Prepared By: Soad Khalil

 A questionnaire is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some subject or subjects consisting of a list of questions to be submitted to one or more persons.  The questionnaire is most frequently a very concise, preplanned set of questions designed to yield specific information to meet a particular need for research information about a pertinent topic. The research information is attained from respondents from a related interest area.

 Questionnaires provide a quantitative method of data gathering - the evidence, data or information you find is expressed in numerical terms.  The advantage of using a questionnaire rather than an interview is that you can reach large numbers of people more easily, as you can leave them to fill in the questionnaire and send it back to you.

 Feelings  What do you think of..?  How does --- make you feel?  --- is the best solution to ---  Do you think there could be..?  How do you feel about our latest software version?  Behaviour  Did you participate in the last protests?  How often do you usually…?  How would you react to….?

Yes/No Questions  Did you attend the last concert?  Did you participate in any of the school activities?

Providing the respondents with two opposed options Ex: Do you think that the medication prescribed to your asthma: Works well Does not work

Providing the respondents with a set of items to check/ circle the relevant one This question type is often used to gather demographic information or to find out about a range of issues. Multiple choice questions can require a single answer or offer multiple answer selections. EX. What is your marital status? (Select one) a. Single b. Living with Partner c. Married d. Divorced e. Separated f. Widowed Ex: Which car type is more suitable for your life style currently ? a. Van b. convertible c. 4x4 d. salon

A set of items is provided and the respondents are asked to order them according to importance, merit, quality, etc..

 If you are investigating a narrow but deep subject you may not need to question that many people; you may be interested in the opinions and experiences of experts or people with direct experience, rather than a random sample.  If you gather responses from a small number of people you must make sure that the sample is as appropriate as possible to your research.  Larger samples are often employed in quantitative research. A basic rule of thumb is that increasing the sample size increases its reliability.  Consider non-responses. It is a good idea to send questionnaires to more people than you need.

DOS  Make sure you introduce yourself and explain what the aim of the questionnaire is. Also, make sure the respondent is aware of the ethical implications of the research.  Devise your questions so they help to answer your research question. That way, all the questions will be relevant.  Try and have a sequence to your questions or topics - group them in themes and make sure they follow on logically from each other.  Make sure your questions are clear and easy to understand.  Always run a pilot of your questionnaire. This helps you to test the technical aspect of the questionnaire, such as whether you have given the correct answer options or whether you have left anything out. DONTS  Do not ask leading questions. Make sure people are free to give their own, honest answer x What do you think of yesterday’s disastrous party?  Don’t give overlapping answers. 1 to 3 times a week x 3 to 5 times a week x 5 to 7 times a week  Don’t ask double-barrel questions x What do you think of the university’s social life and academic standard?