questionnaires -

• what are two types of questionnaires?

  closed questions and open questions.
• what are strengths of open questions?


  participants are free to answer - we will have a wider range of responses to analyse, giving us a more valid overview.
• what are weaknesses of open questions?

  • time consuming to analyse the data.
  • time consuming to collect the data.
• what are weaknesses of closed questions?

  • can lack detail.
  • might elicit social desirability from participants.
  • researcher may pick their 'best fit'.
• what are strengths of closed questions?

  • can be economical - provide large amounts of research data for relatively low costs.
  • information can be easily converted into quantitative data.
  • questions are standardised (asked the same questions in the same order).
• what type of data do closed questions give?


  quantitative data (numbers).
• what type of data do open questions give?


  qualitative data (words / opinions).
• what are open questions?

  • questions that don't force a specific type of answer from the participant.
  • could say anything you like when answering the question.
• what are closed questions?

  • a question that forces the person answering the question to give a particular answer (e.g. yes or no).
  • more common closed questions use a scale to get an answer.