questionnaires Flashcards
what is an open question?
questions which require a detailed answer, more than a yes or no response
what is a closed question?
questions which require a short response answer like yes or no
what is a leading question?
a question that prompts or encourages the desired answer.
what is right answerism?
where the respondants provides the answer they thing the researcher wants to hear and not what they actually think
what is triangulation?
the use of 2 or more research methods
what is a pilot study?
a sacled down test to identify an errors in a research
what is response rate?
the porportion of those who are sent a questionaire that complete and return it
would positivist or interprtivist prefer questionnaires and why?
positivist as it provides mostly quantitative data
name the 3 stregths of questionnaires?
representativeness, reliable and wide spread distribution
what kind of factor is representativeness and how do questionnaires achieve this?
theoretical, because its more likely to be distributed to a large group so more participants can be assessed which allows a researcher to generalise with the wider population
name an example of where a questionnaire has been representative?and name an A03
census sent to every household by the government to illustrate what society is like, however not every household will do it, and those temporary accomodation also dont get one and also the homeless
what factor is reliable? and how do questionnaires achieve this?
theoretical, because having a pre set of questions means that it can be repeated in a standardised manner
name an example of where a questionnaire has been reliable?
sew asked 50,000 people about wether they have been a victim of crime in the last 12 months and this was repeated in the same manner but in different locations
what factor is wider distribution? and how do questionnares achieve this?
practical, as its easy to send to a wide geografical area if needed like using postal questionnaires or the internet
name an example of where questionnaires have given wider distribution?
conner and dawson and there study on class differnces they were able to sent it to 14 different high institutions
name a practical advantage of questionnares?
posting or sending via email is very quick and has low cost
name an ethical strength to questionnaires?
participants allows have the right to withdraw as they will always have the option to stop filling it out
name another theoretical strength of questionnares?
objectivity/detactached as there is no personal invovlement of the sociologist
name the 3 limitations of questionnares?
low validity, inflexibility and a low response rate
what factor is validity? and how does questionnares limit this?
theoretical, pre-set questions lead to a social construction and a narrow reality as youve selected the answers provided
name an example of where questionnares caused low validity?
sullivan and there study on cultural capital her questions where narrow and pre determined by bourdieus prevoius study
how does a questionnare cause inflexibility?and what kind of factor is this?
because the researcher pre determines the questions which does not allow the participants from addressing other concerns
name an example of where a questionnaire has being inflexible?
census preset questions by the government which does not give the public a voice-practical
how could a questionnare potential have a low response rate?and what kind of factor is this?
because on average questionnares only have a 50% response rate.practical
name an example of where a questionnare has had a low response rate?
hite report, send out 100,000 postal questionnares and only got 5% back