PART 3

What is a questionnaire? Discuss guidelines you will follow to produce a good questionnaire.
Provide examples to support your answer

Questionnaire is any written document that provide respondents with a sequence of questions
or statement in which they are to respond either by writing out their answers or choosing
from an already existing or given answers. [1]In other words, questionnaire is defined as the
research mechanism containing of chain of questions for the purpose of assembling
information and data from the people. Questionnaires are relatively easy to run and
resourcefully gather quite large quantities of data at a favourable manner. And also it can
reach a large number of people with the touch of a key. Questionnaire respondents may feel
more relaxed and comfortable providing private or profound answers than when the
respondents are being interviewed through phone or directly face to face. As an example, In a
survey, the researcher uses a questionnaire to gather information from the respondents to
answer the research questions. A questionnaire is a very convenient way of collecting
information from a large number of people within a period of time. Hence, the design of the
questionnaire is of utmost importance to ensure accurate data is collected so that the results
are interpretable and generalizable. A bad questionnaire renders the results uninterpretable, or
worse, may lead to erroneous conclusions. The primary purpose of a questionnaire is to help
extract data from respondents. It serves as a standard guide for the interviewers who each
need to ask the questions in exactly the same way. Without this standard, questions would be
asked in a haphazard way at the discretion of the individual. Questionnaires are also an
important part in the data collection methodology. They are the medium on to which
responses are recorded to facilitate data analysis. There are five people to take into
consideration when designing a questionnaire: Client – the client wants answers to their
particular problem and even, on occasion, to have their worst fears shown up to be unlikely or
improbable. Researcher – the researcher needs to uncover information and balance the needs
of three groups of people. She or he needs to ensure that the interviewer can manage the
questionnaire easily, that the questions are interesting for the respondent and that the
questionnaire matches the client’s needs. Interviewer – the interviewer wants a questionnaire
which is easy to follow and which can be completed in the time specified by the researcher.
Respondent – respondents generally want to enjoy the interview experience. They need to
feel that the questions are phrased so that they can be answered truthfully, and so that they
allow the respondent to actually say what he or she thinks. They may also want to know if
they will receive anything in return for giving their opinion. Data-processor – the data
processor wants a questionnaire which will result in data which can be processed efficiently
and with minimum error. If questionnaires fail it is usually because they are dashed off with
insufficient thought. Questions may be missed out; they could be badly constructed, too long,
or too complicated and sometimes unintelligible. Good questionnaires are iterations which
begin as a rough draft and, through constant refinement, are converted to precise and
formatted documents.

The first step of designing of a good questionnaire is to construct a conceptual framework.

The researcher needs to be very clear about his research questions and what “dependent” and
“independent” factors he intends to investigate.Now that you have developed the conceptual
framework and you know exactly what questions you want to ask, it is time for you to design
the questions in such a way that it is valid and reliable. The researchers have to brainstorm
and come up with the preliminary questions. These questions can be in the form of “close-ended”
or “open-ended” questions “Close-ended” questions provide options to the respondents and require
them to choose one or more items from the list. “Open-ended” questions allow the respondent to
express their opinions freely and they are not restricted by the options. The former is preferred if the
range of answers are well known and the options are limited; the latter is preferred if the answer
options are multiple and unknown. The answers to the open-ended questions require re-grouping
before analysis.The options available for each question should be as exhaustive as possible. This will
ensure the respondent can find an option which best suits his answer. In order to determine the
possible options, the researcher needs to brainstorm, review related published research, discuss with
experts and if necessary, conduct a focus group discussion among the target respondents. To allow
other possible options, the researcher can include an “Other: please specify ________” category as
one of the options.In a questionnaire which has many parts, some of which need not be answered by
the respondent, filtering is used to guide the respondent to answer only the relevant questions.
However, you should avoid using too much filtering as this may confuse the respondents and make
the questionnaire complicated. The order of the questions should flow in a logical sequence. Start with
simple questions before moving to more complex questions. Some prefer to start with the socio-
demography of the respondents while others will leave it to the last as it involves more personal
questions such as household income, education level and religion. However, this depends on the how
forth-coming the target population is. Sometimes, it helps by explaining to the respondent the reason
for asking a personal question or by making a general statement to normalise the “sensitive” question.
The final “touch-up” of the questionnaire is important because the “look” of the questionnaire may
decide whether the respondent is going to fill it up. This is especially relevant for postal surveys. The
title should be highlighted and it should reflect the main objective of the research. If possible, divide
the questionnaire into sections according to the content (e.g. boxes with bold headings) and it should
flow smoothly from one section to another with appropriate filtering. If your respondents involve
older persons, bigger font size should be used. Finally, a cover letter stating the objective of your
study, your affiliations, and, if appropriate, ensuring confidentiality and how you are going to use the
information you have collected.

PART 4

Educational research refers to a systematic attempt to gain a better understanding of the

educational process, generally with a view in improving its efficiency. It is an application of scientific
method to the study of educational problems. Education research is the scientific field of study that
examines education and learning processes and the human attributes, interactions, organizations, and
institutions that shape educational outcomes. Scholarship in the field seeks to describe, understand, and explain
how learning takes place throughout a person’s life and how formal and informal contexts of education affect all
forms of learning. Education research embraces the full spectrum of rigorous methods appropriate to the
questions being asked and also drives the development of new tools and methods.