Questionnaires

• Questionnaires are a set of predetermined questions that are asked of a sample of people. They are a self-report method; participants fill out the questionnaires without the presence of a researcher. Can be postal or handed to willing participants.
• Closed question

  A question where participants choose their answer from some options. (Yes/No)
• Examples of closed questions

  One word answers, yes/no/maybe, true/false, multiple choice
• Open question

  An open question allows participants to answer freely. Open-ended questions.
• Quantitative data

  Numerical data
• Qualitative data

  Non-numerical data, comes in word form, usually contains thoughts, feelings and opinions.
• Designing questionnaires

  No leading questions

  No ambiguity

  Use logical scales/measures

  Suitable analysis
• Strengths of open questions

  Variety

  Detailed
• Weaknesses of open questions

  Subjective which can be hard for researchers to interpret

  Large quantities of data can be time consuming to analyse.
• Strengths of closed questions

  Easily compare answers

  Easy to analyse

  More objective- less interpretation of answers

  Large data sets (nomothetic) can be easily collected

  Reliability can be tested for
• Weaknesses of closed questions

  Misses the richness of the individual human experience