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d) Develop a list of the units to be sampled (e.g., students, houses, teachers, etc.).

Questionnaire Method

e) Decide on the method of data collection to be used (e.g., face-to-face interview,


telephone interview, mailed questionnaire, etc.).
f) Explain how the questionnaire content, wording, format and pre-testing process
will be developed; as well as the procedures put in place to deal with the
interviewer training and non-response results.
g) Choose the methods to be used during the data processing (e.g., coding, editing
etc.). Some of the other issues that can be analysed during this step include
estimation methods, result output tabulations, result reports and the analysis.
Finally, the last two important issues to be considered are the time required to
complete the entire process and the budget that has been allotted to it.
3rd Step:Survey target population
Often the target population (the population for which information is required) and the
survey population (the population actually covered) differ for practical reasons. It is
necessary to impose geographical limitations excluding certain parts of the target
population because they are inaccessible due to difficulty or cost.
It is also possible that some of the survey concepts and methods that are used can
be considered inappropriate for certain parts of the population, as it may be difficult
to find them . For example, if we want to find out the govt. jobs taken up by those
who completed their vocational course in secretarial practice, it would be difficult as
they can be all over India. We have therefore to restrict it to geographical limits of
northern India only or South India only etc.
4th Step: Method of data collection
This next step in questionnaire design involves developing the methods of data
collection. This is important step because you need to consider the costs, physical
resources, and time required to conduct the survey.
First, select the best method for gathering the required data. Keep in mind that cost
and data quality will be directly impacted by the method you choose.
There are several options available: face-to-face interviews or computer assisted
personal interviewing (CAPI) are two examples. These methods are administered by
a trained interviewer and can have either a structured or unstructured line of questioning.
There are also two telephone methods available: telephone interviews or computer
assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Both of these methods are also administered
by a trained interviewer, but the telephone versions are structured with a more formal
interview schedule. Finally, there is also the option of a collecting data through a self-
completed questionnaire.
This method allows the respondent to complete the questionnaire without the aid of
an interviewer. It is highly structured and can be returned by mail or through a drop-
off system.
5th Step: Size of the survey
Since each survey is different, there are no hard and fast rules for determining its size.
The deciding factors in the scale of the survey operations are time, cost, operational
constraints and the desired precision of the results. These have to be evaluated.
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Tools of Data Collection 6th Step: Data processing plans
This processes the questionnaire responses into output. Coding; data capture; editing;
dealing with invalid or missing data; and, if necessary creating derived variables are
the tasks that will be completed during data processing. In short, the aim in this step
is to produce a file of data that is as free of errors as possible.
7th Step: Budget
Sometimes, questionnaire design is decided upon by the amount of money available
to do a specific survey. Costs are one of the main justifications for choosing to
conduct sample surveys instead of a census. With surveys, it is possible to obtain
reasonable results with a relatively small sample or target population. For example,
if you need information on all Canadian citizens over 15 years of age, a survey of
a small percentage of these (1,000 or 2,000 depending on the requirements) might
provide adequate results.
8th Step. Time
One of the advantages of survey sampling is that it permits investigators to produce
the information quickly. It is often the case that survey results are required shortly
after the need for information has been identified. For example, if an organisation
wants to conduct a survey to measure the public awareness of a media advertisement
campaign, the survey should be conducted shortly after the campaign is undertaken.
Since sampling requires a smaller scale of operation, it reduces the data collection
and processing time, while allowing for greater design time and more complex
processing programs.
9th Step. Questionnaire testing
a) This is a fundamental step in developing a questionnaire. Testing helps discover
poor wording or ordering of questions.
b) Identify errors in the questionnaire layout and instructions
c) Determine problems caused by the respondent’s inability or unwillingness to
answer the questions.
d) Suggest additional response categories that can be pre-coded on the
questionnaire.
e) Provide a preliminary indication of the length of the interview and any refusal
problems.
f) Testing can include the entire questionnaire or only a particular portion of it.
g) A questionnaire will at some point in time have to be fully tested.
10thStep. Data quality
This step identifies errors and verifies results. No matter how much planning and
testing goes into a survey, something unexpected will often happen. As a result, no
survey is ever perfect.
Quality assurance programs such as interview training, information editing, computer
program testing, non-respondent follow-ups, and data collection and output spot-
checks are required to minimize non-sampling errors introduced during various stages
of the survey.
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Statistical quality control programs ensure that the specified error levels are controlled Questionnaire Method
to minimum.
In addition to the above, there are many other issues related to developing a
questionnaire and these are given below:
 Is the introduction informative? Does it stimulate respondent interest?
 Are the words simple, direct and familiar to all respondents?
 Do the questions read well? Did the overall questionnaire flow?
 Are the questions clear and as specific as possible?
 Does the questionnaire begin with easy and interesting questions?
 Does the question specify a time reference?
 Are any of the questions double-barreled?
 Are any questions leading or loaded?
 Should the questions be open- or close-ended? If the questions are close-
ended are the response categories mutually exclusive and exhaustive?
 Are the questions applicable to all respondents?
The introduction of the questionnaire is very important because it outlines the pertinent
information about the survey being conducted. The introduction should:
 provide the title or subject of the survey;
 identify the sponsor;
 explain the purpose of the survey;
 request the respondent’s co-operation; and
 inform the respondent about confidentiality issues, the status of the survey
(voluntary or mandatory) and any existing data-sharing agreements with other
organisations.
Respondents frequently question the value of the gathered information to themselves
and to others. Therefore, be sure to explain why it is important to complete the
questionnaire, how the information will be used, and how respondents can access the
results. Ensuring that respondents understand the value of their information is vital in
undertaking a survey.
The opening questions of any survey questionnaire should establish the respondents’
confidence in their ability to answer the remaining questions. If necessary, the opening
questions should help determine the respondent as a member of the survey population

3.13 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF


QUESTIONNAIRE
Advantages of Questionnaire
1) They are cheap
2) Do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone
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surveys.
Tools of Data Collection 3) They have standardised answers that make it simple to compile data.
4) They sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the
questions and respond to them.
5) Questionnaires can be used to collect data quickly.
6) All participants can be given the opportunity to provide feedback.
7) Structured questionnaire data can be processed by software packages like
SPSS
Disadvantages of Questionnaire
1) Questionnaires also have many of the same problems relating to question
construction and wording that exist in other types of opinion polls.
2) Questions could be interpreted differently by respondents. It can be difficult to
design questionnaires to minimize this effect.
3) Data processing and analysis for large samples can be time consuming.
4) It can be difficult motivating potential respondents to complete questionnaires.
Procedure for a questionnaire survey
The following procedures are recommended for a questionnaire survey:
a) Determine the major questions
b) Draft questionnaire items
c) Design the questionnaire
d) Pilot test the questionnaire
e) Develop a data-collection strategy
f) Develop a cover letter and send the questionnaire
g) Monitor the response
h) Analyse the survey data
i) Determine the major questions
You should begin by understanding the major questions or issues you wish to address.
These will generally be reflected in the questionnaire sections, as described below.
Typical sections
1) Introduction or background information
This section includes questions about your client that may be important to your
analysis. It should solicit background information you need to address, such as the
respondent’s department, region, experience, gender, position, and experience with
the supplier. Ask only what is essential to your sub analyses. If you don’t need to
know, don’t ask.
2) Quality of goods or services received by your client
This section is the heart of the questionnaire and requires you to develop dimensions
of quality that may be important. The client (respondent) then rates the quality of
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your outputs along these dimensions.
3) Other considerations Questionnaire Method

For this section, choose a title that matches other important dimensions of client
service, such as “Timeliness of Delivery,” “Safety,” or “Environmental Responsibility.”
4) Responsiveness, problem-solving, and client service
This set of questions will address your client’s perceptions of your service. This
section might be merged with the quality or other-considerations section. These
major sections of your questionnaire provide the overall outline. Once you know
these major themes, you need to develop actual questions or items.
5) Types of questionnaire items
You must draft actual questionnaire items within each of the sections of your
questionnaire. It is difficult to vary the types of questions too often, so economise
within each section by asking similar types of questions.You will need to master six
types of questionnaire item before you invent your own. Unproved alternatives are
often confusing to the reader. So use unproved alternatives only after you are fully
familiar with the types of items described below.
6) Multiple-choice item
This type of question is useful for the introduction or background-information section.
7) Fill-in-the-blank item
Use this form when the possibilities are too numerous to list using a multiple-choice
item. They work well in a mix with multiple-choice. So, they are also good in the
introduction.
8) Rating-scale item
This type of item enables you to collect a lot of information efficiently. Rating-scale
items are good for rating your goods and services, other considerations, and so forth.

9) List item
This type of item provides a stronger form of feedback than a rating scale. It forces
the client to identify what he or she considers important and helps the researcher to
avoid the problem of people just agreeing because it is easy to check a box without
feeling that it is important to them.
What aspects of your training course did you like most? Please list three of them.
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
10) Comment-on item
This type of question is another way to gain an understanding of what your client
considers important. It is particularly useful for “mopping up” in the concluding
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section.
Tools of Data Collection Please write any other comments about the work of school principal and suggestions
for training that you consider important:
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
11) Likert-scale items
The Likert scale allows the respondent to agree or disagree with a series of statements.
(Note, these are statements, not questions.) The Likert scale is easy to use, if you
know how, and like other rating scales it is an efficient way to collect lots of
information.

Now, you try a few. Write your own statements for dimensions of your work unit’s
outputs. Include items that are worded both positively and negatively.
12) Design the questionnaire
As you write the items, you should begin considering an overall design for your
questionnaire. Follow these rules:
 Lay out items to avoid confusion;
 Use the formats shown in the examples;
 Don’t allow a question to cross over two pages;
 Instruct the respondent in what you want him or her to do for each type of
question; and
 Number the questions consecutively.
Use a booklet to make it professional and facilitate completion. Have a title and
introductory explanation, to let your clients know what you are doing and to help
them fill out the questionnaire properly.
Arrange the questionnaire in sections, each with a title to help structure the respondent’s
thinking; and to facilitate analysis.
Group similar types of items together especially with rating-scale items; but Fill-in-
the-blank and multiple-choice items can be mixed together.
Use all available space. Try to limit the length of the questionnaire to four pages and
Use space for comments to fill in pages.

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Questionnaire Method
3.14 PILOT TEST OF QUESTIONNAIRE
Even the best questionnaire needs testing. You might understand everything in the
questionnaire, but your client may not. Here are some tips to help you test your
questionnaire. Show the questionnaire to critical colleagues and ask them to read
it and to comment in the margins; and then revise the questionnaire.
Following this, test the questionnaire with a few clients
Now you have a questionnaire ready to go! You’ll need to work out a strategy for
how and where to send it. The first part of your strategy is to select a sample of
people who fairly represent all your clients. Prepare a list of your sample clients.
The second part of your strategy is to decide on the technology you will use to send
out your questionnaire.
1) Standard: Questionnaires can be printed, in your office or by a printer, and
mailed to respondents. Respondents fill them out and mail them back. Results
are manually input into a database or statistical program for analysis.
2) Optical scanning: It is possible to print questionnaires so that they can be read
by an optical scanner that picks up the responses automatically.
3) Electronic questionnaires: The coming wave for internal client-needs assessments
is the e-mail questionnaire. This is designed on a computer and sent as a
computer file to clients via e-mail. The client receives the file, completes the
questionnaire on his or her computer, and sends the file back to you by e-mail.
4) Follow-up: You also need a follow-up strategy. This may include tracking the
number returned each day – e-mail lets you know who hasn’t yet replied.
Sending a reminder two weeks after first mailing; and deciding on corrective
action, if returns are poor. When key people in each unit distribute and collect
the questionnaire, pyramid networks are great, but personal networks are the
best of all for getting returns. Develop a cover letter and send the questionnaire.
5) Cover letter: Every successful questionnaire comes with a cover letter. The
letter should contain six pieces of information:
i) The purpose of the questionnaire;
ii) Who is sending it;
iii) Why the respondent was selected;
iv) Where, how, and when to return the questionnaire;
v) Whom to contact if there are further questions; and
vi) Whether and how the results will be shared.

3.15 MONITOR THE RESPONSES


Count on 4 to 6 weeks to get responses to your questionnaire. Send reminder
letters or put your network into action; and start your analysis when responses dry
up.

3.16 ANALYSE THE SURVEY DATA


Questionnaire analysis generally means dealing with large numbers or with a variety
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of numbers. This usually requires you to use statistical concepts and computers.
Tools of Data Collection Many simple statistics programs are available to help you analyse data.
Six steps for constructing effective questionnaires: A Summary
1) Determine your questions
What do you intend to find out?
How will the information be helpful?
Which issues will relate to the questionnaire?
2) Specify your sub questions
List all the things you want to find out;
Indicate those sub questions to be included in the questionnaire; and
Refine your list.
3) Draft the items
Translate questions into items; and
Formulate multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, rating-scale, list, comment-on, and
Likert-scale questions.
4) Sequence the items
Group the items into topic sections;
Group the items by question type; and
Rewrite the items as necessary.
5) Design the questionnaire
Order and number questions;
Layout a booklet format; and
Arrange the questions on pages.
6) Pilot test the questionnaire
Clarify the wording of the questionnaire with respondents;
Group test the draft questionnaire;
Discuss the questionnaire with the group; and
Revise the questionnaire and retest it if necessary.
Survey questionnaire, e-survey, telephone interview, face-to-face interview, focus
group. Surveys collect data from a targeted group of people about their opinions,
behaviour or knowledge. Common types of surveys are written questionnaires, face-
to-face or telephone interviews, focus groups and electronic (e-mail or Web site)
surveys.
Practicalities and how to make a questionnaire efficient
 It is advisable to test questionnaires before using them, to ensure that participants
understand them and interpret them in the way that you expect, that they do not
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take too long to complete, and that they yield useful data.
 It can be difficult to achieve an appropriate balance between asking sufficient Questionnaire Method
questions to get useful feedback, but not so many questions that respondents
get bored or feel they don’t have sufficient time to devote to completing them.
 Complex questionnaire formats and structures can be difficult for respondents
to complete.
 Longer questionnaires can be answered more quickly if the format of the question
is fairly similar and respondent do not need to keep learning how to complete
different types of questions, or have to make too many decisions about which
sections apply to them.
 Different approaches to phrasing questions may have strengths and weaknesses
for collecting the data needed (see section on Question design).
 Questions will need to be in accordance with the relevant legislation and University
guidance for the ethical handling of data. This involves not collecting unnecessary
personal data, and if the questionnaire is intended to be anonymous, any personal
data that will enable respondents to be identified.
 Distributing and allowing students to complete paper-based questionnaires in
class time is likely to maximise representative completion.

3.17 WHEN TO USE A QUESTIONNAIRE?


In spite of its wide usage, the questionnaire is not appropriate for all purposes.
Even when you are developing your own questions, there are at least two other
methods of data collection which you should consider.
Perhaps the most obvious alternative is using a questionnaire is the personal interview.
The advantages of this approach include richness of response, ability to clear up
misconceptions, opportunity to follow up responses, and, by implication, better data
in many situations. Additionally, respondents will usually be more conscientious if the
interviewer is present.
Finally, the use of a questionnaire does reduce the influence (and consequent bias)
due to the presence of the interviewer.

3.18 SOME COMMON MISTAKES IN USING


QUESTIONNAIRES
Before we advance to the “do’s” of questionnaire development, let me warn you of
some of the most common “don’ts” in such studies. We’ll touch on many of these
items later in the recommendations sections, but in the hope that they will stick, I’ll
enumerate them at the outset. Eight of the most common mistakes are:
1) Asking for information which is more readily and/or accurately available elsewhere
2) Failing to create sufficient incentive for the respondent to answer.
3) Including questions which the respondent sees as ridiculous or unimportant.
4) Including questions which encourage some sort of “favorable” response.
5) Using equivocal or ambiguous questions.
6) Using responses which are too limited in scope to be useful. 59
Tools of Data Collection 7) Not living up to promises made to respondents.
8) Developing a form which is too long or complicated.
Have patience. A questionnaire is not an end in itself, only the means to an end. If
fits into an overall plan for the survey and needs to be considered in light of other
decisions about the survey design.
A survey is a planned collection of data for some purpose. As such, it must begin
with a clear statement of purpose(s). Only if this is done prior to developing the
questionnaire can the instrument be evaluated for quality as a data source.

3.19 LET US SUM UP


In this unit we have studied about the relevance of questionnaire in research work
and it consists of a large number of questions arranged under different headings and
covers the research topic which is being studied by the researcher. These questions
are then sent or read out to the respondent (sample chosen for the study) and the
questionnaire is filled in by the researcher or by the respondents themselves. These
responses are then subjected to analysis and the results obtained are tabulated. The
three types of questionnaire are included structured questionnaire, unstructured
questionnaire, and semi structured questionnaires. Descriptive and analytical purposes
are two purposes. Here you have also studied designing, methods to make a
questionnaire efficient and what types of questions to be included in the questionnaire.
Advantages and disadvantages are also discuss in detail.

3.20 UNIT END QUESTIONS


1) Explain importance of questionnaire in research.
2) What are the major steps for a construction of good questionnaire?
3) What are the advantages of questionnaire?
4) What are the disadvantages of questionnaire?

3.21 SUGGESTED READINGS


Kerlinger, Fred, N. 1979, Founded of Behavioral Research, New York, : H 107,
Rinehart and Winstem Inc.
Kumar. R (2006) Research Methodology. New Delhi: Dorling Kingsley

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