Questionnaires are research tools and consist of a number of items aimed at collecting data from the respondents. The types of questionnaires used in research through which the data can be collected are face-to-face, telephone, computer, and postal. This article discusses the types of questionnaires, characteristics, 10 forms, advantages, and disadvantages.
A survey questionnaire is a cheaper, quicker, and more efficient method to collect large amounts of information from a large sample. Depending upon the nature of the questions, questionnaires can be classified as qualitative or quantitative, depending on whether it is qualitative research or quantitative research. The information collected through closed-ended questions with multiple-choice answers is analyzed through quantitative methods, while the information collected through open-ended questions is analyzed using qualitative methods. The open-ended questionnaires consist of discussions and critical analyses. Good questionnaires have certain properties.
Properties of good questionnaires
Some of the properties of good questionnaires are discussed below.
- A good questionnaire is comprised of well-written questions.
- It obtains data that cannot be obtained through other sources.
- A good questionnaire in research methodology is short and comprehensive.
- The instructions mentioned in a well-structured questionnaire are clear and complete.
- Items of a well-structured questionnaire proceed from general to specific responses.
- The survey questionnaire avoids double-negative questions.
- Only a single issue is discussed in a single item of a good questionnaire.
Types of questionnaires
There are various types of questionnaires which are discussed below.
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Online questionnaire:
In this type of questionnaire, there is a collection of uniform items that are collected and disseminated online. The advantage of this type of questionnaire is that it saves time, and data can be collected in no time. Hence, no money is spent on printing and travelling.
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Telephone questionnaire
In this type of questionnaire, information is collected from the respondents through the use of a phone. Here, the participants in the research are directly contacted, and the research-related questions are put in front of them for their responses. This type of data collection tool works well when the items in the questionnaire are small. In this situation, the data is easily collected. But one problem with this type of questionnaire is that it may prove expensive if the number of respondents is large. Hence, there could be security problems with this type of questionnaire as well.
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Face-to-face questionnaire:
This is a widely used form of questionnaire where the researcher directly communicates with the respondents for their responses to the list of items in the questionnaire. Hence, both qualitative and quantitative data can be collected through this type of questionnaire. One of the advantages of a face-to-face questionnaire is that the problems faced by the respondents can be effectively dealt with.
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Mail questionnaire
In this type, the questionnaires about an issue or problem are sent to the participants through mail, and they are asked to fill them out accordingly. The questions in the questionnaire are relevant to the topic. Therefore, this questionnaire is sent to the respondents in a packet that contains a cover sheet, an introduction to the issue, and a pre-paid return envelope for the purpose of responses.
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Email questionnaire
Such types of questionnaires are distributed via email. The response to such a type of questionnaire is usually prompt. Hence, to increase the rate, it is suggested to limit the number of items in the questionnaire and include only major questions.
Forms of questions in questionnaire
There are two types of questions in the questionnaire.
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Restricted items:
This type of questionnaire is also called closed-ended, in which the respondents are asked to make choices such as yes or no, or a selection is made from multiple items. Next, the tabulation and compilation of restricted items are easy.
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Unrestricted items.
Such items are open-ended, and the respondents are asked to share their feelings and opinions. The tabulation and compilation of such items is not an easy task, as the respondents are asked to express their emotions.
Moreover, if the research objective is the compilation of large amounts of data from the respondents, then a restricted-item questionnaire is a better option. But on the other hand, if the researcher wants the respondents to share their emotions about certain phenomena, an unrestricted questionnaire is better.
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Open-question questionnaires
In this type of question, there is the liberty of giving any response according to the perceptions of the respondents. The open questions can lead to unexpected results, which can prove beneficial for the research. However, the analysis of the data received through open-question questionnaires is comparatively difficult.
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Multiple-choice questions
In this type of questionnaire, there is a list of predetermined answers from which the respondent will have to make a choice. Such questions can have the option of an “other” category if the respondents provide some different answers.
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Dichotomous questions
Typically, they are “yes/no” questions where the respondents select either of the two. Because this is the simplest method, it helps in screening out the unimportant options from the researchers’ survey. Additionally,this can easily divide the respondents into those who are in favor of something or not.
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Checkbox questions
These questions are a kind of multiple-choice question, which allows the respondents to select more than one option. Moreover, the participants are required to fill in as many options as you allow.
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Opinion scale questions
In these types of questions, a number of scale-free answer choices are given, from which you have to choose. Here, the participants are asked for an evaluation of a topic in light of pretest dimensions. The people are asked to express their feelings on a numbered scale. Additionally, the answer choices are displayed from one extreme to another, like “totally disagree” to “totally agree.”.
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Likert Scale questions
These types of questions are usually written with five types of options, and the respondents are asked to express their agreement or disagreement with the options in the statement. In this way, the participants are required to express their opinions using a Likert scale.
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Matrix questions
These types of questions contain a collection of multiple-choice questions that are rolled into one. It is a rating scale that is arranged in a network of rows and columns. In the rows, the questions are given, while the columns have the option of answers.
For instance, if a researcher wants to take post-event feedback, the audience will be required to rank their experiences along with the usual questions, such as, Was the registration process smooth?.
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Drop-down selection questions
Such questions are similar to multiple-choice questions having one answer. Questions of this kind offer respondents a drop-down list with options from which they have to select one. Such questions are beneficial when there is a large list of replies.
Advantages of questionnaires
- Firstly, the same questions are asked from all the respondents
- Second, the questionnaires are cheap to use.
- A large amount of primary data is collected in short period of time
- The researcher remains unbiased in the data collection process.
- Lastly, the faraway respondents can rely on an online questionnaire for recording their responses.
Disadvantages of questionnaires
- Firstly, the closed-ended questionnaire limits the choice for the respondents to express their feelings freely.
- There is a chance that the respondents respond in an incorrect or dishonest way.
- The response rate to sensitive topics such as income and sexual behavior is usually low.
- There is a chance that participants will ignore some questions deliberately.