design of questionnaire

how to design a n questionnaire for research purpose

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REPORT ON DESIGN OF QUESTIONNAIRE
By Abhijeet Bhosale
Roll no: P14TP015 Class: TE&P, M.TECH FIRST YEAR

Questionnaire
 A set of predetermined questions for all respondents that serves as a primary research
instrument in survey research.
 Used to collect factual information
 Consist of a form containing a series of questions
Characteristics of a good questionnaire
1. Should be concerned with specific and relevant topic
2. Should be short
3. Directions and wording should be simple and clear
4. Questions should be objective
5. Embarrassing questions, presuming questions and hypothetical questions should be avoided
6. Should be presented in a good order
7. Should be attractive, neatly printed and clearly arranged
Functions of questionnaire
 DESCRIPTION:
The questionnaire provides description about age, sex, marital status, occupation,
income, political affiliation religious affiliation, etc.
 MEASUREMENT:
Measurement of individual and/or group variables like attitude, opinion, traits and
habits of persons.
Types of questionnaire
 Based upon the type of respond required,
1. Fixed- response questionnaire: Close ended questions have definite options and they are easy
to respond
A.) Recall type – replies are recalled
Example: Pls. Supply the information asked for. Age ____ Sex _____ Date of Birth
B.) Recognition Types – The possible responses are given and respondent select his
answer. There are three types
Dichotomus – only 2 options and one is selected.
Ex. Are you married? YES __ NO __
Multiple Choice -- Only one answer is chosen from those given as options.
Numerical -- When the answer must be a number, ask a numerical question
Ordinal -- A ranking indicates the importance assigned by a participant to an attitudinal
object.
Likert Scale -- trying to determine respondents’ attitudes or feelings about something.

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2. Open- end questionnaire: For open ended questions the researcher does not provide any
options to answer. Questions are open to any descriptive response.
Example:
Q. what do you do to keep yourself healthy?

 Based upon the method of administering,
1. Mail questionnaire
2. Face-to-face administered questionnaire

Questionnaire as instruments
 Most survey research relies on the use of questionnaire to measure variables
 Demographic variables
Demographic variables are used to describe the characteristics of the people who are surveyed.
Measures such as race, ethnicity, age and socio economic status.
The accuracy and precision of questionnaire as survey research instrument depends upon the
expertise and care that go into their construction
 The accuracy and precision of questionnaire requires expertise and care in their construction
 Self-report scales Used to measure peoples judgments or attitude about items presented on the
scale
e.g., coffee, political candidates, life events
To determine differences among people on some dimensions presented on the scale
e.g., personality traits, amount of stress
Reliability
 Reliability refers to the consistency of measurement.
 Reliable test should yield similar(consistent) results each time it is taken
 Common method: test- retest reliability
FACTORS AFFECTING RELIABILITY:
 Number of items
 Variability
 Condition in which the questionnaire is administered

Constructing a questionnaire:- Deciding type, writing a draft, pretesting, concluding
with specific procedures.

STEPS:
1. Decide what information should be sought
2. Decide what type of questionnaire should be used
3. Write a first draft of the questionnaire

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4. Reexamine and revise the questionnaire
5. Pretest the questionnaire
6. Edit the questionnaire and specify the procedures for its use.
WORDINGS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:

 Simplicity in language
 Avoid ambiguity
 Avoid vague words
 Avoid embarrassing questions
 Avoid double negatives
 Avoid leading questions
 Presuming questions
 Hypothetical questions
ORDER OF THE QUESTIONS:

 Begin with simple and general questions
 No sensitive and embarrassing questions at beginning
 Move from general to specific in logical manner
 Sensitive questions at the end
 Demographic data should be obtained at the end of self administering questions
 Kahn & Cannel (1975)
funnel sequence: Start with broad questions and gradually narrow down to the specific
questions related to the topic.

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE:

To be successful, questionnaire should be comparatively short and simple i.e., the size
of the questionnaire should be kept to the minimum. Questions should proceed in logical
sequence moving from easy to more difficult questions.
Personal and intimate questions should be left to the end. Technical terms and vague
expressions capable of different interpretations should be avoided in a questionnaire. Questions
may be dichotomous (yes or no answers), multiple choice (alternative answers listed) or open-
ended. The latter type of questions are often difficult to analyze and hence should be avoided in
a questionnaire to the extent possible.
There should be some control questions in the questionnaire which indicate the
reliability of the respondent. For instance, a question designed to determine the consumption of
particular material may be asked first in terms of financial expenditure and later in terms of
weight. The control questions, thus, introduce a cross-check to see whether the information
collected is correct or not.
Questions affecting the sentiments of respondents should be avoided. Adequate space
for answers should be provided in the questionnaire to help editing and tabulation. There
should always be provision for indications of uncertainty, e.g., “do not know,” “no preference”
and so on. Brief directions with regard to filling up the questionnaire should invariably be given
in the questionnaire itself. Finally, the physical appearance of the questionnaire affects the
cooperation the researcher receives from the recipients and as such an attractive looking
questionnaire, particularly in mail surveys, is a plus point for enlisting cooperation. The quality

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of the paper, along with its colour, must be good so that it may attract the attention of
recipients.




Conclusion

 Questionnaire are the main and easy way collecting data
 But the questionnaire must be highly reliable and valid.
 Using standardized questionnaires will give us the appropriate data and will yield a valid study
 One must follow all the basic guidelines and methods of constructing a questionnaire and test it
before using it.