Questionnaires (advantage)

Question 1

Whats one practical advantage of using questionnaires

Answer 1

They’re quick and cheap means of gathering large amount of data from large numbers of people, especially if a postal or online questionnaire is used

Question 2

Whats one example of questionnaires being quick and cheap

Answer 2

Connor and dewson (2001) posted nearly 4,000 questionnaires to students at 14 different schools in their study of the factors influencing the decisions of working class students to go to university

Question 3

Whats a second practical advantage

Answer 3

There’s no need to recruit and train interviewers
Because respondents complete and return the questionnaire themselves

Question 4

Whats a third practical advantage

Answer 4

The data is usually easy to quantify, particularly where close ended questions are used
Also they can be processed quickly by computer to reveal the relationships between different variables

Question 5

Whats a theoretical advantage

Answer 5

Questionnaires are seen as a reliable method of collecting data

Question 6

Why are questionnaires seen as reliable

Answer 6

Because if they are repeated by another researcher the questionnaire should give similar results to those gained by the first researcher

Question 7

Whats one reason for why the results would be similar

Answer 7

When the research is repeated,a questionnaire identical to the original is used, so new respondents are asked exactly the same questions as the original respondents

Question 8

What’s the second reason for why the results would be similar

Answer 8

With postal or online questionnaires, unlike with interviews, there’s no researcher present to influence the respondents answers
So the questionnaire can be used by any researcher to obtain the same results

Question 9

Whats the 3rd advantage

Answer 9

Questionnaires are detached and objective

Question 10

Why do positivist favour questionnaires

Answer 10

Because they’re a detached and objective (unbiased) methods.
Where the sociologists personal involvement with their respondents is very little

Question 11

Whats an example of minimum involvement between researchers and their respondents

Answer 11

Postal questionnaires are completed at a distance and involve little or no personal contact with respondents