Questionnaires

Question 1

Give the 3 ways to distribute questionnaires

Answer 1

Post
Face to face
Email

Question 2

Give an advantage and disadvantage of posted questionnaires

Answer 2

Ad - old people can reply easier than on email

Disad - low response rate

Question 3

Give an example of low response rates postal questionnaires

Answer 3

Hite - sent out 100,000 questionnaires and only got 4.5% back

Question 4

Give an advantage and disadvantage of face to face questionnaires

Answer 4

Ad - high response rate

Disad - Hawthorne effect means less valid

Question 5

Give an advantage and disadvantage of email questionnaires

Answer 5

Ad - low cost

Disad - relies on technology and competent use of it

Question 6

Define closed ended questions

Answer 6

Questions that provide a limited amount of answers

Question 7

Who uses closed ended questions and why?

Answer 7

Positivists because they are quantitative data

Question 8

Give 3 types of closed ended questions

Answer 8

Dichotomy - yes or no
Rating - 1 to 10
Likert - always, sometimes, never

Question 9

Give an advantage of closed ended questions

Answer 9

Easy to analyse and draw conclusions

Question 10

Give a disadvantage of closed ended questions

Answer 10

Questions may not contain their true answer so lack validity

Question 11

Define open ended questions

Answer 11

People write their interpretations in their own words

Question 12

Who uses open ended questions and why?

Answer 12

Interpretivists because it is qualitative data

Question 13

Give an advantage of open ended questions

Answer 13

More detailed and valid responses

Question 14

Give a disadvantage of open ended questions

Answer 14

Hard to analyse and are not generalisable

Question 15

Give 2 practical advantages of questionnaires

Answer 15

Quicker and cheaper

Quantitative data is easy to analyse

Question 16

Give 2 ethical advantages of questionnaires

Answer 16

Participants nearly always have to give consent

Not dangerous for the researcher

Question 17

Give 2 theoretical advantages of questionnaires

Answer 17

Open ended questions give high validity

Closed ended questions give high reliability

Question 18

Give 2 practical disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 18

They are expensive

Low response rate

Question 19

Give 2 ethical disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 19

Might not be voluntary (not informed consent)

Intrusive questions - protection from harm

Question 20

Give 2 theoretical disadvantages

Answer 20

Might not understand the question - making it less valid

Tick boxes mean people have to prune their real answers making it less valid

Question 21

Give an example of a non voluntary questionnaire

Answer 21

The Census which requires every household in the UK to complete it or else there is a £1000 fine and a criminal record

Question 22

Give an example of a questionnaire where the participant did not understand the question

Answer 22

Schofield - “are you a virgin?” “Not yet”

Question 23

Give 3 ways of ensuring reliability in questionnaires

Answer 23

Use the same questions for every participant
Ask questions in a standardised way
Do not use face to face interaction

Question 24

Give 3 ways of ensuring validity in questionnaires

Answer 24

Ensure participants understand all questions
Make sure there are sufficient options
Carry out a pilot study to identify problems

Question 25

Give 3 ways to ensure ethics in questionnaires

Answer 25

Make sure informed consent is given
Avoid sensitive questions
Offer a debrief on how research will be used