THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Introduction:

Questionnaires are one of the most popular methods of conducting research. They provide a convenient
way to gathering information from a target population. They are cost-effective and easy to construct
and analyze.

Definition:

A questionnaire is a structured instrument consisting of a series of data prepared by researcher that a

research subject is asked to complete, to gather data from individuals about knowledge, attitude, beliefs
and feelings.

In other words, a questionnaire is a research instrument used for data collection. It is a set of questions
that may or may not provide with response alternatives which are to be answered by subject.

Types of Questions:

Open-Format/Open ended questions

Closed-Format questions

Closed-Format questions should be of the ff. subtypes:

Dichotomous questions - these requires the respondent to make a choice between two responses such
as Yes/No.

Example: Have you ever been hospitalized? YES/NO

Multiple-Choice questions - these questions require respondents to make a choice between more than
two response alternatives.

Example: Which of the following disease is sexually transmitted?

Cafeteria questions - these are special type of questions that ask the respondents to select a response
that most closely corresponds to their views.

Example: What do you think about hormone therapy?

Rank Order questions - these questions ask respondents to rank their responses from most favorable to
least favorable.

Example: What according to you is most important for your life. Rank from most favorable to least
favorable. a. Money. b. Education c. Family d. Health
Contingency questions - a question that is asked further only if the respondents gives a particular
response to previous questions.

Example: Are you stressed? a. No b. Yes, if yes what are the reason?

Rating questions - these questions ask respondents to judge something along an ordered dimension.
Respondent is asked to rate a particular issue on a scale that ranges from Poor to Good. They may
provide a number of choices.

Example: How you rank the Education quality in India?

Good Fair Poor Very Poor

1 2 3 4

Importance questions - in this respondents are asked to rate the importance of a particular issue, on a
rating scale of 1-5. This helps to know that the things/issues that are important to a respondent.

Example: Exercising everyday is ...... for the health.

Extremely Important Very Important Some what Not very important Not at all important
important
1 2 4 5
3

Likert questions - helps to know how strongly the respondent agrees with a particular statement.

These questions help ro assess how respondent feels towards a certain issues.

Example: This community a good place to raise children?

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

1 2 3 4
Bipolar questions - these are the questions that have two extreme answers. Respondents has to mark
his or her response between two opposite ends of the scale.

Example: What is your balance of preference here?

* I like going for walks

* I like watching movie

Matrix questions - it includes multiple questions and identical response categories are assigned.

Example: Please let us know your weekly schedule of the following:

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun