Questionnaires

Question 1

Respondent

Answer 1

The person who completes questionnaire

Question 2

Open questions

Answer 2

Require detailed answers more than yes/no

Question 3

Closed questions

Answer 3

Require short answers yes/no

Question 4

Right answerism

Answer 4

Providing answers which respondents feel like they should give rather than what they really believe (social desirability)

Question 5

Leading questions

Answer 5

Questions that encourage certain answers

Question 6

How can questionnaires be conducted?

Answer 6

Through telephone,email, face-to-face

Question 7

Census (2001)

Answer 7

-Postal questionnaires sent by gov
-high representativeness, find info on population every 10 years.
-every household must complete
-assistance for those who struggle to complete

Question 8

Connor & Dewson

Answer 8

-4,000 postal questionnaires
-students at 14 unis
-factors that influence wc access to uni
-no need to recruit/train interviewers (questionnaires self-completed and posted)
-data processed quickly through computer due to close-ended questions
-relationships of variables was analysed

Question 9

What are the 2 studies for questionnaires?

Answer 9

Census (2001) and connor&dewson (2001)

Question 10

Practical advantages of questionnaires

Answer 10

-self completed so noneed to train interviewers
-closed ended q’s are easy to quantify, compare and contrast
-maintains detachment and objectivity through post
-pre-coded, close ended q’s easily processed by computers, patterns can be identified

Question 11

Ethical strengths of questionnaires

Answer 11

-ethical if anonymous, confidentiality is maintained
-no obligation to answer intrusive questions
-informed consent is gained by guaranteed anonymity and no obligation to answer q’s

Question 12

Theoretical advantages of questionnaires

Answer 12

-positivists favour- highly structured so high in reliability as same questions are asked so comparisons can be made through quant data eg:between societies(census) this makes it more representative due to findings from large numbers, making accurate generalisations
- anonymity helps respondents to give truthful answers, increasing validity.

Question 13

Practical disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 13

-data is limited and superficial due to brief nature of questions, wouldn’t want to complete a long questionnaire
-postal&online: cannot guarantee respondents received questionnaire or if it was completed by right person
-lacks flexibility- researcher cannot explore new ideas once finalised

Question 14

Ethical disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 14

-difficult to explore sensitive issues eg:religion as ppts may not feel comfortable responding through questionnaire
-deception if ppt is unaware of data being shared

Question 15

Theoretical disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 15

-interpretivists dislike- detached nature, no direct contact with ppt and researcher meaning there’s no way to clarify misunderstood questions.
-Cannot gain verstehen due to standardized nature of questions. It only provides a snapshot of someone’s life, affecting validity
-low representaveness if low response rate from postal questionnaires