1. Questionnaires The Basics

2. Introduction  Questionnaires are a vital part of primary research  They are quick, efficient and easy to use  The results of a questionnaire will be vital to your research  A good questionnaire is not hard to design

3. To start with…  You need to be confident about what you are hoping to use the questionnaire data to discover  This knowledge guides the design of your questions  Be confident you can access your sample  Consider sample size and reliability

4. Tips  A questionnaire shouldn’t be too long  Use plain English  Test your questionnaire  Make your questions simple and straightforward

5. Designing questions  When devising your questions consider the following:  What is essential to know?  what would be useful to know?  What would be unnecessary?  Retain the former, keep the useful to a minimum and discard the rest.

6. Questionnaire design continued  The issues raised in one question can influence how people think about subsequent questions.  It is good to ask a general question and then ask more specific questions.

7. Open Questions  An open question allows your respondents to elaborate on their answer.  A response to an open question can allow for more variety in responses and also more depth  If there are an excessive number of written response questions, it reduces the quality and attention the respondents give to the answers.  Also the less open questions the less information you have to sift through

8. Closed Questions  A question that allows a limited response  Can be multiple-choice options, not just yes, no or don’t know.  These allow for questionnaires to be filled in quickly and also the results to be correlated efficiently.

9. Introduce your questionnaire   You may still need to motivate people to complete your questionnaire.   Write a few lines to introduce your survey. Your introduction should be short and includes: – –Purpose of the survey – –Why it is important to hear from the respondent – –What may be done with the results and what possible impacts may occur with the results. – –Person to contact for questions about the survey. – –Due date for response

10. What next…?  Who has the information you need or who has access to it?  Consider the sample size and access to the sample.  Will your sample be willing to talk? (Put questions in the third person)  Will it be paper-based or web-forum based?  Once your questionnaire has been designed and tested you must carry it out.  Interpret your results.