What is a Questionnaire?

Summary

The video explains the purpose and types of questionnaires, including descriptive and analytical, used to gather standardized information from participants. It discusses various ways to administer questionnaires, such as self-administered, mailed, online, or through interviews. The design of a questionnaire should reflect the type of data being collected, whether it is demographic, behavioral, factual, or opinion-based. It also covers the importance of question types (open or closed), data categories (nominal, ordinal, continuous), and careful sequencing for effective results. Proper design is crucial for accuracy and meaningful insights.

Takeaways

• 📋 A questionnaire is a standardized set of questions used to gather information from a group to make comments or generalize about a population.
• 🔍 There are two main types of questionnaires: descriptive, which explores the extent of a topic, and analytical, which examines relationships between concepts.
• 📊 Descriptive questionnaires need a representative sample of the research population, while analytical ones require statistically stable sample sizes.
• ✉️ Questionnaires can be administered in various ways, including mail, self-administered surveys, or online through platforms like Survey Monkey or I Survey.
• 📞 Some questionnaires are conducted via interviews, such as telephone or face-to-face interviews, but they must follow consistent formats.
• 👥 Questionnaires can gather four types of information: participant attributes, behaviors and experiences, knowledge, and attitudes/opinions.
• 🔢 Different data types can be collected, such as category (nominal), ordinal (ranked), and continuous (numerical) data.
• ✏️ Questions can be open-ended (allowing varied responses) or closed-ended (pre-coded with fixed options like multiple choice or dichotomous).
• 📝 The design and layout of a questionnaire are crucial; clear instructions and logical sequencing of questions help maintain participant engagement.
• 🔄 The questionnaire process is multi-stage, starting with defining research aspects and ending with interpreting results, requiring careful design at each step.

Q & A

What is a questionnaire and what is its main purpose?

A questionnaire is a set of standardized questions designed to gather the same type of information from a group of individuals. Its main purpose is to make comments about the group who filled it out or to generalize findings from the sample group to a broader population of interest.

What are the two main types of questionnaires and their key differences?

The two main types of questionnaires are descriptive and analytical. Descriptive questionnaires aim to measure the extent of a topic within a population, focusing on representativeness, while analytical questionnaires explore associations between concepts, requiring statistically stable sample sizes.

What factors should researchers consider when choosing the sample for their questionnaires?

Researchers should consider whether they need a representative sample (for descriptive studies) or a statistically stable sample size (for analytical studies), depending on the study's goals. Sometimes both representativeness and stability are important.

What are some methods of administering questionnaires?

Questionnaires can be self-administered, mailed, handed out, or distributed online via email or web links. They can also be conducted via interviews, such as telephone interviews or face-to-face interactions.

What are the four main types of information that questionnaires can collect?

Questionnaires can collect information about participants' attributes (e.g., age, gender), behaviors and experiences, factual knowledge, and attitudes or opinions.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of open-ended questions in questionnaires?

Open-ended questions allow greater freedom of expression and capture richer, more spontaneous responses. However, they are time-consuming to code, and there is a risk that researchers may misinterpret responses.

What are closed-ended questions and why are they easier to analyze?

Closed-ended questions provide a limited range of pre-coded responses, making them quicker for participants to answer and easier for researchers to analyze due to uniformity in response formats. However, they may lead to misleading conclusions due to restricted response options.

What are dichotomous questions and when are they typically used?

Dichotomous questions are those with only two possible answers (e.g., yes/no). They are used when simple, clear-cut responses are required and are easy to ask, answer, and code.

How does the design and layout of a questionnaire impact its success?

A well-designed questionnaire with clear instructions, logical sequencing of questions, and meaningful transitions between sections helps maintain participant engagement and ensures better quality responses. Poor design can lead to frustration and incomplete answers.

What are the challenges in determining the order of questions in a questionnaire?

Balancing between easy and difficult questions, avoiding participant fatigue, and ensuring important questions are answered early on are key challenges. Researchers must decide between starting with easy or non-intrusive questions or prioritizing important questions to prevent key information from being missed.