1. Questionnaires and interviews
Survey research
Questionnaires and interviews

2. Questions Need to relate to research objectives
Need to motivate respondents to provide information
2 types of questions
factual
about subjective experience

3. Factual questions Background info Info about habits
Generally not very problematic

4. Example: factual question
Do you have digital TV in your home?
Yes No
Don’t know

5. Example: factual question
Which, if any, of the following airlines have you travelled with? [Please tick all that apply]
British Airways
British Midland (bmi)
EasyJet
Ryanair
Virgin Atlantic
None of these

6. Questions about subjective experience
Ask about respondents’ beliefs, attitudes, feelings and opinions
More problematic than factual questions
respondents don’t always know what they think
answers more sensitive to how question is worded, or the order of questions
Back up with other questions

7. Example: question about attitudes
Would you say the Government has provided you with enough information about the changeover to digital TV?
Yes- the Government has provided too much information
Yes- the Government has provided about the right amount
No- the Government has not provided enough information
No- the Government has provided no information
Don’t know

8. Example: question about attitudes
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? ‘Divorce in Britain should be made more difficult to obtain than it is now’
Agree strongly
Just agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Just disagree
Disagree strongly

9. Structure of questions: closed-ended
Respondents given set of answers and asked to choose one
Advantages
quick, easy to answer
easy to analyse
Disadvantages
may introduce bias, presenting possible answers which respondent would not think of
may introduce bias, making respondent choose from alternatives
may omit possible answers

10. Structure of questions: open-ended
Ask question without giving any answers; record respondent’s full answer
Advantages
no preconceived answers
can be more revealing
interviewer can clarify misunderstandings
Disadvantages
difficult to answer
difficult to analyse
Should not be questions that can be answered yes/no

11. Filter & contingency questions
Question relevant to some respondents but not to others
Closed-ended
Use filter question to arrive at subgroup

12. Example: filter & contingency questions
22a. Have you ever taken any schooling at a trade school, college, university or other postsecondary school?
Yes → Go to Question 22b
No → Go to Question 35
22b. At what type of educational institution did you take this schooling?
Trade school
Other non-university institution
University

13. Question formats (1) Dichotomous Multiple choice e.g. Yes/No
can ask for single or multiple answers

14. Question formats (2) Rating scale, e.g. Likert scale Strongly agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
(or only four ratings – no ‘undecided’)

15. Question formats (3) Ranking scale
e.g. rank a set of items in order of most to least important by placing 1-6 next to items, where 1 is most important and 6 is least important

16. Potential problems of wording
difficult for respondent to understand, too complex
leading question, e.g.
Do you prefer the new format of assessment to the previous format?
Yes/No/Don’t know
Comparing the old and new formats of assessment, which do you prefer?
Prefer old format/Prefer new format/No preference
double-barrelled questions
two or more questions combined

17. Administering questionnaires
Before administering, pilot questions and questionnaire
Administer:
By post
low response rate
Online
survey design tool available in Faculty of Humanities
Group-administered
e.g. Uni course unit survey
By interview
more resource intensive
interviewer can probe and establish rapport
interviewer is part of the instrument so must know what he/she is doing

18. Interviewing Traditional approaches Interpretive approach:
‘ask the right questions’: respondent as vessel of answers, facts, experiences
mass interviews, structured
Interpretive approach:
‘active interview’: respondent as productive source of knowledge (Gubrium and Holstein)
focus on how meaning is constructed
based on cooperation, mutual understanding
researcher ‘activates narrative production’ (ibid.)

19. Example
Aim: to obtain information about the reception of subtitled films in UK
Who to survey?
Questionnaire, interview?
Types of questions?
Formats of questions?
Questions?

20. Resources
Czaja, Ronald And Johnny Blair (2003) Designing Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures, 2nd edition, Thousand Oaks and London: Pine Forge.
Gubrium, Jaber F. and James A. Holstein (eds) (2001) Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, Thousand Oaks and London: Sage.
May, Tim (2001) Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process, 3rd edition, Buckingham: Open University Press [Chapter 6 is on interviewing]
Silverman, David (2000/2005) Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook, London: Sage (1st and 2nd editions)
Silverman, David (ed.) (1997/2004) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, London: Sage (1st and 2nd editions)
Web Survey Methodology website
Official Journal of the European Survey Research Association
Association for Qualitative Research
Introduction to Interviewing Techniques (chapter of e-book)
Research Methods Knowledge Base