A questionnaire is a research tool that consists
of a series of questions and other indications
with the purpose of obtaining information
from those consulted.
Types
Mail survey
Most common type of questionnaire, it can
be an efficient way to collect large amounts
of data, however, being impersonal, it can
have a low response rate
Group-administered
questionnaire
is a useful instrument for collecting
data from a sample of respondents
who can naturally be brought
together for the purpose
Household
drop-off survey
the researcher delivers the questionnaire
by hand to a member of an identified
household for collection at some later
date
Uses
- Presenting questions in a clear and
unambiguous
- Enables the transmission of useful and accurate
information or data from the respondent to the
researcher.
- Can be designed and used to collect vast quantities
of data from a variety of respondents. - Presenting
questions in a clear and unambiguous
- If coded in an appropriate way, they can enable
analysis to be conducted extremely quickly and with
low error rates.
Design Isssues
Maximing response rates: To maximise response rates consider the
use of a covering letter for your questionnaire. This should be short
and should explain the research in a clear and understandable way.
Ideal questionnaire length and time to complete: As a
general rule of thumb, a questionnaire should take no
more than about twenty minutes to complete.
Stratified sampling: Stratified sampling means
establishing your population (such as students)
and taking from within that population a
sample that represents the whole.
Piloting – using a suitable sample group:
When designing a questionnaire it is easy
to overlook mistakes and ambiguities in
question layout and construction.
Web-based questionnaires: Many questionnaires are now
designed to be completed online, via the internet.
Web-based questionnaires produce a higher response rate
than their paper-based counterparts
Limitations
Leading
questions:
Leading questions are those which provide for only one right
answer to the question posed. Their wording can suggest that
it would be wrong to answer in some particular way.
Complicated
questions:
A complicated question like this consists of a number of
sub-questions that can be broken down into a number of
smaller, more easily understood, questions.
Irritating
questions:
If you consider a question to be potentially irritating then
perhaps provide some contextual information in the
questionnaire as to why this particular question is necessary.
Ambiguous or
unclear questions:
Try to be as clear as possible in wording your question.
Those completing your questionnaire are unlikely to be
as familiar with your core research topic.
Too many
open-ended
questions:
Too many open-ended questions force those completing
your questionnaire to put more effort into their answers.
Data analysis
The purpose of the questionnaire is for respondents
to record responses by checking boxes, completing
statements, or providing written answers.
Developing appropriate codes and coding makes data
analysis easy and must be used on any instrument.
The system of numbers used for each question
and answer makes it easier to analyze data for
each researcher.
The process becomes much faster if you enter
questionnaire data into a predefined database.
It is useful to get an average score on scale or
Likert-type questions to compare between questions.
Higher-value numbers are used for positive responses and
lower-value numbers are used for negative responses.