Questionnaires

Questionnaires

1. While questionnaires can be very detailed, covering many subjects or issues, they can also be very simple and focus on one important area.

2. The questionnaire is the favoured tool of many of those engaged in research, and it can often provide a cheap and effective way of collecting data in a structured and manageable form

   • However, if many people are involved this soon becomes and inefficient and ineffective way of collecting data.
     • very little training is needed to develop them; and they can be easily and quickly analysed once completed.

3. Questionnaires can be designed and used to collect vast quantities of data from a variety of respondents

4. An effective questionnaire is one that enables the transmission of useful and accurate information or data from the respondent to the researcher. This is a complex process which involves presenting questions in a clear and unambiguous way so that the respondent may interpret them, articulate his or her response

5. Question types

   • Closed questions
   • Multiple-choice questions
   • Open-ended questions