working paper discusses the outcomes of that study.