Types of Questionnaires
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 1.3.6
Structured Questionnaires
There are a number of different types of questionnaires, all with different strengths and weaknesses; they include:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Test yourself on Types of Questionnaires
Structured questionnaires are the preferred choice of which sociologists?