Surveys & Questionnaires

Survey A gathering of a sample of data or opinions considered to be representative of a whole.

Questionnaire A set of questions on a form, submitted to a number of people in order to gain statistical information

Surveys are made up of questionnaires and interviews Don’t worry if the two terms are interspersed. This is primary source data

Setting up a questionnaire

A questionnaire samples a section of the population with questions. Ask yourself if your research needs a questionnaire - what do you plan to achieve? Only use a questionnaire if there is a clear purpose. The better the questionnaire the more valid the results.

Steps Have a clear goal. E.g. to answer part of the hypothesis or guiding question. Research your topic. As a result of prior knowledge set up focus questions which help you answer your hypothesis or guiding question. Decide on the sample of the population that you plan to question. Who & why? How many? (30 is often good…) Questions should relate directly to the focus questions.

Include a mixture of quantitative and qualitative questions. Quantitative questions will give you data Qualitative questions will give you opinions.

Know the difference between open and closed questions. Begin with simple closed questions. Are you aware of the issues relating to asylum seekers in Adelaide at the moment? Yes  No  Uncertain 

Many questions will work well if you give your subject some carefully researched options.

Conclude with more open questions. These are useful for quoting subjects. Facebook was set up as a ‘social networking facility’. Do you feel that the positive aspects of the site outweigh the negatives? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Successful techniques It is a good idea to have a box at the top of the questionnaire which explains its purpose and seeks permission to use information. (Ethical research) Often a box for an age range and gender is useful for statistical data. Male  Female  18 to 25  26 to 40  41 to 55  Over 56  Make the survey simple. If possible 8 to 10 questions…. perhaps 8 quantitative (useful for statistical analysis)….2 qualitative (useful for quoting) If possible keep the questionnaire on one page

It is really important to look at other questionnaires to see how they are set out

Once you have completed your draft of the questionnaire trial it on someone. This will help you to iron out problems