Emily Fry
What makes a good questionnaire?
Research
What is a Questionnaire?
A questionnaire is a research tool consisting of a series of questions for the
purpose of gathering information from subjects. Although they are often designed
for analysis of the responses, this is not always the case.
Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they
are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or
telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to
compile data.
Types of Questionnaires
Questionnaires with questions that measure separate variables, could for
instance include questions on:
 preferences (e.g. political party)
 behaviors (e.g. food consumption)
 facts (e.g. gender)
Questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index,
include for instance questions that measure:
 latent traits (e.g. personality traits such as extroversion)
 attitudes (e.g. towards immigration)
 an index (e.g. Social Economic Status)
My questionnaire would contain questions that measure separate variables.This
would provide me with facts, such as gender and preferences within the horror
genre.
Question types
Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent
has to answer in a certain 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. Four types of response scales
for closed-ended questions are:
 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
 (Bounded)Continuous, where the respondent is presented with a
continuous scale
For my questionnaire I plan to use closed-ended questions in order to keep my
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information quantitative ( see end of research).I will use Dichotomous, Norinalpolytomous and ordinal-polytomous questions. I will try to keep as many
questions dichotomous as possible, and will try not to use continuous questions
as I want specific answers, not really a 1-10 scale as this will limit my quantifiable
data by providing 10 different answers for one question. I will limit my answer
options to 2-4.This will provide me with a large amount of specific quantifiable
data. I will order the options if appropriate.
Question sequence
In general, questions 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 behavioral to the attitudinal, and from the more
general to the more specific. I will incorporate this ordering into my questionnaire.
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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.
Consider having an "open" answer category after a list of possible
answers if appropriate.
Use positive statements and avoid negatives or double negatives.
Do not make assumptions about the respondent.
Use clear and comprehensible wording, easily understandable for the
educational levels of your target.
Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Avoid items that contain more than one question per item (e.g. Do you like
strawberries and potatoes?).
Questionnaire administration modes
Main modes of questionnaire administration are:
 Face-to-face questionnaire administration, where an interviewer presents
the items orally.
 Paper-and-pencil questionnaire administration, where the items are
presented on paper.
 Computerized questionnaire administration, where the items are
presented on the computer.
 Adaptive computerized questionnaire administration, where a selection of
items is presented on the computer, and based on the answers on those
items, the computer selects following items optimized for the subjects
estimated ability or trait.
Quantitative Information
Quantitative information: Measurable information .Information you can add up
e.g.: How many said yes, how many said no.
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This can be done by selective multiple-choice questions such as yes or no or tick
boxes. To achieve quantitative information, I would use close-ended questions
(as explained above)
Qualitative Information
Qualitative Information: Opinion based information that you can’t add up. Very
useful for focus groups. Not really aimed towards questionnaires as it leaves very
open information that can vary hugely. You can’t obtain percentages or other
numbers from qualitative information.
E.g.: What do you think about the children playing video games: Qualitative
Do you think that children should be playing video games: Yes/No: Quantitative
To gain qualitative information I would use open-ended questions.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative
I am going to use close-ended questions to obtain quantitative information. I
require information that I can add up to determine what percentages prefer what
in the horror genre in my target audience. This will provide me with a clear view
of what elements my target audience want shown in horror films.
Sampling
Random sampling is a sampling technique where we select a group of subjects
(a sample) for study from a larger group (a population). Each individual is chosen
entirely by chance and each member of the population has a known and
technically equal chance of being included in the sample. By using random
sampling, the likelihood of bias is reduced.
Sometimes, the entire population will be sufficiently small, and the researcher
can include the entire population in the study. This type of research is called
a census study because data is gathered on every member of the population.
Usually, the population is too large for the researcher to attempt to survey all of
its members. A small, but carefully chosen sample can be used to represent the
population. The sample reflects the characteristics of the population from which it
is drawn.
Sampling methods are classified as either probability or non-probability. In
probability samples, each member of the population has a known non-zero
probability of being selected. Probability methods include random sampling,
systematic sampling, and stratified sampling. In non-probability sampling,
members are selected from the population in some nonrandom manner. These
include convenience sampling, judgment sampling, quota sampling, and
snowball sampling. The advantage of probability sampling is that sampling error
can be calculated. Sampling error is the degree to which a sample might differ
from the population. When inferring to the population, results are reported plus or
minus the sampling error. In non-probability sampling, the degree to which the
sample differs from the population remains unknown.
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Random sampling is the purest form of probability sampling. Each member of
the population has an equal and known chance of being selected. When there
are very large populations, it is often difficult or impossible to identify every
member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes biased. A
simple random sample is almost always impossible to achieve in the real world.
For example, using the phone number generator, we will only be able to collect
data from those who have a phone, pick up the phone, and are willing to
participate in the phone survey. Because of this most surveys have inherent
flaws. However, a survey with a small flaw is better then no information. Many
surveys are done using convenience sampling. For example a researcher
stands outside a supermarket and interviews anyone eager to respond.
As stated above achieving a completely random sample is unrealistic. For the
facilities that I have available to me I will try to make the best possible attempt to
question a variety of the population. Therefore I will not be distributing my
questionnaire entirely at my school, as this will limit my age groups and several
other factors such as income, occupations and location. I intend to travel to the
city centre in Nottingham, the Leicester city Centre, general town areas such as
Sandiacre and also ask a few different year groups from Friesland. This way, I
may not achieve a purely random sample but it will spread out the factors a lot
more.
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