2.3 Data collecting tool
The research team developed the initial draft of the study questionnaire
based on previously available literature. For clarity and
comprehensiveness, face validity was done by an expert of the same
background for the initial questionnaire draft. For the reliability
assessment, a pilot study was conducted on 37 participants. A Cronbach
alpha value of 0.71 was obtained to show a valid internal consistency.
For the convenience of the study population, an Urdu translation was
added alongside the English questions.
The questionnaire was comprised of six sections with a total of 37
questions. The first section consisted of participants’ demographic data
(seven questions) regarding age, gender, educational level, and current
working profile. The second section asked participants about their
perception of the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic (eight questions). The
three-point Likert scale (agree, neutral, disagree) was adopted with the
perception questions items in this section. The third section was on the
participants’ perceived susceptibility to the severe COVID-19 pandemic
(single question). The fourth section was on the perception of
participants about the symptoms of COVID-19 and the way they protect
themselves (eleven questions). The fifth section was about the
participants’ perception regarding the symptoms of the COVID-19 pandemic
compared to Seasonal Influenza (three questions). The sixth section
contained questions regarding participants’ perceptions of the COVID-19
vaccine (seven questions). Only close-ended questions were used in the
questionnaire.