Questionnaire

What is a questionnaire? A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data.

Characteristics Should be concerned with specific and relevant topic Should be short Directions and wording should be simple and clear Questions should be objective Embarrassing questions, presuming questions and hypothetical questions should be avoided Should be presented in a good order Should be attractive, neatly printed and clearly arranged

Write a descriptive title for the questionnaire

Write an introduction to the questionnaire

Types 1. a) b) c) d) Structured questionnaire Have definite and concrete questions. Is prepared well in advance. Initiates a formal inquiry. Supplements and checks the data, previously accumulated.

e) Used in studies of the economics and the social problems, studies of the administrative policies and changes etc.

2. a) b) c)

Unstructured questionnaire Used at the time of the interview. Acts as the guide for the interviewer. Is very flexible in working.

d) Used in studies related to the group of families or those relating to the personal experiences, beliefs etc.

A questionnaire can also be divided as the follows depending on the nature of the questions therein 1. a) b) c) d) e) Open ended questionnaire Respondent is free to express his views and the ideas. Used in making intensive studies of the limited number of the cases. Merely an issue is raised by such a questionnaire. Do not provide any structure for the respondents reply. The questions and their orders are pre determined in the nature.

2. a) b) c)

Close ended questionnaire Responses are limited to the stated alternatives. One of the alternatives is simply YES or NO. Respondent cannot express his own judgment.

3. a) b)

Mixed questionnaire Questions are both close and open ended. Used in field of social research.

4. a) b) c)

Pictorial questionnaire Used very rarely. Pictures are used to promote the interest in answering the questions. Used in studies related to the social attitudes and the pre judices in the children.

Types of questions Questionnaires are restricted to two basic types of question: Closed-ended (or closed question) is a question for which a researcher provides a suitable list of responses (e.g. Yes / No). This produces mainly quantitative data. Open-ended (or open question) is a question where the researcher doesnt provide the respondent with a set answer from which to choose. Rather, the respondent is asked to answer "in their own words". This produces mainly qualitative data.

Piloting the questionnaires

The purpose of pretesting the questionnaire is to determine: whether the questions as they are worded will achieve the desired results whether the questions have been placed in the best order whether the questions are understood by all classes of respondent whether additional or specifying questions are needed or whether some questions should be eliminated whether the instructions to interviewers are adequate.

There are nine steps involved in the development of a questionnaire: 1. Decide the information required. 2. Define the target respondents. 3. Choose the method(s) of reaching your target respondents. 4. Decide on question content. 5. Develop the question wording. 6. Put questions into a meaningful order and format. 7. Check the length of the questionnaire. 8. Pre-test the questionnaire. 9. Develop the final survey form.

Advantages Cost effective

Easy to analyze Familiar to most people Representative sample possible

Disadvantages Low response Misunderstanding Do not tell about context and meaning behind a response