Free, no account needed
Your data is processed in your browser

Thesis questionnaire generator from validated scales

The Survey Kit builds a thesis questionnaire from 73 published, source-checked scales in their original English wording, and sets the minimum sample size with G*Power (f² = 0.15, α = .05, power = .80) and the rule of 5 observations per item (Hair et al., 2010). Choose the constructs in your research model; the kit assembles the items, writes the measures and sample size paragraph for your methods chapter, and exports a Word file, a Google Form and an SPSS codebook.

Choose who will answer and the constructs in your model.
Review the items, fill in placeholders such as [system], set the response scale.
Download the Word file, create a Google Form, copy the methods paragraph.

No concepts selected yetView questionnaire

1. Who will answer (required) Sets the screening question and the set of background (demographic) questions.

2. Choose the constructs in your model Type construct names; separate several with semicolons. Each construct brings its items verbatim from the original, source-checked scale. Upload an image of your research model The image is read on your device and never uploaded. Each construct box in the image gets matching scale suggestions.

3. Selected items The questionnaire follows this order; put dependent variables last. Untick an item to drop it, or click Edit to reword it; edited items are marked “adapted” in the codebook and the methods paragraph.

4. Fill in the placeholders

Choose constructs first; placeholders such as [system] or [brand] will appear here.

Response scale for agreement items Frequency and how-true scales (PSS-10, DASS-21, UWES…) always keep their original labels.

Main analysis

Maximum number of arrows pointing at one construct

Allowance for excluded responses (%) 0 to 50%. Responses that fail the attention check, are incomplete or are screened out.

5. Questionnaire details

Study title

Researcher

Department, university

Researcher contact

Screening question (respondents outside the target group exit the survey) Editable. Replace anything in square brackets. Attention-check item (to filter out careless responses) Show construct names as section headings Untick to hide what each section measures; sections are then headed “Part 1, Part 2…”.

Background questions

Choose who will answer first.

Questionnaire

Create a Google Form with Apps Script

Open script.google.com (new project) with your Google account.
Delete the code that is there and paste the code below.
Click Run (function createSurvey).
Grant permission when Google asks (if you see “Google hasn’t verified this app”, click Advanced, then Go to the project). The form and spreadsheet links appear in the Execution log.
When data collection is over: reopen this project, choose the function exportData next to the Run button and click Run. The spreadsheet gets a “Coded data” sheet: one column per item code, numeric values as in the codebook, screened-out responses removed. Download that sheet as CSV to open in SPSS or SmartPLS.

The script runs in your Google account; data never passes through Research Corner’s servers. Each construct is a section and each row starts with its item code (e.g. “PU1. …”). Responses are saved to a new Google Sheet. Reverse-worded items are not yet reverse-scored and failed attention checks are not yet removed: the execution log reports how many responses failed so you can remove them.

Export to Genius Data (GDF)

Click Copy.
Open Genius Data and create a new survey.
Paste into the GDF import box.

Open Genius Data (referral link, we may earn a commission)

Methods paragraph: measures and sample size

Keep a sentence in square brackets only if you actually did that step (back translation, pilot test, expert review), and fill in the real figures. Check the wording before it goes into your thesis.

Good to know

The library holds … scales. Each one records its source (article, appendix or author’s page) and is checked against the original English wording; see the source and items on each scale’s page in the scale library before you cite it.

Sample size: for PLS-SEM the kit takes the larger of G*Power (multiple regression, f² = 0.15, α = .05, power = .80, predictors = the largest number of arrows pointing at one construct) and the inverse square root method of Kock and Hadaya (2018). For SPSS it takes the larger of G*Power and 5 observations per item (Hair et al., 2010). Responses to collect = minimum sample ÷ (1 − allowance).

Checklist before you send it to your supervisor

Every dependent variable in the model is included and comes last in the measurement section.
Each construct keeps at least 3 items.
Agreement scales share the same number of points and direction (1 = disagree); reverse-worded items are flagged in the codebook.
The screening question matches the target population in your proposal, with no square-bracket placeholders left.
You have piloted it with a few people from the target group and fixed unclear items; the methods chapter reports only steps you actually took.

Once the data are in, check reliability with the Cronbach’s alpha calculator.

Was this tool useful? Feedback / report a bug (by email; please do not paste real data).

What the Survey Kit does

A quantitative thesis needs a questionnaire whose items come from published, validated scales, cited correctly and laid out so that the data can go straight into SPSS or SmartPLS. The Survey Kit does that assembly for you. You choose the constructs in your research model; the kit pulls each construct's items verbatim from the original scale, groups them by response format, adds a screening question, an attention check and background questions, and works out the minimum sample size for your planned analysis. It also drafts the "Measures and sample size" paragraph for your methods chapter and a codebook with the source, response scale and reverse-scoring rule of every item.

How to use it

Who will answer: consumers, employees or students. This sets the screening question and the ready-made background questions.
Choose the constructs: search by name (attitude, trust, service quality…) or upload an image of your research model, then tick the matching scale. Mark dependent variables so they go last in the measurement section.
Review the items: drop items that do not fit your context, reword where needed and reorder constructs. Edited items are recorded as "adapted" in the codebook.
Fill in the placeholders: replace bracketed text such as [system] or [perform the behavior] with the object and behaviour of your study.
Set the response scale and analysis: 5-point or 7-point Likert, or the original number of points; PLS-SEM or EFA and regression; the largest number of arrows pointing at one construct; the allowance for excluded responses.
Export: fill in the study title and your details, then download the Word file, create a Google Form or download the codebook.

Worked example: a Theory of Planned Behaviour questionnaire

The TPB model (Ajzen, 1991) has three constructs pointing at intention: attitude (4 items), subjective norm (5 items) and perceived behavioural control (4 items), plus intention itself (3 items). Select these four constructs from the TPB scale, choose "EFA and regression (SPSS)", enter 3 arrows and a 15% allowance. The kit returns:

Questionnaire: 16 items for the four constructs, plus the screening question and the background questions you keep.
Minimum sample size: 80, the larger of G*Power (77 for 3 predictors, f² = 0.15, α = .05, power = .80) and 5 observations per item (5 × 16 = 80).
Responses to collect: 80 ÷ (1 − 0.15) ≈ 95.

A note from the scale itself: some TPB items put the negative pole on the right ("good … bad"), so they must be reverse-scored before you compute construct scores. The kit flags them in the codebook with the recoding rule (for a 5-point format, 6 − score).

How to read the output

Questions and time: if the estimated time goes beyond about 15 minutes, consider cutting items that serve no hypothesis; long questionnaires are abandoned or answered carelessly.
Minimum sample size is the number of valid responses you need after cleaning; responses to collect adds the allowance for exclusions.
Check before you send: unfilled placeholders, constructs with fewer than 3 items, scales with different ranges, or no dependent variable marked. Fix these before you distribute the survey.

How to report it (APA 7)

Click "Copy paragraph" to get a methods paragraph that names the source of every scale, its response format, any adaptation, the reverse-scored items and the sample size calculation, with an APA reference list. For example: "Perceived Usefulness (PU) was measured with 6 items adopted from Davis (1989), using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree … 5 = Strongly agree)." The bracketed sentences (translation, pilot test, common method bias remedies) are templates: keep them only for steps you actually carried out, and fill in the real details.

Frequently asked questions

Are the items the original English wording?

Yes. The English edition prints each item as worded in the source the library cites, with placeholders such as [system] for you to fill in. Each scale page in the scale library shows the source and the reference to cite.

Should I use a 5-point or a 7-point Likert scale?

Either is defensible; what matters is consistency across agreement items and reporting the change if the original used a different number of points. The kit lets you choose 5 points, 7 points or the original format, and records any change in the codebook and the methods paragraph. Frequency and how-true scales (PSS-10, DASS-21, UWES) always keep their own labels.

How is the minimum sample size calculated?

For PLS-SEM, the kit takes the larger of a G*Power regression power analysis and the inverse square root method of Kock and Hadaya (2018) with a minimum path coefficient of .20. For SPSS, it takes the larger of G*Power and 5 observations per item (Hair et al., 2010). If you compare groups, each group needs the minimum. The sample size calculator shows each formula in detail.

What do I do after the questionnaire is ready?

Pilot it with a few people from your target group, then collect responses. Clean the Google Form export with the survey data cleaning tool and check reliability with the Cronbach's alpha calculator.

The scale I need is not in the library. What now?

Use the "Suggest one" link under the search results; the library grows regularly. Meanwhile, add the items to the downloaded Word file yourself and count them in the total number of items when you work out the sample size.

One of the free research tools of Research Corner.

Short of respondents from your target group? Try the free channels first (class and alumni groups, r/SampleSize, SurveyCircle); if you still fall short, Genius Data recruits screened respondents for academic surveys (referral link: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you).

Send to your study group