3 RM - Questionaires Flashcards
What are the 3 types of questionnaires ?
- Posted/emailed to respondents
- Wait whilst respondent fills in questionnaire
- Given to respondent who returns once completed
Strengths of email/post questionaries
Easy to send to lots of people
Large number of responses = represents target population and covers wider geographical area
Reliable as its same Q’s in same order
Practical - quick, cheap, no researcher training required
Increase validity - researcher not present so respondents may feel more comfortable to honesltly answer
Ethics - anonymous, mains confidentiality
Weaknesses of email/post questionnaire’s
Low response rates
Time consuming for respondents who may be uninterested
Inflexibility - impossible to elaborate on answers/ explore areas of interest
Respondents may be influenced in answers by others in their home
People with simulator characteristics may be more inclined to respond - unrepresentative?
Strengths of researcher waiting questionaries
Higher representativeness as there is a higher response rate
Researcher can assist with misunderstood questions
Weaknesses of researcher waiting questionaires
Some people may refuse to fill in - Low representation
Researcher could influence answers given - reducing validity
More time consuming for the researcher
What is one issue with respondents returning the questionnaire ?
They may not return it - does reduce the researcher effect
What is the researcher effect ?
Presence of researcher may influence the respondent in various ways EG: body language, gender, age, ethnic origin
What is an open question ?
There is a space provided for respondent to write what they want - gives greater detail and qualitative data
What is a closed question ?
Requires short answers (yes/no). Usually listed for the respondent to tick
Easier to quantify and creates quantitative data
What is a leading question ?
A question that influences the respondent to answer in a way that the researcher wants
What is an ambiguous question?
A question that is unclear or difficult to understand
What is a recall question ?
A question that requires the respondent to remember something from the past
What is a pilot study?
A small scale version of the study done first to check whether the research will work. Eg: check the sample is representative.
Helps to iron out any problems the study - eg: the questions making sense
What is the census ?
A questionnaire done every 10 years by the government
Sent through the post to every uk household
Closed questions on jobs,number in family,religion
Helps to gain a full picture of uk society
Strengths of the census
Representative - every uk household
Easy to analyse - closed ended questions
Allows government to plan for future policies
Weaknesses of the census
Homeless people may not be counted
Very expensive to carry out
People may not fill them out correctly (Star Wars religion incident)
Explain access and response rates for questionaires in education
Consent can be hard to gain.
Headteachers may not the disruption to lessons that filling the questionaires can create
Object to the topic of the questionaire
Problems of using questionaires in educational research
Children may struggle to understand the questions
The pupils may influence each others answers
Some pupils may refuse to cooperate
Advantages of using questionaires in educational research
Useful for investigate sensitive uses as bullying - anonymous
Areas of study when using questionaires in education
Subject and university choice
Bullying and the experience of schooling
Achievement and social factors
Parental attitudes to education
