A mathematical method for analysing questionnaires

Investigators using questionnaires are usually confronted with an enormous number of different responses whose significance with respect to a particular characteristic is not immediately clear. This paper presents a simple computational technique for determining the relative merits of each question and a score for each respondent. The rationalization for and the formalization of the method are discussed and some practical examples illustrate how it can be used. The strengths and weaknesses of the method are discussed in relation to those of other methods.