Henrietta O’Connor Online Questionnaires and Technical Guide

Structure of Presentation 1.Overview of module content 2.The Online Questionnaires Module: Overview 3.Online Questionnaires: Design Issues 4.The Technical Guide Module:Overview 5.Technical Guide: Choosing Software

1. Overview of Module Content This website emerged from our earlier research project ‘Cyberparents’; Made ‘pioneering’ use of online questionnaires and online interviews; Lack of literature and few technical skills; Great deal of interest in how we had used online methods; Modules designed around our areas of expertise; Aim that each module included material on different levels: academic, methodological, practical examples and resources.

2. The Online Questionnaires Module First substantive module; Covers issues including: –Advantages/disadvantages, types of online questionnaire, sampling issues, good design principles, implementation procedures, FAQs, further resources, e.g. software links; Also include range of learning activities: – when to use an online questionnaire, designing question types.

3. Online Questionnaires: Design Issues Vital to ensure that the questionnaire type and question format addresses aims of the research; First design unit looks at issues such as consistency of design, colour, text appearance; E.g. text appearance has been shown to be important in terms of transmission time, perceived length and screen configuration; Second unit looks at academic principles of good content design including welcome screen and questionnaire length; E.g. welcome screen important and must adhere to relevant guidelines and fulfil purpose.

4. Technical Guide Awareness that there was a need for simple, straightforward guidance on producing online questionnaires; Overview of ‘how to’ produce an online questionnaire; Includes software details, introduction to HTML and javascript, technical aspects of question design, accessibility issues; Links to relevant questionnaire software; Detailed practical module to complement more academic content elsewhere.

5. Choosing Software Questionnaire software makes process of producing a questionnaire possible for those with few or no technical skills; Huge range of software available; The site aims to provide guidance on available features, services and costs; Allows users to create a checklist of features required and match these to available software; Detailed guidance including ‘screen shots’ provided.