Topic Defined & Appropriate Use of Design

Questionnaires: Quantitative or Qualitative?

Survey research can and should be conducted from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives

Quantitative: questionnaires that include closed-ended questions with multiple choice options are analyzed using quantitative methods (pie-charts, bar-charts and percentages)

Qualitative: questionnaires that include open-ended questions are analyzed using qualitative methods (discussions and critical analyses without use of numbers and calculations)

Two major types of survey/questionnaire research

Large-scale surveys/questionnaires

-carried out by institutions equipped with vast resources (finances, staff, and access to databases that may not be available to an individual researcher)

-tend to employ standardized questionnaire formats with the goal of generating statistics in order to generalize to a larger population

-Examples: national censuses, opinion polls, or research projects.

2. Smaller-scale surveys/questionnaires

-carried out by institutions such as schools, post-secondary institutions, hospitals, and other organizations/individuals

- goal of gathering facts about or learning more about the demographic characteristics, behaviours, and attitudes of students, employees, patients, clients, or members

-Examples: student satisfaction survey, workplace satisfaction survey

TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRES

Self-Administered Mail Questionnaire

Involves a questionnaire mailed to a large number of people
Allows respondents to complete the survey at their convenience and return it in a postage-prepaid envelope
Unobtrusive and inexpensive to administer
Response rates are often low as many people ignore survey requests
There may also be long delays in respondents survey completion and return, requiring the researcher to monitor responses as they are being returned, track and send reminders to non-respondents repeated reminders.

Group-Administered Questionnaire

Sample group gathered together at a common place and time
Respondents complete the survey questionnaire independently while in a common location, without interacting with other respondents
Convenient for the researcher with assured high response rate
Respondents can ask for clarification regarding any questions

Online Questionnaire

Administered over the Internet via electronic mail request
Inexpensive to administer, instantly recorded results to online databases, and the survey can be easily modified if necessary
Results can be easily compromised if the survey website is not password-protected or designed to prevent multiple submissions
Sampling bias’s present is an issue since surveys cannot reach people that lack computers or internet access
Respondents do not feel pressured, therefore can answer when they have time, giving more accurate answers

Telephone Questionnaire

Researchers call potential respondents to receive answers to the questionnaire
Can be completed during a short amount of time
Can be expensive, and many people do not feel comfortable answering many questions asked over the phone

ALL ABOUT QUESTIONS

[TYPES OF QUESTIONS USED FOR QUESTIONNAIRES]

Questionnaires are sensitive to the types of questions asked, and valuable responses are a reflection of the questions posed.

Unstructured Questions

require participants to respond in their own words

Response format used:

Open questions:

may produce unexpected results, which can make the research more valuable.
data analysis is more difficult when the data is obtained through questionnaires utilizing open questions.

Structured Questions

require respondents to select an answer from choices provided
responses to questions on a structured questionnaire may be aggregated into a composite scale or index for statistical analysis
questions should be easy to read and understand, to ensure respondents can answer questions in a meaningful way

Response formats used :

Dichotomous Questions:

respondents select one of two possible choices ( true/false, yes/no, or agree/disagree)
the easiest/simplest form of questionnaire for the respondent

Nominal Questions:

respondents are given more than two unordered options (example: What is your industry of employment: manufacturing / consumer services / retail / education / healthcare / tourism & hospitality / other)

Ordinal Questions:

respondents are given more than two ordered options (example: what is your highest level of education: high school / college degree / graduate studies)

Scaling/Ranking Questions):

present an option for respondents to rank the available answers to the questions on the scale of given range of values (for example from 1 to 10)

What makes a good Question?

Questions to ask yourself...before developing a questionnaire.

1. Is the question clear and understandable

2. Is the question worded in a negative manner

3. Is the question ambiguous

4. Does the question have biased or value-laden words

5. Is the question double - barrelled

6. Is the question too general

7. Is the question too detailed

8. Is the question presumptuous

9. Is the question imaginary

10. Do respondents have the information needed to correctly answer the question

Question Sequencing is also Important.

General rules for question sequencing:

Begin with easy non-threatening questions that can be easily recalled
Never start with an open ended question
If following an historical sequence of events, follow a chronological order (earliest-latest)
Ask about one topic at a time
When switching topics, use a transition (“The next section examines...")
Use filter or contingency questions as needed ( “If you answered “yes” to question 5, please proceed to Section 2. If you answered “no” go to Section 3.”)

One more golden rule:

Be mindful and appreciative of respondents’ time, attention, trust, and confidentiality of personal information, and thank your participants for their participation.

Appropriate Use of Questionnaires

Questionnaires are a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining large amounts of information from a large sample of people.
Data can be collected relatively quickly because researchers do not need to be present when the questionnaires are completed.
Appropriate for large populations when interviews would be impractical.
Useful and effective way to measure the behavior, attitudes, preferences, opinions and intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects.

Examples of research questions for which a questionnaire may NOT be the most appropriate design (British Medical Journal, 2004).

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