Feedback Assessment Questionnaire (FAQ)

Abstract

The Feedback Assessment Questionnaire (FAQ), developed by Andrea Allen in 2001, is a brief psychological scale designed to measure participants’ immediate reactions to and perceptions of assessment feedback provided by a researcher following a testing session or experiment. The scale focuses on evaluating the perceived usefulness, personal value, and positive emotional impact derived from the informational feedback provided. The FAQ is typically used in experimental settings to gauge the efficacy and ethical consideration of disclosing assessment results to participants, ensuring the research experience contributes positively to the participant’s well-being and self-reflection.

Keywords

Assessment feedback, perceived utility, personal value, experimental participation, psychological scale, participant satisfaction, informational effects.

Authors

Andrea Allen, 2001

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Feedback Assessment Questionnaire (FAQ) is to quantitatively assess the subjective experience of participants immediately following the receipt of psychological or experimental assessment results. It aims to determine if the feedback session provided significant material for reflection, was perceived as personally useful, and contributed to a positive overall experience of participation in the study. The scale serves as a post-experimental measure of participant satisfaction and the perceived impact of the researcher-participant interaction.

Specifically, the instrument helps researchers evaluate the informational effects of assessment feedback, addressing questions related to the ethical responsibility and positive impact researchers have when interacting with subjects post-testing. Items are structured to capture both the cognitive utility (e.g., usefulness of information) and the affective response (e.g., feeling good about oneself or the researcher’s demeanor).

Construct

The FAQ measures the construct of Perceived Value and Utility of Assessment Feedback. This construct encompasses several dimensions, often treated as a single measure of post-assessment satisfaction and impact. These dimensions include:

• Personal Usefulness: The extent to which the participant finds the information received applicable and meaningful to their life or self-understanding.
• Experiential Value: The overall judgment of the testing and feedback process as a positive and valuable experience.
• Affective Impact: The emotional consequence of the feedback, including feelings of self-regard and positive rapport with the researcher (e.g., Item 3 addresses the perception of being “liked” by the researcher, indicating a focus on the relational aspect of the feedback delivery).

Validity

As the FAQ originated within a master’s thesis context, formal, large-scale validation studies may be limited compared to established commercial scales. However, the initial development likely relied on strong face validity, ensuring the items directly addressed the core components of participant reaction to feedback. The items clearly relate to the perceived usefulness and personal impact of the feedback session, which is the intended target construct.

To establish construct validity, the scale was likely correlated with other measures of experimental satisfaction or measures related to the psychological construct being tested in the main study. For instance, a strong positive correlation between high FAQ scores and willingness to participate in future research (as measured by Item 7) would lend support to its validity in measuring positive experimental experience. The underlying study, “Informational effects of assessment feedback” (Allen, 2001), provides the empirical context for its initial validation efforts, which would typically involve correlation analysis with related outcome variables.

Reliability

Reliability estimates, such as internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s Alpha), are crucial for demonstrating that the seven items consistently measure the same underlying construct. Given the brevity of the scale, high reliability is desirable, although reliability tends to decrease with fewer items. While specific coefficient values are not provided in the summary source, research instruments derived from dissertations typically report internal consistency measures based on the study sample (often university students).

Assuming the FAQ measures a single, cohesive dimension of positive feedback perception, researchers would look for an Alpha coefficient generally above 0.70 to confirm that the items are internally consistent and reliable for use in group comparisons within research settings.

Factor Analysis

Due to the limited number of items (seven), the FAQ is typically conceptualized and scored as a unidimensional scale measuring overall positive reaction to feedback. Initial factor analysis, if performed using techniques like Principal Components Analysis, would primarily aim to confirm this single-factor structure, which accounts for the majority of the variance in participant responses.

If the data suggested a multi-factor structure, it might separate the affective/relational components (e.g., rapport with the researcher and self-feeling) from the cognitive utility components (e.g., usefulness of information for personal reflection). However, in most applications stemming from the original work, researchers sum the items to create a single, global score representing the participant’s overall positive assessment of the post-test feedback session.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, designed for post-assessment evaluation.

Format: 7 mandatory items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale response format, plus an additional open-ended section for qualitative comments.

Language Available: English (as presented in the originating thesis).

Population Group: Research participants (typically young adults or university students involved in psychological experiments).

Age Group: Adults (typically 18+).

Population Details: The scale was developed within the context of psychological research conducted at Florida International University, likely targeting the undergraduate student body who served as participants in the primary experiment concerning informational effects of assessment.

Test Methodology: Administered immediately following a personalized feedback session where the participant receives information related to their performance on a preceding psychological test or experimental task. Scoring uses a 5-point rating scale (1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree), where higher scores indicate a more positive and valuable assessment feedback experience.

Keywords

Research methodology, participant assessment, experimental feedback, self-perception, utility, satisfaction, psychometrics, research ethics.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence should generally be directed to the Department of Psychology, Florida International University, where the research was conducted, referencing the original dissertation.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and introduced in 2001 by Andrea Allen as part of her graduate research. As the instrument is publicly accessible via the Florida International University Electronic Theses and Dissertations repository, it is generally considered available for academic research use, subject to standard citation requirements. Users should consult the full thesis for specific guidelines on reproduction and use. There is typically no fee associated with using instruments derived from publicly available academic dissertations for non-commercial research. The original instrument and context can be reviewed via the originating document at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1094.

Reference’s

Allen, Andrea. (2001). Informational effects of assessment feedback. Florida International University Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1094. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1094.

Items of the Feedback Assessment Questionnaire(FAQ)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way. Scoring uses a 5-point scale: 1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.

1. The contact session with the researcher after I completed the test gave me a lot to think about.
2. I feel that the information I received is very useful to me as a person.
3. I felt that the researcher really liked me.
4. I feel that participating in this experiment was a positive and valuable experience for me as a person.
5. I feel that the information I received in this experiment was of personal value to me.
6. After the information I received, I felt really good about myself.
7. I would recommend that a friend go through this testing experience.

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