The Questionnaire

Types of questions asked in survey questionnaires

- According to form - According to the kind of data asked for

According to the kind of data asked for

- Descriptive (verbal) data - Quantified (numerical) data - Intensity of feeling, emotion, or attitude - Degree of Judgment - Understanding - Reasoning

Advantages of the Questionnaire

- Easy to construct - Distribution is easy and inexpensive - Responses are easy to tabulate - The respondent's replies are free - Confidential information may be given freely - The respondents can fill out the questionnaire at will - The respondent can give more accurate replies.

Some Problems with Responses

- Information from a questionnaire is either an opinion, misinterpretation, a guess, a bias, or an error. - If the respondent is given several choices from which he selects only one answer, he may guess and accidentally choose the right answer. - Responses to open-ended or freeway questions are hard to tabulate - If a respondent is forced to choose between or among the responses none of which he feels is correct, his answer would be incorrect. - Sometimes, respondents fail to include some items in their answers. - Biased questionnaires influence responses - Some respondents give answers that would make them appear good to the researcher. - In a free-way question, the space allotted for the answer influences the respondent's reply., - The choice of words affect responses - If the question is not explicit, respondents may misunderstand the meaning of the terms used. - Sometime in providing a middle answer, definiteness is sacrificed but broader replies are gained. - Sometimes a question may force an uncomplimentary or undesirable choice on the part of the respondent - Sometimes, the order in a list of items influences the respondents. - Sometimes, a respondent does not give the true answer.

Guidelines in the formulation of questions for a questionnaire

- Make all directions clear and unequivocal - Use correct grammar - Make all questions unequivocal - Avoid asking biased questions - Objectify the responses - Relate all questions to the topic under study - Create categories or classes for approximate answers - Group the questions in logical sequence - Create sufficient number of response categories - Word carefully or avoid questions that deal with confidential or embarrassing information. - Explain and illustrate difficult questions - State all questions affirmatively. - Make as many questions as would supply adequate information for the study. - Add a catch-all word or phrase to options of multiple response questions. - Place all space for the replies at the left side - Make the respondents anonymous

According to form

- The free-answer type - The guided response type

Disadvantages of a questionnaire

- cannot be used with those who cannot read nor write well - if many respondents may not return the filled up copies of the questionnaire purposely or forgetfully - If a respondent gives a wrong information, it cannot be corrected at once. - a respondent may leave some or many questions unanswered - some questions may be vague and so the respondent may not answer them - The number of choices may be limited

Construction of a Questionnaire

1. Doing library search 2. Talking to knowledgeable people. 3. Mastering the guidelines 4. Writing the questionnaire 5. Editing the questionnaire 6. Rewriting the Questionnaire 7. Pretesting the Questionnaire 8. Writing the questionnaire in its final form

at least ten

A dry run must be administered to ________ persons who have the same characteristics as the study sample but who will not participate in the study

Good

Author: A questionnaire is a list of planned, written questions related to a particular topic, with space provided for indicating the response to each question, intended for submission to a number of persons for reply; commonly used in normative survey studies and in the measurement of attitudes and opinions.

treece and treece jr.

Author: Some Problems with Responses

Treece and Treece Jr.

Author: The Cover Letter

Dillehay and Jernigan

Author: The way a questionnaire is biased can influence responses.

Treece and Treece Jr.

Evidence of Misleading Questions

Dichotomous, multiple choice, multiple response

Examples of Recognition types

catch-all word

If a respondent is forced to choose between or among the responses none of which he feels is correct, his answer would be incorrect. To remedy this, add to the options a _________ such as "Others"

All-or-none responses

If all or most of the answers are in the same direction, such as all "yes" or all "no"

High proportion of omission or "no response"

If so many questions are left unanswered, either the question is over-looked, or it is unclear, or it is offensive, or there is no place where to write the answer.

multiple choice

Only one answer is chosen from those given as options

left side

Place all space for the replies at the ___________ for easy tabulation. the spaces should be in a straight vertical column.

Objectified and Standardized

Responses to a questionnaire are ___________________ and these make tabulation easy.

sponsorship or endorsing

The ____________ person should be selected on the basis of his influence upon the respondents.

Cover letter

The letter should be written a courteously and cordially as possible making it very personal and neatly printed or typed bearing the actual signature of the researcher.

Recognition types

The possible responses are given and respondent selects his answers

Dichotomous

There are only two options and one is selected

High proportion of "don't know" or "don't recall"

These responses indicate that the items are improperly stated or inappropriate

High proportion of "other" answers

This is an indication that the choices or options for selection are either inadequate or inappropriate

Considerable difference in responses when the order is changed.

This may be a change in the word order of an item or a change in the order of the questions.

Questionnaire

a set of questions which, when answered properly by a required number of properly selected respondents, will supply the necessary information to complete a research study.

guided response type

also called the closed form or restricted type. The respondent is guided in making his reply.

free-answer type

also called the open form. The respondent answers the question in his own words and in his own ways

easier

in each grouping, _________ questions should be asked first.

statement of the problem

questions may be grouped according to the specific questions under the _______________.

successive steps

questions should be given in __________ if the topic of study is a process.

big category

questions that deal with items that are logically and usually placed together under a __________ should be grouped together.

weighted average

the only remedy for Information from a questionnaire that is either an opinion, misinterpretation, a guess, a bias, or an error is to fall on the ____________.

Dry run

the process of measuring the effectiveness, validity, and reliability of the questionnaire.

Recall Type

the replies are recalled

Considerable number of added comments

this indicated enthusiasm of the respondent or weakness of the items.

Multiple response

two or more options may be chosen