Nutrition Questionnaire Service Center

We do not provide the study coordinators with any instructions when administering food frequency questionnaires to participants. But the following Coding Instructions must be followed:

• An optical scanner is used to read the bar codes and the “skunk marks” along the border of the SFFQ, as well as the coding bubbles within the body of the SFFQ. Users of the SFFQ must use only a NO. 2 PENCIL or a NO.1 PENCIL to mark the questionnaire. The scanner will not recognize ink whether black or blue ink. If the respondent completes the questionnaire in ink, the responses must be shaded over with pencil.
• When the machine reads a page, it reads both sides of the page simultaneously. For this reason, care must be taken to avoid writing text on top of any bubble or black rectangle on any page. The scanner sees double responses if writing over bubbles exist. If lead covers the black rectangles or is present in between the black rectangles, the questionnaire will not scan. Studies will be responsible for “cleaning up” these errors by transcribing the SFFQ over onto new forms. To best avoid this possibility, writing, whether in ink or pencil, is only allowed in blank white margins found on any questionnaire.
• Additionally, NEVER WRITE OR PLACE LABELS above the solid bar at the top of each page. This will interfere with the bar code. If labels must be added onto the questionnaires, keep them very small and carefully place them only on the top center of page 1, where it reads “dietary assessment” without covering any coding bubbles (the box that is shaded blue). If the label is placed too high on the SFFQ, the questionnaire will eject out of the side of the scanner. IF the label crosses the box outlining question 2 on the SFFQ the scanner will pick up 6+ per day responses on the fruit and vegetable section on page 2.
• Again, do not add scotch tape, staples, paperclips or punch holes to any part of the SFFQ, or submit questionnaires that are damaged (either wrinkled or torn). All scenarios often cause the questionnaire to enter the scanner at an incorrect angle or become jammed and torn within the scanner, further damaging the questionnaire. Again, studies will be responsible for correcting these errors which may entail copying SFFQs over to blank forms.
• Finally, if self-coded, the SFFQ needs to be “scanner ready”. Please separate each booklet along their perforation before mailing them in for analysis. Also, please bundle the SFFQs together in an elastic band. Do NOT paper clip individual questionnaires. You may clip the SFFQ batch depending on the size of the batch.

If you have any questions concerning the completion of the SFFQ, please contact Laura Sampson. We suggest that you send a copy of your questionnaires to Laura for approval if you make any written changes or label additions to the questionnaire before utilizing in your study. If adherence to the above guidelines are not followed correctly, investigators should expect additional processing fees.

The questionnaire should be coded in a #2 pencil with bubbles filled in completely. The scanner will not detect partially filled bubbles or pen. This does not apply to questions that are left blank by the participant, these can remain.

The questionnaire usually takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Each questionnaire requires an ID number before it can be scanned and analyzed. You may choose unique numbers that have 8 or less digits. Double check that duplicate IDs were not assigned. Please take into account the size of your study and any follow-up studies that may follow when assigning IDs. The ID needs only to be meaningful to the investigator. You do not need to assign leading nor trailing zeros.

Each questionnaire should be completed using a number two pencil. Please refrain from placing labels, holes, stray marks, staples, paperclips or names on each questionnaire.  Each questionnaire must be assigned an identification number to be analyzed. Due to HIPPA regulations, any questionnaire received with personal identification such as a name or social security number will be returned to the investigator. If this information is already on your questionnaire, the identifying information must be crossed out or erased before submitting for processing so that it is not visible. Before submitting FFQs for analysis, review to confirm questionnaires are filled out correctly. Any submitted with incorrect markings will be sent back for review at your expense.

Include your order form with each batch of questionnaires submitted for processing. All questionnaires should be sent to:

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Department of Nutrition, Building 2, 3rd Floor, Room 310
ATTN: Olivia Stewart, NQSC
665 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115

Please check with your accounts payable department that the following address is the new remit-to address for payments to the Nutrition Questionnaire Service Center:

Harvard University
P.O. Box 4999
BOSTON, MA 02212

Please do not send payments before receiving an invoice. Invoices will be sent, with the new remit-to address, by Harvard’s finance department.

For questions on billing or wire information contact Lauren Dougherty.

Invoices are sent for the cost of blank questionnaires and then again once processing has been completed and you have received your data. Please provide purchase orders to cover costs for each. We accept payments by check, wire transfer, or Harvard Internal Payments (Harvard Affiliates Only). We do not accept credit cards.

You may also choose to have your scanned and nutrient output data files returned so that you can do additional statistical testing. You may choose either ASCII or EXCEL format for these files. Your data will be sent electronically via a WinZip file attachment. Your questionnaires will be returned via FedEx. Please remember to include TWO email addresses on the billing form.

The WinZip file is sent using Harvard’s FileZilla Secure Transfer. You must login and download your data within 10 days. Please provide two email addresses for receipt of the WinZip files to assure data is obtained within the specified time.

If you do not have WinZip, you can download the program from WinZip.com. There is an evaluation program that you can download and programs to purchase that will open WinZip attachments.

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Download 7-Zip file manager, for free online.

To open csv.label files, use notepad and to open the rawlogs and score files use Microsoft Word.

Please work with your IT Department if you have trouble opening the WinZip attachment.

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f you would like to calculate the number of servings of any food grouping, you must sum the daily frequencies reported for the foods you select to represent your group. The frequency weights for the 2022 Grid (grid2022) are listed below.

Example: grid2022 servings of fruit per day
Participant reports:

Bananas 1-3 per month
Cantaloupe 1 per day
Orange 2-4 per week
Other fruit juices 2-3 times per day

Frequency factors:
Bananas – 0.08
Cantaloupe – 1.0
Oranges – 0.43
Other fruit juices – 2.5

Sum frequency factors: 0.08 + 1.0 + 0.43 + 2.5 = 4.01 servings per day of fruits

*********************Grid2022 frequency factors:****************************** 

ffwgt0                                      0; never (default for no answer) 

ffwgt1                                      0.08; 1-3/mo 

ffwgt2                                      0.14; 1/wk 

ffwgt3                                      0.43; 2-4/wk 

ffwgt4                                      0.8; 5-6/wk 

ffwgt5                                      1; 1/day 

ffwgt6                                      2.5; 2-3/day 

ffwgt7                                      4.5; 4-5/day 

ffwgt8                                      6; 6/day 

ffwgt9                                      0; passthru

For studies to be eligible for self-coding they need to have 1000+ study participants.

A self-coder is responsible for coding the study participant’s ID in the appropriate box and filling in codes related to open-ended questions. Each self-coder will receive a coding manual, which explains the procedure, along with codes for margarines, oils, vitamins, cereals and foods. A self-coder/editor is responsible for the self-coding duties, editing the scanned data and returning edited outputs and questionnaires to Laura Sampson for completion of analysis. The editing process usually requires dual mailing.

Permission must be obtained to qualify as a self-coder and/or editor. Contact Laura Sampson to request permissions.

The semiquantitative FFQ is the result of over forty years of continued development, evaluation, refinement, and re-evaluation. It was originally created to be used as a paper self-administered, mailed questionnaire. At every step we have attempted to examine the reproducibility and validity of the questionnaire by comparing its estimates with those of diet records or multiple 24-hour recalls and with relevant biochemical indicators of nutrient intakes.  Such studies have been conducted among adults of all ages and both sexes, and among a variety of socioeconomic groups; many of these validation studies have been published. The results of the validation studies have indicated that the method is remarkably robust; similarly valid results have been obtained from virtually all the groups that we have studied. Obviously, the process of continued refinement of the questionnaire can not stop, in part because the nature of the food supply and the distribution of dietary intakes is in constant change.

• Al-Shaar, L., Yuan, C., Rosner, B., Dean, S. B., Ivey, K. L., Clowry, C. M., … & Rimm, E. B. (2021). Reproducibility and validity of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire in men assessed by multiple methods. American journal of epidemiology, 190(6), 1122-1132. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33350436/]
• Yuan, C., Spiegelman, D., Rimm, E. B., Rosner, B. A., Stampfer, M. J., Barnett, J. B., … & Willett, W. C. (2018). Relative validity of nutrient intakes assessed by questionnaire, 24-hour recalls, and diet records as compared with urinary recovery and plasma concentration biomarkers: findings for women. American journal of epidemiology, 187(5), 1051-1063. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29036411/]
• Yuan, C., Spiegelman, D., Rimm, E. B., Rosner, B. A., Stampfer, M. J., Barnett, J. B., … & Willett, W. C. (2017). Validity of a dietary questionnaire assessed by comparison with multiple weighed dietary records or 24-hour recalls. American journal of epidemiology, 185(7), 570-584. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28338828/]
• Michaud, D. S., Giovannucci, E. L., Ascherio, A., Rimm, E. B., Forman, M. R., Sampson, L., & Willett, W. C. (1998). Associations of plasma carotenoid concentrations and dietary intake of specific carotenoids in samples of two prospective cohort studies using a new carotenoid database. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers, 7(4), 283-290. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9568782/]
• Rimm, E. B., Giovannucci, E. L., Stampfer, M. J., Colditz, G. A., Litin, L. B., & Willett, W. C. (1992). Reproducibility and validity of an expanded self-administered semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire among male health professionals. American journal of epidemiology, 135(10), 1114-1126. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1632423/]
• Willett, W. C., Sampson, L., Browne, M. L., Stampfer, M. J., Rosner, B., Hennekens, C. H., & Speizer, F. E. (1988). The use of a self-administered questionnaire to assess diet four years in the past. American journal of epidemiology, 127(1), 188-199. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3337073/]
• Willett, W. C., Sampson, L., Stampfer, M. J., Rosner, B., Bain, C., Witschi, J., … & Speizer, F. E. (1985). Reproducibility and validity of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. American journal of epidemiology, 122(1), 51-65. [PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4014201/]

Please refer to the *archived file you received in your WinZip data file. Find the date associated with foods.dat.<date>.

Use Harvard SQFFQ.<date>