Report

Topic
Meaning

 Research questionnaires are the tools we use when gathering data and information for our research; we
use these information to prove the theory or to answer the questions that we have in our research.

 Open ended questions are the type of questions that cannot simply be answered by yes or no. This type
of questions gives the participants the opportunity to elaborate their answers. OEQ helps a researcher see
the participants perspectives as they get feedbacks with their own words instead of stock answers.

 Closed-ended questions are the type of questions that can be answered by yes or no or true or false, it can
also be composed of multiple choices for the participants to choose. CEQ restricts the answers of
participants they are only given limited options.

 Closed-ended questions give limited insight, but can easily be analyzed for quantitative data. For
example, one of the most popular closed questions in marketing which asks people “How likely are you
to recommend this product/service on a scale from 0 to 10?” and uses numerical answers to calculate
overall score trends.

Exploratory Questionnaires
 Ask an open-ended question when you want to develop a better understanding of your customers
and their needs, get more context behind their actions, and/or investigate the reasons behind their
satisfaction/dissatisfaction with your product. For example, the open-ended question “If you could
change anything on this page, what would it be?” allows your customers to express, in their own words,
what they think you should be working on next:

Formal Standardized Questionnaires

 Ask a closed-ended question when you want answers that can be plotted on a graph and used to
show trends and percentages. For example, answers to the closed-ended question “Do you trust the
information on [website]?” will help you understand the proportion of people who find your website
trustworthy versus those who do not:

Closed-ended question example Open-ended question example

Would you recommend our product/service? What were the main reasons you chose our product/service?

Did you experience good customer service? How did you feel about our customer service?
Closed-ended question example Open-ended question example

Would you consider using our product/service

What would make you use our product/service again?
again?

What is the most important feature of our product/service for

Did you like our product/service?
you?

Are you interested in buying product/service

Why are you looking for product/service today?
today?

Are you happy with your experience with us? How would you describe your experience with us?

Did you find what you were looking for today? aHow can we help you find what you are looking for today?

Deciding on the information required

It should be noted that one does not start by writing questions. The first step is to decide 'what are the things
one needs to know from the respondent in order to meet the survey's objectives?' These, as has been
indicated in the opening chapter of this textbook, should appear in the research brief and the research
proposal.

One may already have an idea about the kind of information to be collected, but additional help can be
obtained from secondary data, previous rapid rural appraisals and exploratory research. In respect of
secondary data, the researcher should be aware of what work has been done on the same or similar
problems in the past, what factors have not yet been examined, and how the present survey questionnaire
can build on what has already been discovered. Further, a small number of preliminary informal interviews
with target respondents will give a glimpse of reality that may help clarify ideas about what information is
required.

Think about what your questionnaire is going to include before you start designing the look of it. Clarity of
the topic is of utmost importance as this is the primary step in designing the questionnaire. Once you are
clear on the purpose of the questionnaire, you can begin the design process.

Define the target respondents

At the outset, the researcher must define the population about which he/she wishes to generalise from the
sample data to be collected. For example, in marketing research, researchers often have to decide whether
they should cover only existing users of the generic product type or whether to also include non-users.
Secondly, researchers have to draw up a sampling frame. Thirdly, in designing the questionnaire we must
take into account factors such as the age, education, etc. of the target respondents.

A researcher should know their target audience. For example, if the target audience speaks mostly Spanish,
sending the questionnaire in any other language would lower the response rate and accuracy of data.
Something that may seem clear to you may be confusing to your respondents. Use simple language and
terminology that your respondents will understand, and avoid technical jargon and industry-specific language
that might confuse or frustrate your respondents.