Questionnaires

Questionnaires

1. Data analysis

   • Take a look at your top research questions
   • Cross-tabulate and filter your resultd
   • Crunch the numbers
   • Draw conclusions

2. Definition

   • Is a research instrument
   • Consists of a set of questions or other types of prompts
   • Aims to collect information from a respondent.

3. Types

   • Of questionnaire
     • Mail survey
       • It is the most common type of questionnaire
       • is addressed to respondents and is sent by mai
       • Can be considered impersonal
       • Can suffer from low response rates
     • Group-administered questionnaire
       • Is a useful instrument to collect data from a sample of respondents
       • High response rates
       • Respondents feel personally involved with the work
     • Household drop-off survey
       • The household drop-off survey is a hybrid of the mail and the group-dministered survey.
       • The researcher delivers the questionnaire in hand to a member of a household
       • The researcher can clarify doubts
   • Of question
     • Closed questions
       • Are questions to which all possible answers are provided
     • Multiple-choice questions
       • Questions which provide a number of predefined responses
     • Open-ended questions
       • They allow for the recording of any response to a questionprovided by the respondent

4. Limitations

   • Leading questions
     • Your wording may suggest that it would be wrong to answer in any particular way
   • Complicated questions
     • It would be a mistake to think that complex questions will harvest a greater yield of information
   • 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
     • Those completing your questionnaire are unlikely to be as familiar with your core research topic as you are yourself
   • Too many open-ended questions
     • Too many open-ended questions force those completing your questionnaire to put more effort into their answers.

5. Issues

   • Lack of personal contact may mean that response rates suffer, necessitating chasing the respondent
   • Lack of adequate time to complete the instrument may result in the return of superficial data
   • Ease of production and distribution can result in the collection of far more data than can be effectively used

6. Uses

   • Can be an effective means of measuring the behavior, attitudes, preferences, opinions and, intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects more cheaply and quickly than other methods.