Questionnaires

• what is a questionnaire

  -obtaining data by asking people questions and recording their answers

  -a standardised set of questions is given to each respondent

  -primary data and self report

  -can include qualitative or quantitative data
• outline open questions

  -no fixed response

  -allows respondent to provide own unique response

  -does not limit possible answers

  -produces qualitative data
• Outline closed questions

  -restrict respondent to a pre determined set of responses

  -limits possible answers

  -produces quantitive data
• What is a likert scale

  -ppts indicate their level of agreement on a 5 point scale
• What is a rating scale

  -ppts indicate strength of feeling towards a particular topic on a scale
• what is a fixed choice option

  -ppts select answers that apply to them from a list of prewritten questions
• What things should be considered when designing questionnaires

  -keep it simple and clear

  -keep as short as possible

  -keep it relevant to purpose
• what other things should be considered

  -ask for one piece of info at a time

  -allow for don't know where appropriate

  -be sensitive

  -avoid overuse of jargon
• define primary data

  -Information that has been obtained first hand by the research for the purposes of a research project.
• define secondary data

  -Information that has already been collected by someone else and so pre-dates the current research project.
• define quantative data

  -Data that can be counted, usually given as numbers.
• define qualitative data

  -Data that is expressed in words and non-numerical.
• strengths and weakness of primary

  -S: Designed with the researcher’s objectives in mind.

  -w: Time consuming.​Costly.
• s and w of secondary

  -s: Cheaper option.​Easily accessed.

  -w: Data could vary in quality and accuracy (incomplete/ outdated etc).
• strengths of quantitative

  -Simple to analyse, compare and find trends

  -More objective

  -Less bias.
• weaknesses of quantitative

  -Narrower in scope and meaning.​

  -Doesn’t represent real life.
• strengths of qualitative

  -More rich, detailed data.​

  -Participants are able to expand on their answers/thoughts/feelings.​

  -Greater external validity.
• weaknesses of qualitative

  -Difficult and time consuming to analyse.​

  -Harder to compare and find patterns. ​

  -Subjective. ​

  -Open to bias.
• outline how you could pilot and modify the questionnaires

  -test q with group of ppts

  -obtain feedback from them

  -identify issues with q

  -alter the problem q items
• what is one weakness of questionnaire

  -social desirability bias

  -response bias

  -acquiescence bias

  -cost, time

  -demand characteristics

  -ethics
• to assess external validity of questionnaires

  -we need to consider how representative of the population the people who completed the questionnaires are
• how could we assess internal validity in questionnaires

  -Face validity: does the test look as if it is measuring what the research intended to measure, e.g. are the questions obviously related to the topic?​

  -Concurrent validity: this can be established by comparing the current questionnaire or test with a previously established test on the same topic. Participants take both tests and then the two test scores are compared​
• define internal reliability in questionnaires

  -this is the measure of the extent to which something is consistent within itself. For example, all the questions on an IQ test should in fact by measuring IQ
• to assess internal reliability

  -Split-half method: a single group of participants all take a test once. Their answers to the test questions are divided in half. ​

  The individual’s scores on both halves of the test should be very similar if the test is internally reliable
• external reliablity means

  -this is a measure of consistency over several different occasions, e.g. if a questionnaire is given to a participant on one day and then again a week later, their results should be very similar in order to be externally reliable
• to assess external reliability

  -​Test-retest method: a participant is a given a questionnaire once and then again some time later.

  -The answers are compared and should be the same