disadvantage

METHODS OF RESEARCH
Questions
Judgement
A questionnaire has been defined by
Good as a list of planned, written
questions related to a particular topic,
with space provided for indicating the
response to each questions, intended
for submission to a number of
persons for reply; commonly used
studies and in the measurement of
attitudes and opinions. (Good, p. 435)
• The questionnaire is easy to
construct
• Distribution is easy inexpensive
• Responses are easy to tabulate
• The respondent`s replies are free
• Confidential information may be
given freely
• The respondent can fill out the
questionnaire at will
• The respondent can give more
accurate replies
• The questionnaire cannot be used with
those who cannot read nor write well,
especially those who are totally
illiterate
• Some questions may be vague and so
the respondent may not answer them
or if he does, he may give wrong replies
• The number of choices may be so
limited that the respondent may be
forced to select responses that are not
his actual choices. This is especially
true with the yes or no questions.
METHODS OF
RESEARCH
 There are guidelines in
Do some library research Talk to people who have
the construction of
among studies similar to some knowledge about
questionnaire. You learn
yours. There may be some the construction of
from the books and
questionnaires similar to questionnaires.
similar studies in your
what you want to use.
library search and from
your interviews with
knowledgeable people
 After the questionnaire
Write the questionnaire has been finished, show it Rewrite the questionnaire
following the guidelines for correction and according to the
as closely as possible. suggestions for corrections and
improvement to people suggestions.
who are known to possess
adequate knowledge in
the construction
 Pretest

Respondents

Validity
This is called a dry run. This is the
process of measuring the
effectiveness, validity, and reliability
of the questionnaire and determining Time
the clarity of the items, the difficulty
of answering the question, the proper
length of time in answering, ease in
Effectiveness
tabulating responses and other
problems.
CLARITY
• Were the directions very clear to you? Were you able to do exactly what the directions told you to do?
• Did you understand completely the questions or items? Were there no vague questions or items?
• What difficulties did you meet in answering the questions?
• If the respondents failed to answer some questions: why did you not answer the questions?
• Are the spaces where you wrote your replies sufficient?
• Are the number of options from which you selected your response enough?
• Is the questionnaire too long that it creates boredom?
• What suggestions can you give to improve the questionnaire?
After making the proper corrections,
adjustments and revisions according
to the results of the dry run, the
questionnaire should be now written
in its final form.
 Information

METHODS OF RESEARCH
Data
Question
• The free-answer type. • Descriptive data
• The guided response type • Quantified
• Multiple response. (numerical) data
This is also called the open form, open
ended, subjective, unrestricted, essay
and unguided response type.
This is also called the closed form or
restricted type. The respondent is
guided in making his reply. There are
two kinds of this type: recall and
recognition types;
The replies are recalled.

Example: Please supply the

information asked for. Age ____
Sex ____ Date of birth (exact) ____
Place of birth ____
There are only two Only one answer is chosen Two or more options may
options and one is from those given as options. be chosen
selected. Example: What is your highest Example: Why do you use toothpaste in
educational attainment? brushing your teeth?
Example: Are you Please put a check mark before your Place check marks before your choices.
married? Yes _____ reply. _____ It prevents tooth decay
_____ It freshens the breath
_____ Elementary graduate
No_____ _____ It is soothing to the mouth
_____ High school graduate
_____ It is cheap
_____ College graduate _____ It is imported
What kind of house do you live 1) How old are you? _____ Do you agree to have only one day
in? Please check 2) What is your average monthly election, set for local and national
_____ Concrete _____ Semi- income P _____ elective officials?
Concrete _____ strongly agree
_____ Agree
_____ Bamboo _____ others
_____ fairly agree
_____ Disagree
_____ strongly disagree
How serious is the problem Explain what democracy is. Why do you prefer democracy to
(drug addiction, drinking, dictatorship?
stealing, etc.)?
_____ Very serious
_____ Serious
_____ Fairly serious
_____ Not serious
_____ Not a problem
METHODS OF
RESEARCH
As much as possible make all directions
clear, definite, unequivocal and brief.
Example of poor direction for a multiple
response questions:
Answer the following questions.
Better:
Choose the items or options that would best
answer the question and write a check mark on
the space before each option. You may have
more than one choice.
Punctuation marks especially should be
placed properly to avoid
Misinterpretation.
Example of poor grammar:
Please accomplish the questionnaire as soon as
possible return it.
Better:
Please accomplish the questionnaire and return it as
soon as possible.
As much as possible make all the
questions brief, clear and unequivocal.
Example of a vague question:
Are you a graduate?
Better:
Are you a high school graduate? (Specify
the course).
A biased question is in which there is a
veiled suggestion for an answer.

Example: Do you use Colgate toothpaste? If

not what brand do you use?
Better:Which brand of toothpaste do you use?
This is for the standardization of
responses and easier tabulation.
Example: Why do you use Safe guard soap?
_______ It is fragrant.
_______ It makes my skin smoother.
_______ It is cheap.
_______ It is available all the time.
_______ It lasts long.
The replies can be checked only.
 Qualitative Quantitative
How efficient is your How many sticks of cigarettes
teacher? do you consume a day?
______ Very efficient ______ 0-4
______ Efficient ______ 5-9
______ Fairly efficient ______ 10-14
______ Inefficient ______ 15-19
______ Very inefficient ______ 20-24
a. Questions may be grouped according to the
specific questions under the statement of the
problem.

Example: Specific question: how qualified are the teachers

handling mathematics?

b. Questions that deal with items that are logically and

usually placed together under a big category should be
grouped together.
This is to make possible the inclusion
of the correct choice of the respondent.
Example of limited number of response categories:
Do you agree that the presidential form of government is better than
parliamentary form?
_____ Agree
_____ Disagree
Better:
_____ strongly agree
_____ agree
_____ Uncertain or no comment
_____ Disagree
_____Strongly disagree
Example: Suppose a woman becomes unfaithful to
her husband and you want to find the reasons why
she became unfaithful to her husband. This is in
connection with your study if family relations.
Poor question: Why did you become unfaithful to
your husband?
Better: What, in your opinion, are the reasons
why wives sometimes fall in love with men other
than their own husbands?
Guidelines in the Formulation of Questions for a
Questionnaire

• Explain and illustrate difficult questions

• State all questions affirmatively.
• Make as many questions as would supply adequate information for your
study.
Example: Why did you stop your studies?
______ I am too poor. I cannot afford.
______ I am married early.
______ I lost interest.
______ My family moved to a place too far
from school.
______ Others, please specify.
The word “others “is the catch-all
word.
• Information from a questionnaire is either an opinion, misinterpretation, a guess, a bias or an error.
• If the respondent is given several choices from which he selects only on answer, he may guess and
accidentally choose the right answer. However, if he happens to choose the wrong one then the study
becomes faulty.
• Responses to open ended or freeway questions are hard to tabulate and when the researcher categorizes
subjectively that is according to his evaluation he may introduce a bias.
• If a respondent is forced to choose between or among responses none of which he feels is correct, his
answer would be incorrect.
• Biased questionnaires influence responses.
• Some respondents give answers that would make them appear good to the researcher. If asked if they had
read a certain book, they answer “yes” to make them appear as wide readers.
• In a free-way question, the space allotted for the answer influences the respondent`s reply. If the space is
small, the respondent thinks that the correct reply is short but if the space is large the correct reply is long.
• Sometimes in providing a middle answer, definiteness is sacrificed but broader replies are gained.
Respondents are given the option of dodging an issue.
• Sometimes a respondent does not give the true answer if he is asked direct question especially if the
response is embarrassing or it would hurt someone, or it may invite trouble.
• All-or-none responses. If all or most of the answers are in the same direction such as all “yes or all no”,
there is something wrong with the question. An example is “are you in favour of good health? Naturally the
answer is “yes”
• Considerable difference in responses when the order is changed. This may be a change in the word order
of an item or a change in the order of the questions.
• Considerable difference in responses when the order is changed. This may be a change in the word order
of an item or a change in the order of the questions.
• High proportion of “don`t know” or “don`t recall”. These responses indicate that the items are improperly
state or inappropriate. This is why pretesting is necessary to discover these defects.
• High proportion of “other” answers. This is an indication that the choices or options for selection are either
inadequate or inappropriate. Enough options should be provided and their appropriateness should be
studied carefully.
Before sending the questionnaire to the respondents, it must be evaluated in terms of certain characteristics.
Some of these are:

• Is the questionnaire attractive?

• Is it organized in its proper format?
• Is the length reasonable, that is, not boring to fill up?
• Are the questions brief?
• Are the directions clear?
• Are the questions relevant to the study?
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 8