Questionnaires with context links to education

Question 1

Questionnaires

Answer 1

• they’re a form of social survey
• types: post, face-to-face or email
• questionnaires usually gather quantitative data
• sociologists use the same questions in their repetition of the study making questionnaires highly reliable

Question 2

practical advantages

Answer 2

• fairly cheap to produce and can reach a large sample quickly because they’re representative
• they can be easily distributed electronically via email
• online surveys can be easily distributed through the use of social media
• once returned the quantitative data is easy and quick to analyse in order to map cause and effect relationships
• standardised procedure so they’re highly reliable
• respondents can remain anonymous if needed

Question 3

EVALUATION (QUESTIONNAIRES)

Answer 3

• interpretivists reject the use of questionnaires as they fail to gather truthful findings
• interpretivists suggest that as a result of lack of depth responses, questionnaires lack validity and verstehen
• email questionnaires can be easily ignored
• fixed questions and standardised approach fail to allow flexibility
• misunderstanding can impact on the validity of responses
• response rates can be low if sent by post this will affect research

Question 4

Questionnaires in the context of education

Answer 4

• some pupils those may see questionnaires as extra work expected of them and respond negatively, especially those in anti school subcultures
• pupils level of understanding will vary across ability ranges and year groups, often they will need to simplify them
• they must get permission from gatekeepers i.e headteachers, due to the marketisation of schools they will deny the opportunity to research if the questionnaire is likely to show them in a negative way