Validating a writing strategy questionnaire

Validation of data collection instruments is an extremely important step in research; however, it is often only briefly reported in research studies. This paper deals with the validation of a writing strategies questionnaire and presents the various stages in the validation process. The questionnaire was validated using a qualitative and a quantitative method with two groups of participants from the target population, i.e. advanced non-native speakers of English. Using the qualitative and quantitative data, the authors discuss factors which affected the participants’ responses to the questionnaire, dividing them into factors related to the construct of writing strategies, and those related to the research instrument and reliability check method. Potential problems and limitations of research into writing strategies using questionnaires are pointed out. The authors conclude that validation using triangulation of different data sources provides not only information on the validity of the instrument but also valuable insights into the construct itself.