Chapter 10 Data Collection Questionnaires and Surveys

1. Chapter 10: Data Collection: Questionnaires
and Surveys

2. Questionnaires
• A questionnaire is a data collecting technique in which a respondent provides answers to a series of
questions. It comprises a set of questions for gathering information from individuals.
• A well-designed questionnaire is an efficient data collection mechanism when the researcher knows exactly
what is required and how to measure the variables of interest. A questionnaire translates the research
objective into specific questions. The answers to these questions provide the relevant data for the
hypotheses testing.
• Three key components of a questionnaire are:
(a) variables
(b) indicators
(c) questions

3. Questionnaires (Contd.)
• Variables: The research variables of any scientific inquiry or research process are factors that can take on different
values that can be manipulated and measured.
• For an education research survey, Postlethwaite (2005) lists the following types of variables you should include in your
survey questionnaire:
• Discrete variables: Discrete variables are also known as ‘qualitative’ or ‘categorical variables’. Discrete variables are
those that take numbers or specific values. Discrete variables are further classified as being ‘nominal’, ‘dichotomous’
or ‘ordinal’ variables:
 Nominal variables: Where more than two categories are used for a variable, the variable becomes a nominal
variable. We use nominal scales for labelling variables without any quantitative value.
 Dichotomous variables: Dichotomous variables are nominal variables that have just two categories.
 Ordinal variables: Like nominal variables, ordinal variables have two or more categories; however, unlike nominal
variables, ordinal variables can also be ordered or ranked (i.e., they have levels).

4. Questionnaires (Contd.)
• Continuous or quantitative variables: Continuous variables, which are also known as quantitative variables,
can be further classified as being either interval or ratio variables. Both interval and ratio variables have
numerical properties. Interval variables have a numerical value and can be measured along a continuum.
Ratio variables are interval variables that meet an additional condition: they have value ‘0’ (zero) as a
measurement value.
• Dependent and independent variables: Dependent variables are those variables that the researcher tries
to explain. As the name suggests, a dependent variable depends on independent variable(s). Independent
variables are variables that cause, or explain, a change in the dependent variable. An independent variable
is a variable that is manipulated in an experiment so as to observe the effect this has on a dependent
variable.

5. Questionnaires (Contd.)
• Control variables: Control variables are used to test for a spurious (fake) relationship between dependent
and independent variables. In other words, control variables test whether an observed relationship
between dependent and independent variables may be explained by the presence of another variable.
• Indicators in an education system: Educational indicators are used to monitor the education system. They
provide insight on current issues and challenges, trends and forecast impending changes. Education
indicators are statistics that tell us the important aspects of the education system, but not all statistics
about education are indicators.

6. Question Structure
Before constructing questions, it is important that you must be knowledgeable about each type of question
used in your survey research. These basically include the following three structures:
• Closed-ended or multiple-choice questions: In closed questions, the researcher asks the respondent to
choose, among a possible set of answers, the response that most closely represents his or her viewpoint.
These are easier and quicker for respondents to answer, less articulate and replication is easier. However,
closed-ended questions are confusing if many response choices are offered and they might be
misinterpreted.
• Open-ended questions: Open-ended questions do not have predefined options or categories. The study
participants supply their own answers. Open-ended questions enable participants to respond to the
questions exactly as how they would like to answer them. However, they can be time-consuming as
responses are difficult to code and interpret.

7. Question Structure (Contd.)
• Scaled or matrix questions: Scaled questionnaires are basically used to measure attitudes and beliefs. The
scaled questionnaires use a Likert scale in which respondents are given choices showing varying degrees of
intensity. To develop a scaled questionnaire, you should ask a large sample of participants to respond to a
large number of items you have judged to have content validity with regard to a particular concept.
• Contingency or filter questions: A filter question is a question you ask in order to determine if the person
you are speaking to is a candidate for another question, that is, you ask the respondent one question to
determine if he or she is qualified or experienced enough to answer a subsequent question.

8. Developing a Questionnaire for
Research
Developing your research questionnaire is a step-by-step systematic process to collect accurate facts and opinions,
and will be an enjoyable event for the respondent. The entire process involves three parts, which are:
• Designing the questionnaire: While designing a questionnaire for your study, you should consider the client, the
researcher, the interviewer, the respondent and the data processor. Your questionnaire must comprise the
respondent’s identification data, an introduction, instructions, information and classification data.
• Writing the questionnaire: While writing your questionnaire, you should introduce yourself, explain the purpose
of the questionnaire, reveal what will happen with the data you collect, estimate how long the questionnaire will
take, describe any incentives that may be involved and make sure your questionnaire looks professional.

9. Developing a Questionnaire for
Research (Contd.)
• Distributing the questionnaire: For distributing the questionnaire, you should do a pilot study, disseminate
your questionnaire and include a deadline.
 Questionnaire Formatting: If your questionnaire is poorly formatted, it can lead respondents to miss
questions, confuse respondents or even cause them to throw the questionnaire away. Your questionnaire
should be spread out and uncluttered, and you should never abbreviate words in an attempt to save space.
 Question wording: If you are asking a question with the slightest difference in wording, it could result in a
different answer or could cause the respondent to misinterpret the question.
 Questionnaire instructions: You should make sure that every questionnaire, no matter how it is
administered, should contain very clear instructions as well as introductory comments when appropriate.

10. When to Use Questionnaires?
• Questionnaire is a well-established tool within educational and social science research for acquiring
information on participant’s social characteristics, present and past behaviour, standards of behaviour and
reasons for action with regard to the topic under investigation.
• A questionnaire is the link between the interviewer and the respondent. The success of your interview will
depend on the combination of a good interviewer and a good questionnaire.

11. Surveys
• Surveys provide a comprehensive, representative summary of specific characteristics, beliefs, attitudes,
opinions or behaviour patterns of a population. Surveys are always conducted in response to particular
research questions, generally qualitative in nature. The aim of survey is to collect only information that
might be relevant to the study at hand. It focuses primarily on factual information about individuals, or it
aims to collect the opinions of the survey takers.
• Surveys in quantitative research: Experts highly recommend survey approach for gathering descriptive
information. Surveys can be both ‘structured’ and ‘unstructured’. Structured surveys use formal lists of
questions asked of all respondents in the same way. Unstructured surveys let the interviewer probe
respondents and guide the interview according to their answers. Surveys are generally standardised to
ensure that they have reliability and validity.

12. Surveys (Contd.)
• Designing a survey: The key to a good survey is its design. It is necessary to choose the survey items
carefully to produce the data needed to answer your research questions. Survey items should be clear and
precise, and should not bias a respondent towards particular answers.
• Scaling techniques: Scaling is the intricate, nuanced technique of developing qualitative statements that
gauge respondents’ beliefs about a particular issue; thus, scaling research always begins with the clear
identification of a research question or aim. There are several formalised conceptual and experimental
frameworks commonly used in scaling research; the most relevant to educational researchers are the Likert
scale, Bogardus social distance scale, Thurstone scale, semantic differential scale and Guttman scaling.