questionnaires Flashcards
What is a questionnaire?
List of question sin which the respondent answers
What are open-ended questions?
The participant is free to give whatever answer they wish, in their own words
What are close questions?
The respondent must choose their answer from a limited range of possible answers already decided upon
Ethical strengths of questionnaires
Easy to keep anonymous and confidential
Right to withdraw
Ethical weaknesses of questionnaires
Could cause distress
Practical strengths of questionnaires
Quick and cheap
Easily access large sample
Easy to quantify
No need to recruit and train interviewers
Practical weaknesses of questionnaires
May need to offer incentives
Can be issues with distribution especially postal - whether they have received the questionnaire etc.
Theoretical strengths of questionnaires
Positivists prefer - measurable/comparable
Objective
Scientific
Theoretical weaknesses of questionnaires
Interpretivists against - questionnaires lack detail
Postal - +/-
+ Not everyone can use tech so accessible
- Could get lost in mail
- May not be returned - too much effort
Face to face - +/-
+ Understand intentions/if they are visibly lying
- Difficult to arrange
- Need to recruit people
Email - +/-
+ Less time consuming
+ Cheap
+ Big sample
- Not all may be bale to access internet/email
Telephone - +/-
+ Can explain the questions
+ More ethical
- More pressure
