In developing our research scales we have realised that there is no one format for collecting so-called biographical data from people filling in our scales. To overcome this we have produced a set of questions which we have been using in our research for over 10 years. These questions have been thoroughly piloted and in effect have become a standardised way to gain information about gender, age, occupations, etc. The scale usually accompanies our WRQoL and QWWO scales.
The QoWL Biographical Information (QBI) scale contains 10 items on the following topics:
- Gender
- Ethnic minority
- Age
- Disability
- Caring responsibilities
- Years of service
- Type of appointment
- Hours of work
- Additional hours (above contracted hours)
- Days absence due to illness in last year
Please note that since 2015 we have collected age information as a number box 'Your year of birth, (e.g. 1965)', which we have found people are more likely to answer than asking their age, and can be used as a variable in itself, or to generate age categories.
Your help with our research
We have made an unformatted .pdf version freely available here. You are free to use this scale for your research as long as you acknowledge QoWL as the source of the scale. If you woudl like to know how you can contribute to our research, please contact us.
