Theory and Methods Topic 3 - questionnaires

Question 1

Questionnaires

Answer 1

A form of social survey that can be distributed to people at home, emailed or completed on the spot. Participants are asked to provide answers to pre-set questions which is useful for testing hypotheses about cause and effect relationships
- Favoured by positivists

Question 2

Closed questions

Answer 2

Respondents choose from a range of possible answers which the researcher has decided in advance, similar to multiple choice

Question 3

Open-ended questions

Answer 3

Respondents are free to give whatever answers they wish, there are no pre-selected answers

Question 4

Practical advantages of questionnaires (2)

Answer 4

1. Quick, cheap and efficient - can gather large amounts of data from large numbers of people over a geographical area
2. Training - no need to recruit and train interviewers as participants complete and return the questionnaires

Question 5

Ethical advantages of questionnaires (2)

Answer 5

1. Fewer ethical issues - questionnaires may ask sensitive/intrusive questions but respondents can choose not to answer these, questions are also pre-determined so they can be worded carefully
2. Anonymity and confidentiality - researchers can guarantee that their details are kept secret and make it clear they don’t have to answer

Question 6

Theoretical advantages of questionnaires (3)

Answer 6

1. Reliability - questionnaires are seen to be very reliable and likely to produce similar results if they were repeated and they allow comparisons. Answers also can’t be influenced
2. Representativeness - can collect data from a large number of people and are more likely to be representative of a wider population, allows for accurate generalisations to be made
3. Detached and objective - means the results are unbiased

Question 7

Practical disadvantages of questionnaires (5)

Answer 7

1. Data collected can be limited - questionnaires tend to be brief as participants are unlikely to complete time consuming questionnaires
2. Money - sometimes need to offer incentives for completion e.g. prize draws
3. Postal/online - cannot be sure that participants actually receive the questionnaire
4. Inflexibility - the questions are fixed and cannot be changed, therefore no new areas can be explored
5. Language - sometimes the questionnaires can use complex language so some people may not fully understand, and there’s no clarification

Question 8

Ethical disadvantage of questionnaires

Answer 8

1. Sensitive data - people answering the questionnaires on their own (detached method) so you cannot build a rapport to help the participant feel comfortable

Question 9

Theoretical disadvantages of questionnaires (2)

Answer 9

1. ‘Right answerism’ - respondents may lie, not know, forget, not understand, or try to please the researcher. Some feel they have to give ‘respectable’ answers which can affect the validity
2. Low response rate - few people who are sent questionnaires actually complete them, those who complete it may give different results to those who don’t. This can create distorted/unrepresentative results that can’t be generalised

Question 10

Schofield (1965)

Answer 10

Conducted results on the sexual behaviour of teenagers. A young girl was asked ‘are you a virgin?’ to which she replied ‘not yet’. This is one example of how respondents may not understand the question they’re being asked

Question 11

Shere Hite’s (1991)

Answer 11

Study on ‘love, passion and emotional violence’ sent 100,000 questionnaires with only a 4.5% response rate

Question 12

Ways to improve the response rate of questionnaires:

Answer 12

• Financial incentives
• Short questionnaires
• Coloured ink (eye catching)
• Accompanied with personal letters
• Sent 1st class with a return envelope
• Contacting participants before sending questionnaire
• Follow up contact to encourage response
• Design to appeal interests

Question 13

Questionnaires as a snapshot (one theorist)

Answer 13

They only give a picture of social reality at one time, the moment when the questions are answered, therefore fail to produce a valid picture
- Cicourel (1968) argues data from questionnaires is detached and therefore lacks validity as it doesn’t give a full picture

Question 14

Imposing the researcher’s meanings

Answer 14

Interpretivists argue questionnaires are more likely to impose the researchers own meanings rather than reveal those of the respondent.
- If close ended questions are used, respondents have to try and fit their views into the answers decided by the researcher
- If open ended questions are used, respondents can answer as they please (however when data is analysed identical answers can be lumped)