Questionnaire Design Process
Questionnaire
Questionnaire is one of the most popular and most widely used methods of data collection. A
questionnaire is a written list of questions which are answered by a lot of people in order to
provide information to a report or a survey. it is a form containing a set of questions, especially
one addressed to a statistically significant number of subjects as a way of getting information for
a survey. List of a research or survey questions are asked to respondents and designed to extract
specific information. Points to be considered while constructing questionnaire are:
a) Contents of questionnaire;
b) Types of questions;
c) Format of questions;
d) Sequence of questions;
e) Question formulating and their wording;
f) Physical layout of the questionnaire.
Advantages of Using Questionnaire
There are some main advantages of using questionnaire. There are explained below:
a) Standardization: if the questions are highly structured and the conditions under which
they are answered are controlled, then the questionnaire could become standardized.
b) Economy: Expense and time involved in training interviewers and sending them to
interview are reduced by using questionnaire.
c) Uniformity of questions: Each respondent receives the same set of questions phrased in
exactly the same way. Questionnaire may, therefore, yield data more comparable than
information obtained through an interview.
Disadvantages of using Questionnaire
There are also several disadvantages of questionnaire which are mentioned below:
a) Respondent’s motivation is difficult to assess, affecting the validity of response.
b) Unless a random sampling of returns is obtained, those returned completed may represent
biased samples.
Content of Questions
Survey questions may be concerned with facts, opinion, attitudes, respondents, motivation, and
their level of familiarity with a certain subject. Most of the questions of contents can be
classified into two general categories:
a) Factual questions and
b) Questions about specific experiences.
Types of questions
There are three broad categories of question structures:
a) Open-ended/unstructured questions
b) Closed-ended/structured questions
c) Contingency questions
Open-Ended Questions
Open-ended response questions provide maximum flexibility to the respondents in answering the
questions. By this type of question, respondents are asked to answer in their own words and they
can answer in any way they think appropriate. That is why this type of question is also called free
answer question. For example, the question, “what do you personally feel are the most important
steps government should take to eliminate terrorism?” is an open-ended question. The virtue of
open-ended question is that it does not trace the respondent to adapt to preconceived answers.
Here are some examples of open-ended questions:
What were the most important wars fought in the history of the united sates?
What are you planning to buy today at the supermarket?
How exactly did the fight between the two of you start?
What is your favorite memory from childhood?
How will you help the company if you are hired to work for us?
What do you plan to do immediately following graduation from college?
What types of decorations do you plan to have for your friend’s birthday party?
Advantages Using Open-ended questions
There are advantages of using open-ended response questions. They are given below:
a) Open-ended question is flexible in nature.
b) Open-ended questions permit an unlimited number of possible answers.
c) Open-ended questions allow respondents to provide more information regarding tired
feelings, attitude and understanding of the subject.
d) Open-ended questions reduce response error.
Disadvantages using Open-ended questions
The disadvantages of using open-ended response questions are mentioned below:
a) In case of open-ended questions, different respondents can give different degrees of
answers.
b) Respondents may give irrelevant answers.
c) The coding of response under open ended question is difficult.
d) It requires more time to collect answers from the respondents through open ended
questions.
e) The cost is comparatively high when open ended questions are used.
f) Respondents may be reluctant to answer the questions.
g) Respondents need to be highly skilled and have sound education’s background.
Closed-ended questions
The closed-ended questions are also known as fixed alternative questions. Under the closed-
ended question, responses are asked to choose from fixed alternative responses. Here, the
flexibility of the respondents to answer the questions are made limited to only few options.
Closed-ended questions are also called structured questions. Some examples of closed-ended
questions are:
What is your marital status?
Never married Currently married Formerly married
Do you use mobile phone?
Yes No
Here are examples of close-ended questions in these types of situations:
Would you like vanilla ice cream?
Have you ever met Joe before?
Are you happy?
Do you enjoy your car?
Does your brother have the same interests as you?
Advantages of Using Close-ended questions
There are several advantages of assigning closed ended questions or fixed alternative questions.
a) It is easier and quicker for the respondents to answer fixed alternative questions.
b) The answers collected through fixed alternative questions are easier to compare.
c) It is also easy to make easing of the answers collected through fixed alternative questions.
d) Less time and thinking are required on the part of the respondents.
e) Irrelevant of confusing answers can be avoided by using fixed alternative questions.
f) Respondents need not to be highly skilled.
g) Replication is easier for fixed alternative question.
Disadvantages of Using Closed-ended Questions
The disadvantages of using fixed alternative response questions are mentioned below:
a) Fixed alternative questions can suggest ideas that the respondents would not have
otherwise.
b) Many alternatives may make the respondents confused.
c) Fixed alternative questions force respondents to make choice although they would not do
it in real world.
d) Fixed alternative questions do not allow the respondents to have creativity or develop
ideas.
Types of fixed alternative/ Closed-ended questions
Fixed alternative questions or closed-ended questions can be several types. Such as-
a) Simple dichotomy questions
b) Determinant choice questions
c) Frequency determination questions
d) Check-list questions
Contingency Questions
Contingency questions are special type of closed ended questions, applicable to a sub-group of
respondents. The relevance of the question to this sub-group is determined by the answer of all
respondents to a preceding filter question.
The formats for filter and contingency questions vary. One alternative is to answer each response
category of the filter question. Another common format is to use arrows to direct the respondent
either to skip to another question or to answer the contingency question. Another format is to set
the contingency question apart from the ordinary questions to be answered by everybody.
Example: Question No. 1 is
Question No Questions and Filters Coding Categories
1. What are the sources of drinking water Piper water …… 1
of your household? Tube-well …… 2
Others …… 3
Check Question No. 1. If you are drinking tube-well water, please go to the
Question No 2, Otherwise go to the Question No. *.
2. Is the tube-well arsenic free? Yes ………………... 1
No ………………… 2
Others ……………... 3
Question Format
The general of a question is to present all possible answers and have the respondents check the
appropriate categories. The respondents can either circle or write the number of the answer or
check a box or a blank as shown here:
Question: What is your marital Status?
- Married
- Single
- Divorced
- Widowed
o Married
o Single
o Divorced
o Widowed
1. Married
2. Single
3. Divorced
4. Widowed
Of course, specific directions should be provided as to whether the respondent is to circle a
number or check a blank or a box. Among the methods shown, the worst recommended is the
one with blanks, because the respondent may check between the blanks, making it difficult to tell
which category was intended. Circling a code number is preparable because the code number can
be easily transferred to a computerized storage devise.
Questionnaire Sequence
After the researcher has determined the question format, he or she must consider the order or
sequence in which the questions are to be placed on the questionnaire. The first question in the
interview should be pleasant, interesting, and easy. It is also recommended that the sensitive
questions be placed at the end of the questionnaire. Two general patterns are most appropriate for
motivating respondents to co-operate:
a) The funnel sequence
b) The interval funnel sequence