Questionnaire Flashcards
What are questionnaires
Questionnaires are structured sets of questions designed to gather information from individuals. They are commonly used in quantitative research typically through surveys to collect data, opinions, or feedback systematically and efficiently (Wilson 2019)
Wilson 2019- Questionnaire design is very important as it is hard to ensure all the questions are clear for respondents
what is the questionnaire design process
Wilson 2019
1) Develop question topics
2) Select question and response formats
3) Select wording
4) Determine sequence
5) Design layout and appearance
6) Pilot test
7) Undertake survey
what is the first step in the questionnaire design process
Step 1- develop question topics
Karamoutsou 2024 - Garbage in Garbage out- if the topics are not useful to the required data then the responses will be useless too
Wilson 2019 - the help determine topics researcher must put themselves in respondent position and determine which subjects respondents have knowledge on. Have to consider if due to private or boring topics can lower responses
By utilising these inputs into account researcher should develop a rough set of topics to be addressed
what is the second step in the questionnaire design process
select question and response formats
Wilson 2019- three forms of questions, open-ended, closed and scaling questions
stage 2: open ended questions
Karamoutsou- open ended (can reply in own words)
* ADV: Allow the really engaged participants to provide insights you did not think about also helps to clarify / probe into answers.
* Disadv: However often left empty and harder to quantify and meaningfully analyse
stage 2: closed questions
Karamoutsou 2024- closed question (answer from pre-determined answers)
* ADV: Conformity in responses, all reply the same way, quantitative analysis esp single answer
* Disadv: Responses may reflect an approximation of the participant’s true mind and Bias from common methods variance and/or social desirability.
Stage 2: ranking/scaling questions
Karamoutsou 2024- ranking/ scaling questions ( producers for the assignment of numerical measures to subjective concepts such as attitude, opinions and feelings enables information to be compared on subjective maters)
* ADV: Conformity in responses, all reply same way, quantitative analysis (can capture ratio variable)
* Disadv: can be complicated if poorly designed (too many options), ordinal variables can make quantitative analysis hard
what is the third stage in the questionnaire design process
Select wording
Wilson 2019- the wording of a question no matter the type must be carefully chosen based on the topic and respondents. A fundamental principle of phrasing should be simple and straightforward as possible.
Karamoutsou 2024-
* use words that everyone understands regardless of education level, subjects fully understand what you are asking them and avoid bias to ensure clarity
* Frame question in neutral manner- don’t lead the respondent
* Avoid fusion- make sure you are asking one thing per question
* Decide if you are going to use direct or indirect questioning.- Usually sensitive matters require indirect questioning.
what is the fourth step of the questionnaire design process
Karamoutsou 2024- main objective of sequencing is to keep the reader engaged to increase response rates
* First couple of questions should be relevant, engaging and easy to answer
* Move onto questions that require more cognitive effort to answer
* Break down into sensible meaningful sections
* Allow respondents know how far to completion
* Close with the more sensitive and personal questions
Wilson 2019-
* funnel sequence by going from broad to niche questions, causing less bias whilst also increasing engagement level.
* sequencing questions from the respondent’s point of view and utilising senses in order of perspective
What is the fifth step of the questionnaire design process
Design layout and appearance
Wilson 2019- finds this an important step esp in self-administrated and postal questionnaires- response rates higher if looks attractive, uncluttered and easy to understand.
Karamoutsou 2024- can utilise online websites to help such as survey monkey and qualtrics
Key elements
* Spacing
○ Attempting to make it look shorter is counter-productive- difficult to use decrease response rate and data quality
○ Should be uncluttered with plenty of space between questions and for response for open-ended questions also with MC and scale questions to allow respondents adequate space to pick the proper column with appropriate font size
* Quality of production
○ Despite being cheap to create can give impression of being unimportant
○ High level printing and paper in a booklet format to appear
* Variety
○ One with similar question formats can look intimidating
○ Should seek visual variety in the look of questions through: question type, colour, typefaces and borders
what is the sixth step of the questionnaire design process
Pilot test
Wilson 2019- involves administrating the questionnaire to a limited number of potential respondents for pilot test. Should be administered in the same method as the full one.
Karamoutsou 2024- the purpose of the pilot test is to test
* Wording (clarity and comprehension)
* Time to complete
* Ease to complete
* Participants response and feedback
Can be used to test while developing to observe responses and seek feedback to amend if necessary
Can be used to test final questionnaire and research design to gain feedback and assure it is ready
what is the seventh step of the questionnaire design process
Undertake survey
Wilson 2019- managers who will use the information from the questionnaire approve the questionnaire before going live. Ensuring no disputes at the end of project over questions. Once approved data collection can commence
what is validity
Karamoutsou (2024)
Validity: The measure indeed measures what it is intended to measure
What is reliability
Karamoutsou (2024)
Reliability: The measure consistently measures the construct of interest across repeated applications – the scale produces consistent, stable results
