Questionnaires

Question 1

Questionnaires

Answer 1

Favoured by positivists, written or self-completed questionnaires are a form of social survey and can be distributed in a range of ways - notably, via post, email or handed out in person. Questionnaires are typically a list of pre-set questions that are closed-end questions with pre-coded answers.

Question 2

Questionnaires (advantages)

Answer 2

Practical - questionnaires are cheap and quick

Quantifiable data

Representative - reach a geographically widespread research sample

Reliable - the questionnaire can be easily repeated due to how the questions are pre-set

Limited ethical issues - the respondent is under no obligation to answer the question

Question 3

Questionnaires (disadvantages)

Answer 3

Response rate - postal questionnaires, in particular, obtain a very low response rate, which may hinder the representativity.

Low validity - People may be more willing to lie.

Unrepresentative - You are likely to get a certain group of people, for example, the unemployed or elderly that answer the questionnaire as many other people might be too busy, and so you won’t get a particularly representative sample.

The interviewer isn’t there to ask follow-up questions and explain questions the participants if they don’t understand