Research Methodology

Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a series of questions asked to individuals to obtain statistically useful
information about a given topic. When properly constructed and responsibly
administered, questionnaires become a vital instrument by which statements can be
made about specific groups or people or entire populations.
A well designed questionnaire gives accurate and relevant information about the
research questions. It reduces the potential sources of biasness. A well designed
questionnaire will likely be completed as simple and focused as possible. Asking
questions is an obvious method of collecting both quantitative and qualitative
information from people. Questionnaires are a particularly suitable tool for gaining
quantitative data but can also be used for qualitative data.

Types of questionnaires
1. Structured questionnaire
2. Unstructured questionnaire
1. Structured questionnaire
Structured questionnaires are based predominantly on closed questions which produce
data that can be analyzed quantitatively for patterns and trends. The agenda is
entirely predetermined by the evaluator and provides little flexibility for respondents
to qualify their answers. A closed question can be answered with either 'yes' or 'no'
Example:
Do you have a library membership card? Yes ( ) No ( )

2. Unstructured open ended questionnaire

Unstructured are based predominantly on open questions where there is no list of
answer choices from which to choose. Respondents are simply asked to write their
response to a question.
Example:
A. What are the facilities and services do you expect from your library?
___________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Types of questions in a questionnaire

A questionnaire involves the following types of questions

1. Open ended questions

The open ended questions are used to pose some problems and ask the respondents.
The respondent is free to answer in their own content and style. These tend to permit
freedom of expression and allow the respondents to qualify their responses. This
freedom leads to a lack of bias but the answers are more open to researcher
interpretation. They are also more demanding and time consuming for respondent
and more difficult to code. These questions work in several ways.

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 Open-ended questions are set to ask for the critical thinking and uncut
opinion of the respondent because these respondents are perfect for gaining
information from specialists in a field about which the researcher is less
qualified or does not have sufficient information about the topic.
 Open-ended questions can be useful for surveys that are targeting a small
group of people because there is no need for complex statistical analysis
and the qualitative nature of the questions will give you more valuable
input from each respondent.
 The conclusive research usually requires preliminary research to be
conducted in order to design the appropriate research objects, survey
structure and questions.
2. Closed-ended questions
Closed-ended questions come in a multitude of forms, including: multiple choice,
drop down, checkboxes, and ranking questions. Each question type doesn’t allow the
respondent to provide unique or unanticipated answers, but rather, choose from a list
of pre-selected options. Closed-ended questions can be answered with “Yes” or “No,”
or they have a limited set of possible answers (such as: A, B, C, or All of the above).

Use of Close ended questions

 When your audience isn’t particularly interested in your survey topic
 When you need quantifiable data
 To categorize respondents

Questionnaire Design
“BETTER INFORMATION USUALLY LEADS TO BETTER DECISIONS”
Designing a questionnaire is not as simple and easy as at first sight. Every
researcher uses information to make decisions about the future. If the information
is accurate then it is probability of making a good decision. If it is incorrect,
researcher’s ability to make a correct decision is diminished. Therefore a crucial
part of good research is concerned with making sure that the questionnaire design
addresses the needs of research.

Steps involved in questionnaire

Decide the information required
 Define the target respondent.
 Choose the methods of reaching your target respondent.
 Decide the question content
 Develop the question wording.
 Put question into a meaningful order and format
 Check the length of the questionnaire
 Pre-test the questionnaire.
 Develop the final survey form.
1. Define the target respondent:
The first step is to decide’ what are the things one needs to know from the
respondent in order to meet the survey’s objective?

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2. Define the target respondent:

At the outset, the researcher must define the population about which he wishes to
generalize from the sample data to be collected.

3. Choose the methods of reaching your target respondent:

Personal interviews, Group or focus interviews, Mailed questionnaires and
Telephone interviews those methods that are helpful to reach the target
respondent to collect the required data.

4. Decide the question content

Researcher must always be prepared to ask the right question. There are only 2
occasions when seemingly” redundant” might be included:
Opening questions that are easy to answer and the dummy question can disguise
the purpose of that survey and/or the sponsorship of the study.

5. Develop the question wording:

o It provides the respondent with an easy method of indicating his answer-
he does not have to think about how to articulate his answer.
o Responses can be easily classified, making analysis very straight forward
o It permits the respondent to specify the answer categories most suitable for
their purpose.
6. Place questions in a meaningful order:
i. Opening
Show Courtesy and awaken the respondents’ interest on the topic.

ii. Question flow

These should be simple, friendly, close ended, easy to respond questions &
should convey the theme of the study. The purpose of these questions is to
bring flow in the order of questions in a questionnaire.

iii. Question variety

Ask the Target Questions and questions like names, age and gender along with
open-ended question here.

iv. Closing question

The closing questions are used to build relation, Keep scope for future
meetings, show gratitude to the respondent for responding, leave on a positive
note.

7. Check the length of the questionnaire:

In general it is best for a questionnaire to be as short as possible because a long
questionnaire leads to a long interview and this is open to the dangers of
boredom on the part of respondent.
8. Pre-test the questionnaire:
Test the questionnaire on a small sample of your subject first this is possible at
least it on colleagues or friends. It is common practice to pre-test the

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questionnaire on a small number of people before it is used in earnest. This is
called a pilot study.
9. Develop the final survey form:
It means designed questionnaire will be administered among the selected
sample respondents to the study.

The advantages of questionnaires

o The questionnaires are mostly used for practical purpose.
o Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people
in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way.
o The questionnaire can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of
people with limited affect to its validity and reliability.
o The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified by
either a researcher or through the use of a software package.
o Can be analyzed more 'scientifically' and objectively than other forms of
research.

The disadvantages of questionnaires:

o The questionnaire provides only a limited insight into the problems because
limited responses are allowed in the questionnaire. A possibility is also there
that might be right questions are not asked by the researcher.
o The response of the respondents can be varied from situation to situation and
context to context.
o Hard to chase after missing data

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