2.4 RESEARCH METHODS: QUESTIONARES

Question 1

what is a questionnaire?

Answer 1

-data collected in the form of a set of pre-determined questions

Question 2

what are closed-ended questions?

Answer 2

-limited score of response -> gives quantifiable data
-a question only requiring a “yes” or “no” answer

Question 3

what are open-ended questions?

Answer 3

-no restrictions on responses -> data more detailed (qualitative)
-questions that allow respondents to answer however they want

Question 4

advantages of questionnaires:
practical advantages

Answer 4

-quick and cheap means of gathering large amounts of data, especially if postal/online
- no need to recruit/train interviewers to collect data, as respondents complete/return questionaires themselves
- data easy to quantify, especially when closed ended questions used, can be easily computer process to reveal relationship between variables

Question 5

advantages of questionnaires: reliability

Answer 5

• questionnaire can be repeated exactly the same (standardized)
• no researcher present to influence respondents answers
• allow comparisons, over time and between societies

due to this high reliability, any difference in question results is due to real differences not other influences

Question 6

advantages of questionnaires: hypothesis testing

Answer 6

• very useful for establishing cause/relationship between variables
• allow to identify possible causes
• favoured by positivists for this due to it being scientific

Question 7

advantages of questionnaires: detachment and objectivity

Answer 7

• detached and objective method (unbiased method)
• sociologists involvement with respondents minimal
• completed at distance, involve very little personal contact with sociologist
• good way of maintaining objectivity

Question 8

advantages of questionnaires: representativeness

Answer 8

• as questionnaires can be on larger scale
• results stand better chance of being representative
• researchers using questionnaires tend to pay more attention to getting representative sample

Question 9

advantages of questionnaires: ethical issues

Answer 9

• questionnaires pose fewer ethical issues than other research methods
• the questionnaires may ask sensitive questions, but respondents are under no obligation to answer
• researchers must still gain informed consent

Question 10

questionnaire disadvantages:
practical problems

Answer 10

• as questionaires need to be brief, since most respondents will not bother to fill out extensive questions, leads data to be limited
• some questionaires may need incentives for people to fill them out, adding to cost
• with postal/online questionnaires, not sure whether the person actually received it, or whether the intended person filled it out

Question 11

questionnaires disadvantages:
low response rate

Answer 11

• especially with postal questionnaires, low response rates are a problem, can also make it unrepresentative, as OAPs more likely to fill out than WC
  eg. Shere Hites questionaires was only 4.5% response rate
• higher response rate can come if questionnaires collected by hand, but adds to time/cost
• no response can come from complex language, alienating uneducated people

Question 12

questionnaire disadvantages:
inflexibility

Answer 12

• questionnaires are a very inflexible method
• once questionnaire has been finalized, researcher cannot alter questions (no follow up questions)
• cannot explore new areas of interest that may arise

Question 13

questionnaire disadvantages
- questionnaires as snapshots

Answer 13

– they only give a picture of reality of one moment in time
- therefore fail to produce fully valid picture
- do not capture the way peoples values/attitudes change

Question 14

questionnaires disadvantages
- detachment

Answer 14

• detachment means that could lack validity, the researcher is unable to get close and understand literally
• lack of contact also means there is no way to clarify what questions mean to respondents, no way of knowing whether respondent/researcher both interpret questions same way

Question 15

questionnaire disadvantages:
lying, forgetting, right answerism

Answer 15

• data depends on respondents willingness/ability to provide full and accurate answers
• problems of validity created when respondents give answers that are not full or frank
• respondents may lie, forget or try to please researcher with results
• the researcher cannot see for themselves how the respondent reacts compared to in person methods e.g. observations

Question 16

questionnaires disadvantages:
imposing researchers meanings

Answer 16

• by picking questions, researcher already decided what is important
• with closed ended questions, respondents have to fit their views into ones on offer, creating invalid picture of their reality
• with open ended questions, respondents answers may be lumped together in one category to fit quantitative data
• Shipman “when researchers categories arent respondents categories, pruning of data is inevitables”
  -he says questionnaires impose a ‘straitjacket’ that distorts meanings and undermines validity

Question 17

operationalisation of concepts- methods in context

Answer 17

• turning abstract ideas into a measurable form
  -can be difficult in school (no shared understanding between researcher and student of sociological ideas)
  -can lead to answers based on misunderstanding

Question 18

samples and sampling frames- methods in context

Answer 18

-there are ready made samples e.g. classes/ departments
-schools have a database of everyone’s background so you can have a representative sample
-schools can deny access to contact details (the lists)
-can result in invalid answers= imbalance for researcher and respondent

Question 19

access and response rate- methods in context

Answer 19

-response rates usually low but in schools are higher due to authority’s permission for them to complete them = inc. cooperation
(can lead to disruptions in class time)
-higher response rate= more representative data
-teachers and parents don’t have the time to complete them

Question 20

practical issues- methods in context

Answer 20

-able to gather large quantities of data quickly and cheaply
-data maybe limited and superficial
-young children may not understand the questions and they have shorter attention spans= won’t finish the questionnaire
-teachers may recognise themes in questionnaire questions so may have bias on influencing pupils and lead to invalid results