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Questionnaire as tool of data collection
• The advantages of questionnaires

• Practical
• Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of
people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way
• Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with
limited affect to its validity and reliability
• The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily
quantified by either a researcher or through the use of a software
package
• Can be analyzed more 'scientifically' and objectively than other forms of
research
• Test existing hypotheses
Questionnaire as tool of data collection
• The Disadvantages of questionnaires
• changes of emotions, behaviour, feelings etc.
• Lacks validity
• There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being
• The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full context
of the situation
• People may read differently into each question and therefore reply based
on their own interpretation of the question - i.e. what is 'good' to
someone may be 'poor' to someone else, therefore there is a level of
subjectivity that is not acknowledged
• There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when developing
the questionnaire, the researcher is making their own decisions and
assumptions as to what is and is not important...therefore they may be
missing something that is of importance
Steps in Developing a Questionnaire
• Deciding the Purpose
• The initial step in developing a questionnaire is to ask what you want to
know.
• For instance, you may want to know how satisfied your customers are,
what services they would like you to offer or which competitors they use.
• Begin by making a list of all the questions you want answered.
• Understanding the Use
• Before you start a survey, you need to understand how you will use the
data.
• For example, if you want to compare local clients to out-of-town clients,
you will need to ask people who complete the questionnaire where they
live.
• Selecting Your Target

• A key component of survey design is deciding whom to survey.
• You need to decide, for instance, whether you want to target a specific
demographic or if you want answers from a broad cross section of the
public
• Choosing a Method
• Surveys can be administered in a variety of ways — for example, in
person, by phone or online.
• Choose a method that you think will be most convenient for your
customers or other respondents.
• Selecting Question Types
• Survey questions take one of two forms — they are either quantitative or
qualitative.
• Quantitative questions are used to get concrete responses, such as the
number of times a customer visits your store.
• Qualitative questions ask for opinions, such as how satisfied they are.
• Writing Questions
• Questions should be written as succinctly as possible. State your
questions in plain, simple language.
• Avoid using complicated sentence structure or uncommon words.
• Arranging Questions
• The placement of survey questions needs to be carefully thought out.
• To ease your respondents into the questionnaire, start with simple
questions that do not ask for much personal information.
• In longer surveys, it helps to mix up question types — for instance,
changing from yes-or-no questions to open-response questions — to
keep the respondent interested.
• Testing
• Test your questionnaire on friends, family and employees.
• This helps you to identify unclear questions, awkward wording or other
mistakes that you may not notice on your own.
• Rewrite any problem questions before administering the questionnaire
to real respondents.
GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE
• 1. Brief and Limited Questionnaire:
• The number of questions in a schedule should be brief and limited as possible. Only relevant questions to
the problem under investigation should be added.
• 2. Simple and Clear:
• The questions should be simple, clear and precise. Its language should be very simple so that informants
may easily understand.
• 3. Unambiguous Questions":
• All unambiguous questions should be avoided at all, complicated and long-worded questions irritate the
respondents which results in careless; replies.
• 4. No Personal Questions:
• No personal question should be asked from, respondents. Such questions should be avoided.
• 5. Use of Proper Words:
• Questions should be framed with right words. This ensures the validity.
• 6. Avoidance of Calculations:
• Questions should not be based on calculations. Only those questions should be asked which the
respondents may reply immediately. Moreover, questions should avoid memories.
• 7. Only Objective Questions:
• The questions should be objective. It should be based on opinions of the individuals.
• 8. Sequence of the Questions:
• The arrangement of the questions should be such so that no question may slip back. It
must involve a logical flow of questions.
• 9. Pre-testing:
• Before sending the questionnaire to the respondents, it must be properly tested.
• 10. Instructions:
• Precise and simple instructions of filling the questionnaire should be added in the foot
note.
• 11. Cross Examination:
• The questionnaire should be set in such a way that there may be cross examination of
the information supplied by the informants. In fact, it is a check on false or inaccurate
answers.
• 12. Secret Information:
• Every respondent should be ensured that information given by them shall be kept
secret.
• 13. Attractive Questionnaire:
• Proper care should be taken to make the questionnaire attractive. A well set
questionnaire will certainly impress the recipient.
Types of Questions
• Open Format Questions
• opportunity to express their opinions in a free-flowing manner.
• These questions don't have predetermined set of responses
• respondent is free to answer whatever he/she feels right.
• you can get true, insightful and even unexpected suggestions.
• Qualitative questions fall under this category.
• seeks feedback and/or suggestions for improvements from
respondents.
Types of Questions
• Closed Format Questions
• Restricted to choose among any of the given multiple choice answers
are known as closed format or closed-ended questions.
• There is no fixed limit as to how many multiple choices should be
given;
• ease at performing preliminary analysis.
• These questions are ideal for calculating statistical data and
percentages, as the answers set is known.
• Closed ended questions can also be asked to different groups at
different intervals to efficiently track their opinion about a
product/service/company over time.
Types of Questions
• Dichotomous Questions
• The dichotomous question is a question which can have two possible

answers.
• Dichotomous questions are usually used in a survey that asks for a
Yes/No, True/False or Agree/Disagree answers.
• They are used for clear distinction of qualities, experiences or
respondent’s opinions.
• One major drawback with dichotomous questions is that it cannot
analyze the answers between yes and no, there is no scope for a
middle perspective.
Multiple Choice Questions
• A multiple choice question is a question type where the
respondent is asked to choose one or more items from a
limited list of choices.
• It can be a very effective assessment technique.
• Multiple choice tests often require less time to administer

for a given amount of material than would tests requiring
written responses.
Multiple Choice Questions
• Multiple choice questions lend themselves to the development of objective
assessment items,
• Lower likelihood of researcher bias in the results and Multiple choice tests are
the strongest predictors of overall performance
• Single-answer questions - These questions allow one and only one answer to
be chosen by providing radio buttons next to the answers.
• Multiple-answer questions- allow one or more answers to be chosen by

providing check boxes next to the answer
Measurement Scales
• Types of measurement scales are
• Nominal
• Ordinal
• Scale
NOMINAL SCALE
Sex Social status
Marital status Days of the week (months)
Geographic location Patrons per hour
Ethnic Group Types of restaurants
Brand choice Religion
Job Type: Executive, Technical, Clerical
Coded as “1” Coded as “2”

Ordinal Scale
classifies nominal data
according to some order or rank
E.g. names ordered
alphabetically
With ordinal data, it is fair to
say that one response is greater
or less than another.
E.g. if people were asked to
rate the hotness of 3 chili
peppers, a scale of "hot",
"hotter" and "hottest" could be The gap between the items is
used. Values of "1" for "hot", "2" unspecified.
for "hotter" and "3" for "hottest"
could be assigned.
Interval Scale
assumes that the measurements are made in
equal units.
i.e. gaps between whole numbers on the scale
are equal.
e.g. Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales
an interval scale does not have to have a true
zero. e.g. A temperature of "zero" does not mean
that there is no temperature...it is just an
arbitrary zero point.
Permissible statistics: count/frequencies, mode,
median, mean, standard deviation
Ratio Scale
similar to interval scales except that
the ratio scale has a true zero value.
e.g. the time something takes
allows you to compare differences
between numbers.
Permits full arithmetic operation.
If a train journey takes 2 hr and 35
min, then this is half as long as a
journey which takes 5 hr and 10 min.
Examples
height, weight, age,
Length
time
Income
Market share
6
1.What is your annual income
5
before taxes? $ _______
4
3
2. How far is your workplace
2
from home? _______
1
miles
0
Method of Summated Ratings: The Likert Scale
 An extremely popular means for measuring attitudes.
 Respondents indicate their own attitudes by checking how strongly they
agree or disagree with statements.
 Response alternatives: “strongly agree”, “agree”, “uncertain”, “disagree”,
and “strongly disagree”.
 Likert scale to measure how people feel about products, services, or
experiences.
 Strongly agree=5
Agree=4
Neutral=3
Disagree=2
Strongly disagree=1
Likert SCALE EXAMPLE
Semantic Differential Scale
A series of seven-point bipolar rating scales. Bipolar adjectives, such as
“good” and “bad”, anchor both ends (or poles) of the scale.
 These survey answering options are grammatically on opposite adjectives at

each end. For example, love / hate, satisfied / unsatisfied and likely to return /
unlikely to return with intermediate options in between.
 Charles
Egerton Osgood, a famous American psychologist, invented the
semantic differential scale
A semantic differential scale measures attitudes towards something. For

example, you could measure a person’s attitude to the word “Work”
Semantic Differential Scales for Measuring
Attitudes Toward Tennis
Exciting ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : Calm
Interesting ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : Dull
Simple___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ Complex
Passive ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ Active

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Questionnaire as tool of data collection

• The advantages of questionnaires

• Selecting Your Target

• The dichotomous question is a question which can have two possible

• It can be a very effective assessment technique.

• Multiple choice tests often require less time to administer

• Multiple-answer questions- allow one or more answers to be chosen by

Coded as “1” Coded as “2”

 These survey answering options are grammatically on opposite adjectives at

A semantic differential scale measures attitudes towards something. For

Exciting _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : ___ : Calm

Interesting _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : ___ : Dull

Simple_ : _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : ___ Complex

Passive _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : _ : ___ Active

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