5. Questionnaires: closed questions
• Questions that offer a limited answer.
• The answer can be limited to:
• Yes or No.
• Male or Female.
• Student or Employed or Retired.
7. Questionnaires: closed questions
• Closed questions are often called ‘items’.
• There are different types of closed questions:
• Fixed choice
• Rating scales
• Likert scales
10. Questionnaires: closed questions
• Closed questions convert thoughts, feelings
and behaviour into numerical data.
• Quantitative data.
• How often something happens.
• How often somebody does something.
• How many people believe something.
• How many people feel something.
• Calculate percentages.
• Use statistical tests.
11. Questionnaires: open questions
• Open questions allow the respondent to write
what they want.
• What is it about being a student at RUTC that
causes you to feel stressed?
• When do you feel most stressed?
• Produce qualitative data.
12. Questionnaires: strengths
• Questionnaires can be completed by a large
number of participants resulting in a large
sample.
• Participants may be willing to share more
personal information in a questionnaire than an
interview.
• Participants responses to questions are less
influenced by the presence of a researcher if they
are completed in private.
• Social desirability bias is reduced.
13. Questionnaires: limitations
• Social desirability bias remains an issue.
People may be untruthful in their answers.
• Questionnaires are only completed by people
who can read and write. This limits the
sample.
• Questionnaires are only completed by people
who have the time or want to fill them. This
means that the sample can be biased.
14. Homework
• Find and bring in a questionnaire to Thursdays
lesson.
• Use youtube to find a good example of a field
experiment.
