Questionnaires Flashcards
Describe a questionnaire
Respondents record own answers
Predetermined Questions
No face to face contact
Advantages of questionnaire
Self report - find out feelings
Easily repeated - data from large numbers
Respondents may feel more willing to reveal personal info
Disadvantages of questionnaire
Not always truthful - social desirability
Sample may be biased
What are closed questions
Questions with fixed number of possible answers
What type of data do closed questions produced
Quantitive
Advantages of closed questions
Easy to analyse as data is in numbers
Answers are more objective
Disadvantages of closed questions
Precise feelings cannot be expressed - lacks validity
Oversimplifies reality and human experience - suggests there are simple answers
What are open questions
Questions which invite respondents to provide their own answers
What type of data do open questions produce
Qualitative data
Advantages of open questions
Provides rich details of people’s behaviour
Capture new ideas/ findings
Disadvantages of open questions
Difficult to draw conclusions as data is qualitative
Interpretation is subjective
What is a ranked scale
Give assessment of their views using a scale
What type of data does a ranked scale produce
Quantitive
Advantages of ranked scale
Quantitive data means it can be analysed
Reasonably objective way to represent feelings
Disadvantages of ranked scale
Some prefer to respond in same way to all Qs
Social desirability bias may decrease validity
