Questionnaires

• What are questionnaires?

  Questionnaires involve a pre-set list of written questions used to assess a person's thoughts and/or experiences.
• What are the strengths of open questions in questionnaires?

  1. Allows a range of answers , thoughts and opinions.
  2. Participants can answer in any way they'd like.
  3. Produces qualitative data.
  4. Lots of depth and detail.
  5. Can provide new ideas.
• What is a weakness of open questions in questionnaires?

  The results are difficult to analyse.
• What are the strengths of closed questions in questionnaires?

  1. They produce quantitative data.
  2. Results are quick and easy to analyse.
• What are the weaknesses of closed questions in questionnaires?

  1. They only allow for fixed responses
  2. Lack of depth, detail and explanations in responses.
• What are some types of closed questions?

  1. Likert scales: Agreement using a scale (1: strongly agree, 5: strongly disagree).
  2. Rating scales: Value which represents their strength of feeling (1: love, 2: like, 3: not bothered etc).
  3. Fixed choice option: Includes a list of options (never, once a day, once a week).
• What is a strength of questionnaires?

  They can produce quantitative data using closed questions. This is a strength as they are easy to analyse using statistical tests and graphs.
• What is a strength of questionnaires?

  The researcher doesn't need to be present, whilst still obtaining large amounts of data. This is a strength as it is convenient for the researcher and time efficient as the researcher doesn't have to ask them the questions individually.
• What is a weakness of questionnaires?

  Most need to be brief as participants are less likely to complete a long questionnaire. This is a weakness as it means questionnaires containing open questions may not be as detailed as researchers need them to be.
• What is a weakness of questionnaires?

  Open questions produce qualitative data. This is a weakness as the results can be difficult to analyse.