instrument-designer

Instrument Designer

An indicator names what to measure. An instrument is the tool that produces the data. A rigorous indicator collected through a poorly designed questionnaire yields data that cannot answer the question. This skill prevents that.

When to use

Trigger for any data-collection tool: structured questionnaire or survey, semi-structured key-informant or in-depth interview guide, focus-group discussion guide, observation checklist, or topic guide.

Do not trigger for indicator definition (use indicator-designer) or for analysing collected data (use the data-analysis or qualitative-coding workflows). This skill produces the tool that sits between them.

Required inputs

Ask in one batch. First two are required.

1. Measurement target (required): the indicator set or research questions the instrument must capture. Ideally pulled from an existing results framework or ToC.
2. Mode and population (required): quantitative survey, qualitative interview/FGD, or observation; and who the respondents are (age, context, language).
3. Programme context: country or region, programme type (optional but shapes wording and sensitivity).
4. Languages the instrument will be used in (optional; decisive for translation planning).
5. Sensitive content flags: adolescent respondents, GBV, abortion, LGBTI+ (optional; triggers consent/assent and care-referral requirements).
6. Existing instrument to adapt or align with (optional).

Method

Step 1 — choose the instrument type

Match the tool to the purpose:

• Questionnaire — standardised stimulus for aggregation across respondents.
• Semi-structured interview / FGD guide — flexible scaffold for meaning, experience, and process.
• Observation checklist — practice and conditions observed directly.

Designing a qualitative guide as a group-administered questionnaire, or the reverse, is a quality failure.

Step 2 — map every item to a construct

For each indicator or research question, write the items or questions that operationalise it. Trace every item to a named target. Cut orphans. Produce an explicit item-to-indicator map.

Step 3 — design to standard

Quantitative (Groves et al. 2009; Willis 2005):

• One idea per question; no double-barrelled items; plain language; explicit recall period.
• Balanced response scales; decide explicitly on "don't know" / "prefer not to answer".
• Skip logic (routing) defined; sensitive items after rapport.

Qualitative (Krueger & Casey 2015; Brinkmann & Kvale 2015):

• Distinguish research questions (conceptual) from interview questions (everyday, answerable).
• FGD questioning route: opening, introductory, transition, key (2–5), ending.
• Pre-write probes; funnel from broad to specific; specify group composition logic.

Step 4 — build disaggregation by construction

Add the disaggregation block as instrument items, never as a coding afterthought: age, gender identity (separately, not collapsed with sex assigned at birth), disability via the Washington Group Short Set, geography, and context axes (voluntary ethnicity self-identification for Roma programmes). You cannot disaggregate by an axis you did not ask about.

Step 5 — embed ethics for sensitive content

For adolescent, GBV, abortion, or LGBTI+ content, include a consent script, an assent script plus guardian consent for minors, and a care-referral pathway in place before any data collection. This is a precondition, not an annex.

Step 6 — plan translation and pretesting

• Multi-language: translate, independently back-translate, reconcile, and pretest per language (ITC 2017). Translation is a measurement-equivalence problem.
• Pretest in sequence: cognitive testing first (think-aloud, verbal probing) to find comprehension and sensitivity failures, then a field pilot for logistics and routing.

Step 7 — flag data gaps

⚠️ Data gap: [what cannot be captured] — [why it matters] — [recommended action: adapt a validated item, add collection, or descope]

Output structure

Produce:

1. Instrument type and rationale — one short paragraph.
2. Item-to-indicator map — table linking each item to its target.
3. The instrument — full questionnaire with response formats and skip logic, OR the questioning route with probes, OR the observation schedule.
4. Disaggregation block — the standard demographic items.
5. Consent / assent / care-referral — where the content requires it.
6. Translation and pretesting note — back-translation plan and the cognitive-testing-then-pilot sequence.
7. Data gaps.

Export the instrument as an IPPF-branded Word document via ane_package.reporting.word_export. For a structured questionnaire intended for field deployment, also emit a KOBO/ODK-deployable XLSForm: assemble the items into the survey-definition dict (schema documented in ane_package.reporting.xlsform) and call xlsform.write_xlsform. The file uploads straight to KoboToolbox (New project, then Upload an XLSForm) and bridges to the KOBO ingestion adapter (ane_package.ingest.sources.kobo). The XLSForm is a machine-read deployment file, so it carries no IPPF brand formatting; the Word document is the human-facing instrument. Adapt validated items from DHS-8 Model Questionnaires or UNICEF MICS6 tools rather than writing SRHR items from scratch; cite the source item and note the adaptation.

Citation requirements

Mandatory, current editions:

• Groves et al. (2009) Survey Methodology 2nd ed (canonical)
• Willis (2005) Cognitive Interviewing
• Krueger & Casey (2015) Focus Groups 5th ed
• Brinkmann & Kvale (2015) InterViews 3rd ed
• International Test Commission (2017) ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests 2nd ed
• WHO (2010) WHO/RHR/10.12 for the indicators; Washington Group (2016) WG-SS for disability
• For consent/assent/care pathways: the adolescent SRHR research ethics standard

Do not cite "WHO/UNFPA 2023" (unverified). Use WHO (2010) WHO/RHR/10.12.

Writing rules

Follow CLAUDE.md house style. Question wording is plain and respondent-facing; instructions to the interviewer are marked distinctly from text read to respondents. Default register is Tier 1 working brief unless Ane names publication.

Limitations

This skill designs instruments. It does not define indicators (indicator-designer), draw sampling frames, or analyse data. It does not replace cognitive testing and field piloting with real respondents; it produces a rigorous draft ready for that testing, and it specifies the testing plan.

Edit-preservation protocol

If Ane references an existing instrument by path and asks to improve, iterate, or expand it, the protocol activates. Read the file first, edit scope-bounded via the Edit tool, preserve out-of-scope content byte-identical, and return the EDIT-PRESERVATION DELIVERY summary.

Apply mel_wiki/wiki/concepts/edit-preservation-protocol.md when target file exists.