Research_Methodology

Definition of questionnaires' Pg No – 280 Book Malhotra What is the purpose of questionnaires' As a mechanism for obtaining information and opinion, questionnaires have a number of advantages and disadvantages when compared with other evaluation tools. The key strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires are summarised in bullet points below. In general, questionnaires are effective mechanisms for efficient collection of certain kinds of information. They are not, however, a comprehensive means of evaluation and should be used to support and supplement other procedures for evaluating and improving teaching. Advantages of questionnaires • They permit respondents time to consider their responses carefully without interference from, for example, an interviewer. • Cost. It is possible to provide questionnaires to large numbers of people simultaneously. • Uniformity. Each respondent receives the identical set of questions. With closed-form questions, responses are standardised, which can assist in interpreting from large numbers of respondents. • Can address a large number of issues and questions of concern in a relatively efficient way, with the possibility of a high response rate. • Often, questionnaires are designed so that answers to questions are scored and scores summed to obtain an overall measure of the attitudes and opinions of the respondent. • They may be mailed to respondents (although this approach may lower the response rate). • They permit anonymity. It is usually argued that anonymity increases the rate of response and may increase the likelihood that responses reflect genuinely held opinions. Disadvantages of questionnaires • It may be difficult to obtain a good response rate. Often there is no strong motivation for respondents to respond. • They are complex instruments and, if badly designed, can be misleading. • They are an unsuitable method of evaluation if probing is required – there is usually no real possibility for follow-up on answers. • Quality of data is probably not as high as with alternative methods of data collection, such as personal interviewing. • They can be misused – a mistake is to try to read too much into questionnaire results. The qualities of a good questionnaire The design of a questionnaire will depend on whether the researcher wishes to collect exploratory information (i.e. qualitative information for the purposes of better understanding or the generation of hypotheses on a subject) or quantitative information (to test specific hypotheses that have previously been generated). Exploratory questionnaires: If the data to be collected is qualitative or is not to be statistically evaluated, it may be that no formal questionnaire is needed. For example, in interviewing the female head of the household to find out how decisions are made within the family when purchasing breakfast foodstuffs, a formal questionnaire may restrict the discussion and prevent a full exploration of the woman's views and processes. Instead one might prepare a brief guide, listing perhaps ten major open-ended questions, with appropriate probes/prompts listed under each. Formal standardised questionnaires: If the researcher is looking to test and quantify hypotheses and the data is to be analysed statistically, a formal standardised questionnaire is designed. Such questionnaires are generally characterised by: • prescribed wording and order of questions, to ensure that each respondent receives the same stimuli • prescribed definitions or explanations for each question, to ensure interviewers handle questions consistently and can answer respondents' requests for clarification if they occur • prescribed response format, to enable rapid completion of the questionnaire during the interviewing process. Given the same task and the same hypotheses, six different people will probably come up with six different questionnaires that differ widely in their choice of questions, line of questioning, use of open-ended questions and length. There are no hard-and-fast rules about how to design a questionnaire, but there are a number of points that can be borne in mind: 1. A well-designed questionnaire should meet the research objectives. This may seem obvious, but many research surveys omit important aspects due to inadequate preparatory work, and do not adequately probe particular issues due to poor understanding. To a certain degree some of this is inevitable. Every survey is bound to leave some questions unanswered and provide a need for further research but the objective of good questionnaire design is to 'minimise' these problems. 2. It should obtain the most complete and accurate information possible. The questionnaire designer needs to ensure that respondents fully understand the questions and are not likely to refuse to answer, lie to the interviewer or try to conceal their attitudes. A good questionnaire is organised and worded to encourage respondents to provide accurate, unbiased and complete information. 3. A well-designed questionnaire should make it easy for respondents to give the necessary information and for the interviewer to record the answer, and it should be arranged so that sound analysis and interpretation are possible. 4. It would keep the interview brief and to the point and be so arranged that the respondent(s) remain interested throughout the interview. Each of these points will be further discussed throughout the following sections. Figure 4.1 shows how questionnaire design fits into the overall process of research design that was described in chapter 1 of this textbook. It emphasises that writing of the questionnaire proper should not begin before an exploratory research phase has been completed. Basic Rules For Questionnaire Question Types Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format. A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asks the respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. The response options for a closed-ended question should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Four types of response scales for closed-ended questions are distinguished: • Dichotomous, where the respondent has two options • Nominal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than two unordered options • Ordinal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than two ordered options • BoundedContinuous, where the respondent is presented with a continuous scale A respondent's answer to an open-ended question is coded into a response scale afterwards. An example of an open-ended question is a question where the testee has to complete a sentence sentence completion item. Question Sequence In general, questions should flow logically from one to the next. To achieve the best response rates, questions should flow from the least sensitive to the most sensitive, from the factual and behavioural to the attitudinal, and from the more general to the more specific. Basic Rules For Questionnaire Item Construction • Use statements which are interpreted in the same way by members of different subpopulations of the population of interest. • Use statements where persons that have different opinions or traits will give different answers. • Think of having an "open" answer category after a list of possible answers. • Use only one aspect of the construct you are interested in per item. • Use positive statements and avoid negatives or double negatives. • Do not make assumptions about the respondent. • Use clear and comprehensible wording, easily understandable for all educational levels • Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. • Avoid items that contain more than one question per item e.g. Do you like strawberries and potatoes'. Types of Research – pg 2-4 Kothari