COLLECTING PRIMARY DATA

USING QUESTIONNAIRES
Sofia Fernandes
COLLECTING PRIMARY DATA USING QUESTIONNAIRES
Questionnaire Techniques
Questionnaire Design

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QUESTIONNAIRE
It includes all techniques of data collection in which each
person is asked to respond to the same set of questions in a
predetermined order.
It is one of the most widely used techniques within the
survey strategy.
Normally, it requires less skill and sensitivity to administer
than semi-structured or in-depth interviews.

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QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUES
When to use questionnaires:
questionnaires are usually not good tools for collecting data
if the research requires answering large numbers of open-
ended questions
questionnaires can be used as the only tool to collect data,
however, it may be better to link them with other tools. For
example, a questionnaire to discover customers attitudes
can be complemented by in-depth interviews to explore and
understand those attitudes

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QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUES
Types of questionnaire:

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QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUES
The choice of questionnaire is influenced by a variety of factors,
particularly:
characteristics of the respondents from whom you wish to
collect data;
importance of reaching a particular person as respondent;
importance of respondents answers not being contaminated or
distorted;
size of sample you require for your analysis, taking into account
the likely response rate;
types of question you need to ask to collect your data;
number of questions you need to ask to collect your data.
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QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUES
Types of variables that can be collected:
Opinion variables - how respondents feel about something
or what they think or believe is true or false.
Behavioural variables - data on what people (or their
organisations) did in the past, do now or will do in the
future.
Attribute variables - data about the respondents
characteristics. Attributes are best thought of as things a
respondent possesses, rather than things a respondent
does. Attributes include characteristics such as age, gender,
marital status, education, occupation and income.

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QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUES - EXAMPLE 1
Types of variables that can be collected:
Opinion variables

Behavioural variables

Attribute variables

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QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUES - EXAMPLE 2

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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
The internal validity and reliability of the data you collect and
the response rate you achieve depend, to a large extent, on the
design of your questions, the structure of your questionnaire,
and the rigour of your pilot testing.
A valid questionnaire will enable accurate data to be collected,
and one that is reliable will mean that these data are collected
consistently.

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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - STAGES

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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - DESIGNING QUESTIONS
Open questions:

List of responses:

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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - DESIGNING QUESTIONS
Category questions (the respondent can only select one):

Ranking questions:

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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - DESIGNING QUESTIONS
Rating questions :

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 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - DESIGNING QUESTIONS
Quantity questions:

Matrix or Grid of questions:

Note: the respondents might face difficulties comprehending the Matrix or Grid
Design.
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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - CONSTRUCTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
The order and flow of questions should be logical to the
respondent.
To assist with the flow of the questionnaire, it might e
necessary to include filter questions (questions the respondent
can skip). Example:

The Questionnaire might be accompanied of a covering letter

or e-mail explaining the purpose of the survey and what
exactly the respondent is asked to do.
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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN - PILOT TESTING
The purpose of pilot testing is to refine the questionnaire so
that respondents will have no problems in answering the
questions and there will be no problems in recording the data.
Preliminary analysis using the pilot test data can be
undertaken to ensure that the data collected will enable your
investigative questions to be answered.

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CONCLUSION
Questionnaires collect data by asking people to respond to exactly the same set of
questions.They are often used as part of a survey strategy to collect data about opinions,
behaviours and attributes.
The choice of questionnaire will be influenced by your research question(s) and objectives
and the resources that you have available. The five main types are Internet- or intranet-
mediated, postal, delivery and collection, telephone and interview schedule.
Prior to designing a questionnaire, you must know precisely what data you need to collect.
The validity and reliability of the data you collect and the response rate you achieve depend
largely on the design of your questions, the structure of your questionnaire, and the rigour
of your pilot testing.
When designing your questionnaire you should consider the wording of individual
questions prior to the order in which they appear. Questions can be divided into open and
closed. The six types of closed questions are list, category, ranking, rating, quantity and
matrix.
The order and flow of questions in the questionnaire should be logical to the respondent.
This can be assisted by filter questions and linking phrases.

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