1.3.6

Types of Questionnaires

Test yourself

Structured Questionnaires

There are a number of different types of questionnaires, all with different strengths and weaknesses; they include:

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Structured questionnaires

  • These involve a number of pre-set, closed questions with the choice of a limited number of multiple-choice answers.
  • Structured questionnaires are the preferred choice of positivists.
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Advantages

  • They are quick and cheap to complete and process.
  • They produce easy to classify quantitative data.
  • They have high reliability, as they are easy to repeat and check findings.
  • The data collected may produce new theories or test existing hypotheses.
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Advantages cont.

  • They enable comparisons to be made between different groups and populations because all people are answering the same questions.
  • They are objective because the researcher remains detached from and less involved with the respondents.
  • There are a few ethical problems because people can choose not to answer.
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Disadvantages

  • There may be problems related to literacy, as some people may not be able to read or fully understand the questions.
  • The meaning of the questions might be ambiguous or unclear.
  • Extra questions cannot be added and respondents cannot expand in their answers.
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Disadvantages cont.

  • Interpretivists claim that they impose meanings and frameworks and a choice of answers which may not apply to the respondent (the imposition problem).

Open-Ended Questionnaires

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Open-ended questionnaires

  • Open-ended questionnaires will still have a number of pre-set questions but without any pre-set choice of answers.
  • Open questions allow respondents to write their own answer or dictate them to the interviewer.
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Advantages

  • They produce data that is more valid because respondents can use their own words to express what they mean, so the imposition problem is less of an issue.
  • They produce data that are more detailed and in-depth than structured questions, so they are preferred by interpretivists.
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Disadvantages

  • Because they produce a wider range of answers, it is more difficult to classify and quantify the results or to compare them with similar data.
  • The meaning of the answers may be unclear.

Postal or Online Self-Completion Questionnaires

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Postal/mail or online self-completion

  • This kind of questionnaire can be structured or unstructured.
  • Responsibility for completing and returning the questionnaire lies with the respondent.
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Advantages

  • They are relatively cheap compared to having to pay interviewers, particularly when the sample size is large or covers a wide geographical area.
  • A larger representative sample can be obtained.
  • Results can be obtained quickly.
  • People can reply in their own time and can, therefore, think more deeply about their answers.
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Advantages cont.

  • Questions concerning personal, controversial or embarrassing subjects are more likely to get a better response because there is no interviewer present.
  • There is no possibility of interviewer bias, so they remain objective (and, therefore, preferred by positivists).
  • People can choose to reply or not, so informed consent is less of a problem.
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Disadvantages

  • There is a high non-response rate – people don’t reply.
  • Those who do reply may be unrepresentative of the wider population. For example, they might have a higher level of education or be more interested in the topic, thus reducing the validity of results.
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Disadvantages cont.

  • People might not give honest answers for a number of reasons, such as dishonesty or forgetfulness.
  • There is no way of telling that the right person completes the questionnaire – they might have asked someone else to do it.

Jump to other topics

1Theory & Methods

2Education with Methods in Context

3Option 1: Culture & Identity

4Option 1: Families & Households

5Option 1: Health

6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare

7Option 2: Beliefs in Society

8Option 2: Global Development

9Option 2: The Media

10Crime & Deviance

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