Questionnaires

Cards (15)

  • Definition
    A list of questions requiring a response from participants
  • Open question
    Type of question which gives no suggested answers and requires participants to use their own words
  • Closed question

    Type of question with a list of multiple-choice answers which participants choose from
  • Types of data
    • primary
    • secondary
    • qualitative
    • quantitative
    • reliable
    • valid
  • Bowles and Gintis
    • Personality traits of high school students
  • Rutter
    • Correlation between achievement, attendance, and behaviour in secondary
  • The census
    • Every 10 years and it gives an overall picture of households in England and Wales
  • Practical
    • Can post to a large area
    • No direct contact
    • No skills needed
    • Not costly
    • Only a high response rate when incentive is given
    • Quick to create and quick to fill in
  • Ethical
    • Can be good for sensitive topics
    • Questionnaires are not too intrusive and do not ask personal questions
    • Some questionnaires are not appropriate for some topics
    • Informed consent and right to withdraw are easily done
  • Theoretical factors
    • Often a low response rate leading to an unrepresentative sample
    • People may give socially desirable answers
    • Researcher may impose their own views only by asking certain questions
    • Favoured by positivists as quantitative data allows for correlations
    • Data is reliable due to the standardised nature of the questionnaire
    • Little room for interviewer bias
  • Strength
    Positive aspect of a research method
  • Limitation
    Negative aspect of a research method
  • Access to school is difficult
    Sociologists may find it hard to enter a school, distribute a questionnaire, and ask teachers to make their students complete it
  • Students may find it hard to complete
    As this research is on student's literacy skills, asking students who may have difficulty reading and writing to complete a questionnaire may be a challenge for them
  • Asking parents about their support for their children
    Parents may give socially desirable answers to the researcher by overemphasising the support they give to their children to look better to the researcher