questionnaire_rakhisawlane.ppt

QUESTIONNAIRE
BY: DR RAKHI SAWLANI

CONTENT
 Questionnaire - Introduction
 Characteristics of the good questionnaire
 Functions
 Types
 Questionnaire as an instrument
 Reliability
 Validity
 Constructing a questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE
It was invented by Sir Francis Galton,
and is often used in behavioral or
social research.
A set of predetermined questions for all
respondents that serves as a primary
research instrument in survey research.
Used to collect factual information
Consist of a form containing a series of
questions

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Should be concerned with specific and relevant
topic
2. Should be short
3. Directions and wording should be simple and clear
4. Questions should be objective, No leading
suggestions
5. Embarrassing questions, presuming questions
and hypothetical questions should be avoided
6. Should be presented in a good order
7. Should be attractive, neatly printed and clearly
arranged

Continued….
8. Early questions should be simple in design, friendly
and easy to respond; on the other hand; they should convey
the theme of the study to the respondent.
9. The questionnaires should begin with an effort to awaken
the respondents’ interest. Important target questions should
be asked in the middle of the opinion survey.
10. All the questions related to personal information (name,
income, phone, address etc.) of the respondents should be
either optional or asked in the last section of the questionnaires.
11. Open ended questions should be placed in the later
part of the questionnaire and deliberately kept to the
minimum

Appearance and Layout of the Questionnaire
1. Questionnaire should be typed are printed.
2. Instructions should be clearly typed e.g. in bold are in
capital with different font.
3. Spacing between the questions will help the respondent
and the researcher while analyzing the questionnaire.
4. Questionnaire should be at minimum number of sheets.
5. Keep any response boxes in line towards the right of the
sheet to make it easy for respondents.

6. If you intend to use a computer programme, allow
spacing on the right of the sheet for coding.
7. Look critically at your questionnaire and ask yourself
what impression it would give if you were the
respondent.
8. Take care over the order of the questions. Leave
sensitive issues to later in the questionnaire. Start with
straight forward, easy-to-complete questions and move
on to the more complex topics. So questions should be
sorted out before start writing a questionnaire.

FUNCTIONS OF QUESTIONNAIRE
 DESCRIPTION:
The questionnaire provides description about
age, sex, marital status, occupation, income,
political affiliation religious affiliation, etc.
 MEASUREMENT:
Measurement of individual and/or group
variables like attitude, opinion, traits and habits of
persons.

TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRE
 Based upon the type of respond
required,
1. Fixed- response questionnaire.
2. Open- end questionnaire.
 Based upon the method of
administering,
1. Mail questionnaire
2. Face-to-face administered questionnaire

Question type
There are two types of questions
I. Open Format
II. Closed Format

1. Verbal or open
 Respondent is free to give answer in his own words i.e.
expected response is a word, a phrase or an extended
comment.
 Good for collecting subjective data.
 Mostly used in qualitative research
Disadvantages
 First, their very nature requires them to be read
individually.
 There is no way to automatically tabulate or perform
statistical analysis on them.
 More costly in both time and money
 May not be practical for lower budget or time sensitive
evaluations.
 Require more thought and time on the part of the
respondent.

2. Closed or structured
 Requires short and check responses.
 Provide space for making ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or just a ‘check’
from a list of suggested responses.
Advantages
 It is very easy to respond to such a question
 It takes a little time to answer
 It keeps the respondents in the subject
 It is relatively subjective
 It is fairly easy to tabulate and analyse
Draw backs of the closed form:
 Does not provide any opportunity to the respondent to
express his views very clearly as there is no scope for
explanatory information.
 Usually take the form of a multiple-choice question.
 They are easy for the respondent to give the required
information in a very explicit way.

CLOSED FORM
TEACHER MORALE QUESTIONNAIRE

Piloting the Questionnaire
It should be tried out on a group similar to the population
of the study.
The purpose of the piloting exercise is to find
out the time taken to complete the questionnaire and
to see whether wording and format create any problem.
Researcher will then review the questionnaire with the
test takers and discuss all points that were in any way
confusing and work together to solve the problems.

Distribution and Return of Questionnaire
Questionnaire can be distributed:
1. Personally
2. By Post
Researcher should try first to distribute questionnaire
personally if not possible mailing services can be used.
Self-addressed stamped envelop should be included with
questionnaire.
Two weeks is a reasonable time for completion. Give the
precise day and date for the return rather the instruction
to return the questionnaire with in two weeks A letter is
sent with questionnaire explaining the purpose of the
research which is called a cover letter or Forwarding
Letter.

None Response
‘Non-response is a problem’ as high rate of non-
response affects the validity and reliability of the findings
of the study.
Researcher should keep a careful record of the date
questionnaire were distributed and the date they were
returned. Generally there is a good response at first and
then returns slow down. Inevitably, all of the
questionnaires will not be returned by the date specified.
To follow up non- respondents a second letter and
questionnaire will have to be sent. This second letter is
called follow up letter. A week after the original date for
return, follow up letter should be sent.

Analysis of Data
In an ideal world, it would be best to wait for all
questionnaires to be returned and to glance
through all response before beginning to code
and record.
In a limited time project it may be necessary to
begin record as soon as the first questionnaires
are returned.

QUESTIONNAIRE AS INSTRUMENTS
Most survey research relies on the use
of questionnaire to measure variables
Demographic variables
The accuracy and precision of
questionnaire requires expertise and
care in their construction
Self report scales

DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES
Demographic variables are used to
describe the characteristics of the
people who are surveyed.
Measures such as race, ethnicity, age
and socio economic status.
The accuracy and precision of
questionnaire as survey research
instrument depends upon the
expertise and care that go into their
construction

PREFERENCES AND ATTITUDES
Individuals’ preferences and attitudes
For example brand of coffee preferred,
attitude regarding public issues

SELF REPORT SCALES
 Used to measure peoples judgments or
attitude about items presented on the scale
e.g., coffee, political candidates, life events
 To determine differences among people on
some dimensions presented on the scale
e.g., personality traits, amount of stress

RELIABILITY
 Reliability refers to the consistency of measurement.
 Reliable test should yield similar(consistent) results
each time it is taken
 Common method: test- retest reliability
FACTORS AFFECTING RELIABILITY:
 Number of items
 Variability
 Condition in which the questionnaire is
administered

VALIDITY
 It refers to the truthfulness of a measure
 Does it measure what it intends to
measure?
Assessing validity:
Construct validity - Extent to which it measure
the theoretical construct it is designed to
measure.
 Convergent validity
 Discriminant validity.

CONSTRUCTING A QUESTIONNAIRE
Deciding type, writing a draft, pretesting,
concluding with specific procedures.
STEPS:
1. Decide what information should be sought
2. Decide what type of questionnaire should be used
3. Write a first draft of the questionnaire
4. Reexamine and revise the questionnaire
5. Pretest the questionnaire
6. Edit the questionnaire and specify the procedures
for its use.

 WORDINGS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:
 Simplicity in language
 Avoid ambiguity
 Avoid vague words
 Avoid embarrassing questions
 Avoid double negatives
 Avoid leading questions
 Presuming questions
 Hypothetical questions
 Avoid Technical Terms and Ethnic Expressions

ORDER OF THE QUESTIONS:
 Begin with simple and general questions
 No sensitive and embarrassing questions at
beginning
 Move from general to specific in logical manner
 Sensitive questions at the end
 Demographic data should be obtained at the end of
self administering questions
 Kahn & Cannel (1975)
funnel sequence: Start with broad questions
and gradually narrow down to the specific questions
related to the topic.

Advantages of questionnaire
•Easy to construct.
•Distribution is easy and inexpensive.
•Responses are easy to tabulate.
•The respondent’s replies are free.
•Large amounts of information can be collected from a
large number of people in a short period of time and in a
relatively cost effective way.
•Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number
of people with limited affect to its validity and reliability.
•The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly
and easily quantified by either a researcher or through
the use of a software package.
•Can be analyzed more 'scientifically' and objectively
than other forms of research

Disadvantages of questionnaire
• Is argued to be inadequate to understand some forms of
information - i.e. changes of emotions, behavior, feelings etc.
• There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being •
There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has
put in
• The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the
full context of the situation
• People may read differently into each question and therefore
reply based on their own interpretation of the question - i.e.
what is 'good' to someone may be 'poor' to someone else,
therefore there is a level of subjectivity that is not
acknowledged
• There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when
developing the questionnaire, the researcher is making their
own decisions and assumptions as to what is and is not
important...therefore they may be missing something that is of
importance

CONCLUSION
 A questionnaire is a powerful evaluation tool.
 Questionnaire design is a long process that
demands careful attention.
 Questionnaire are the main and easy way collecting
data but the questionnaire must be highly reliable
and valid.
 Using standardized questionnaires will give us the
appropriate data and will yield a valid study
 One must follow all the basic guidelines and
methods of constructing a questionnaire and test it
before using it.

REFERENCE
 Singh, A.K. (1997). Tests, Measurements
and Research Methods in Behavioral
Sciences. Patna: Bharati Bhawan.
 1. Shaughnessy, J.J., Zechmeister, E.B. &
Zechmeister, J.S. (2006). Research
Methods in Psychology. (7th edition).
Singapore: McGraw-Hill.

questionnaire_rakhisawlane.ppt

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