Questionnaires (methods in context)

• Operationalisation of concepts


  Turning abstract ideas into a measurable form
• Operationalising concepts can be particularly difficult when creating a questionnaire for pupils because their grasp of abstract concepts is generally less than that of adults
• Operationalising concepts may produce answers that are based on respondents' misunderstanding of what the questions mean
• Operationalising concepts may lead to over-simplifying the questions so much that they cease to have any sociological value
• Sampling frames


  • Schools routinely keep lists of pupils, staff and parents which can provide accurate sampling frames
  • Schools also have ready-made opportunity samples of pupils and teachers in the form of classes and teaching departments
• Schools may deny access to confidential information that could be used to create a sampling frame
• Distributing questionnaires in schools

  • It is a fairly easy way to access a large number of potential respondents
  • The researcher will first need the school's permission to give them out
• Distributing questionnaires to parents

  • Parents are harder than pupils or teachers to locate and contact, so using the school to distribute questionnaires is an effective way to overcome this difficulty
• Younger children in particular are more open to peer group pressure and it is difficult to prevent pupils who are completing questionnaires that have been distributed in class from discussing responses
• A questionnaire that does not involve the researcher being present when it is completed may help to overcome the problem of status differences between adult researcher and younger respondent
• A questionnaire usually has the appearance of a formal document that pupils may find off-putting
• Response rates for questionnaires

  • Often low
  • Schools may be reluctant to allow sociologists to distribute questionnaires because of the disruption to lessons or because they object to the researcher's chosen topic
• When questionnaires are conducted in schools, response rates can often be higher than in other areas because the head's consent and authority may put pressure on teachers and pupils to cooperate
• The higher response rate may produce more representative data from which generalisations can be drawn
• Teachers are often too busy to complete a lengthy questionnaire, which may reduce the response rate
• Questionnaires


  • Very useful for gathering large quantities of basic factual educational information quickly and cheaply
  • The data generated is often limited and superficial, providing correlations but not explanations
• Written questionnaires are unsuitable for those who cannot read reasonably well, such as young children or those with certain learning difficulties
• Children generally have a shorter attention span than adults, so questionnaires need to be relatively brief if they are to stand a chance of being completed
• Children's life experiences are narrower and their recall different from those of adults, which may mean that pupils, particularly those of primary school age, do not actually know the answers
• Schools have very active informal communication channels, so the purpose and questions of a questionnaire may become known throughout the school before all participants have been given it, affecting the validity of the data
• Teachers are well-educated professionals who may be able to analyse the pattern of questions and recognise the researcher's aims and intentions, then adjust their answers accordingly, producing invalid data
• Teachers are very busy professionals and may not cooperate fully if the questionnaire is a lengthy document that will take a long time to complete
• Questionnaires and sensitive educational issues


  • Questionnaires can be particularly useful when researching sensitive issues like bullying, where anonymity may overcome pupils' embarrassment or fear of retribution
  • Much depends on whether pupils are reassured that their anonymity will be safeguarded, which may be difficult to achieve with such a detached method as a questionnaire
• Interpretivists reject questionnaires as a means of researching pupils because the lack of contact with respondents makes rapport difficult to establish, and young people may be less likely to give full and honest responses
• Pupils, particularly those in anti-school subcultures, may refuse to cooperate or take the questionnaire seriously if they equate it with school and teacher authority, resulting in incomplete or invalid data
• Compared with face-to-face forms of research such as interviews, it is easy to make questionnaires anonymous, which may allow teachers to give more honest answers to sensitive questions