RUFAIDA COLLEGE OF NURSING

JAMIA HAMDARD

ASSIGNMENT
ON

“QUESTIONNAIRE”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MRS. ANJALI KAUSHIK DEEPTI KUKRETI
NURSING TUTOR MSC(N) 1ST YEAR
RCON RCON
INTRODUCTION
The questionnaire is probably most used and most abused of the data gathering devices .It is easy to
prepare and to administer. The questionnaire is a form prepared and distributed to secure responses to
certain questions. It is a device for securing answers to questions by using a form which the respondent
will fill by himself. It is a systematic compilation of questions. It is an important instrument being used
to gather information from widely scattered sources. Normally used where one cannot see personally all
of the people from whom he desires responses or where there is no particular reason to see them
personally.

DEFINITION
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of gathering
information from respondents. Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can
be carried out face to face, by telephone, computer or post. Questionnaires can be an effective means of
measuring the behaviour, attitudes, preferences, opinions and, intentions of relatively large numbers of
subjects more cheaply and quickly than other methods.
The questionnaire was invented by the Statistical Society of London in 1838.

PURPOSE OF QUESTIONNAIRE
• The primary purpose of a questionnaire is to extract data from respondents. (in form of Interview,
Opinion, and questionnaire).
• It is an Inexpensive way to gather data from a potentially large number of respondents (by mail,
email or telephonic).
• It helps to Increases speed and accuracy of recording.
• When properly constructed and responsibly administered It becomes a very important tool for
providing a standardised data gathering procedure.

ELEMENTS OF QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Title:
 It should be very clear and precise
 This helps to identifies the domain of the investigation.
 The respondent is initially get oriented to the investigation.
 It should be captivating enough to attract attention and enthusiasm.

2. General introduction:
 This has a description of the purpose of study.
 The respondent is assured of confidentiality of information, making clear that there are no
wrong or right answers.
 Honest answers are also requested.
3. Specific instructions:
 This offers concise demonstration on how to carry on with the business of responding to the
 questionnaire.
4. Questionnaire items:
 It is the main part of the questionnaire schedule, to be clearly separated from the a four mentioned
parts.
5. Additional information:
 Includes the full contact information of the researcher/ administrator. May include a promise that a
copy of the summary of the final report would be send to the respondent on request.
6. "Thank you" may end the questionnaire.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE

1. It deals with an important or significant topic.
2. Its significance is carefully stated on the questionnaire or on its covering letter.
3. It seeks only that data which cannot be obtained from the resources like books, reports and
records.
4. It is as short as possible, only long enough to get the essential data.
5. It is attractive in appearance, nearly arranged and clearly stated or printed.
6. Directions are clear and complete, important terms are clarified.
7. The questions are objective, with no clues, hints or suggestions.
8. Questions are presented in a order from simple to complex.
9. Double barrelled questions or putting two questions in one question are also avoided.

TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRE
A distinction can be made between questionnaires with questions that measure separate variables, and
questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index. Questionnaires with questions
that measure separate variables, could for instance include questions on:

 preferences (e.g. political party)

 behaviours (e.g. food consumption)
 facts (e.g. gender)
Questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index, include for instance
questions that measure:

 latent traits
 attitudes (e.g. towards immigration)
 an index (e.g. Social Economic Status)

Example: A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is a questionnaire the type of diet consumed in people,
and may be used as a research instrument. Examples of usages include assessment of intake of vitamins or
toxins.
CONSTRUCTION OF A QUESTIONNAIRE

 Question type
Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format.
A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asks the
respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an
answer from a given number of options. The response options for a closed-ended question should be
exhaustive and mutually exclusive. This is beneficial as it means both quantitative and qualitative data can
be obtained.
Four types of response scales for closed-ended questions are distinguished:
 Dichotomous, where the respondent has two options
 Nominal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than two unordered options
 Ordinal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than two ordered options
 (Bounded)Continuous, where the respondent is presented with a continuous scale
A respondent's answer to an open-ended question is coded into a response scale afterwards. An example of
an open-ended question is a question where the testie has to complete a sentence (sentence completion
item). If we want to gather more in-depth answers from our respondents, then open questions will work
better. These give no pre-set answer options and instead allow the respondents to put down exactly what
they like in their own words. Open questions are often used for complex questions that cannot be answered
in a few simple categories but require more detail and discussion.

STRENGTHS OF CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS

1. They can be economical. This means they can provide large amounts of research data for relatively
low costs. Therefore, a large sample size can be obtained which should be representative of the
population, which a researcher can then generalize from.
2. The respondent provides information which can be easily converted into quantitative data (e.g.,
count the number of 'yes' or 'no' answers), allowing statistical analysis of the responses.
3. The questions are standardized. All respondents are asked exactly the same questions in the same
order. This means a questionnaire can be replicated easily to check for reliability. Therefore, a
second researcher can use the questionnaire to check that the results are consistent.

LIMITATIONS OF CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS

They lack detail because the responses are fixed, there is less scope for respondents to supply answers
which reflect their true feelings on a topic.

STRENGTHS OF OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

 Rich qualitative data is obtained as open questions allow the respondent to elaborate on their
answer. This means the research can find out why a person holds a certain attitude.
LIMITATIONS OF OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS
 Time-consuming to collect the data. It takes longer for the respondent to complete open questions.
This is a problem as a smaller sample size may be obtained.
 Time-consuming to analyse the data. It takes longer for the researcher to analyse qualitative data as
they have to read the answers and try to put them into categories by coding, which is often subjective
and difficult.
 Not suitable for less educated respondents as open questions require superior writing skills and a
better ability to express one's feelings verbally.

CONSTRUCTION OF A QUESTIONNAIRE
 Aim: Make sure that all questions asked address the aims of the research. However, use only one feature
of the construct you are investigating in per item.
 Length: The longer the questionnaire, the less likely people will complete it. Questions should be short,
clear, and be to the point; any unnecessary questions/items should be omitted.
 Run a small scale practice study to ensure people understand the questions. People will also be able to
give detailed honest feedback on the questionnaire design.
 There should be a minimum of technical jargon. Questions should be simple, to the point and easy to
understand. The language of a questionnaire should be appropriate to the vocabulary of the group of
people being studied. Use statements which are interpreted in the same way by members of different
subpopulations of the population of interest. For example, the researcher must change the language
of questions to match the social background of respondents' age / educational level / social class /
ethnicity etc.
 In general, questions should flow logically from one to the next. To achieve the best response rates,
questions should flow from the least sensitive to the most sensitive, from the factual and behavioural to
the attitudinal, and from the more general to the more specific. There typically is a flow that should be
followed when constructing a questionnaire in regards to the order that the questions are asked. The
order is as follows:

1. Screens
2. Warm-ups
3. Transitions
4. Skips
5. Difficult
6. Classification
Screens are used as a screening method to find out early whether or not someone should complete the
questionnaire.
Warm-ups are simple to answer, help capture interest in the survey, and may not even pertain to research
objectives.
Transition questions are used to make different areas flow well together.
Skips include questions similar to "If yes, then answer question 3. If no, then continue to question 5.
"Difficult questions are towards the end because the respondent is in "response mode."
Also, when completing an online questionnaire, the progress bars lets the respondent know that they are
almost done so they are more willing to answer more difficult questions.
Classification, or demographic question should be at the end because typically they can feel like personal
questions which will make respondents uncomfortable and not willing to finish survey. Make sure it looks
professional, include clear and concise instructions.
BASIC RULES FOR QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM CONSTRUCTION

 Use statements which are interpreted in the same way by members of different subpopulations of the
population of interest.
 Use statements where persons that have different opinions or traits will give different answers.
 Think of having an "open" answer category after a list of possible answers.
 Use only one aspect of the construct you are interested in per item.
 Use positive statements and avoid negatives or double negatives.
 Do not make assumptions about the respondent.
 Use clear and comprehensible wording, easily understandable for all educational levels
 Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
 Avoid items that contain more than one question per item (e.g. Do you like strawberries and potatoes?).
 Question should not be biased or even leading the participant towards an answer.

QUESTIONNAIRE ADMINISTRATION MODES

Main modes of questionnaire administration include:

 Face-to-face questionnaire administration, where an interviewer presents the items orally.

 Paper-and-pencil questionnaire administration, where the items are presented on paper.
 Computerized questionnaire administration, where the items are presented on the computer.
 Adaptive computerized questionnaire administration, where a selection of items is presented on the
computer, and based on the answers on those items, the computer selects following items optimized for
the teste’s estimated ability or trait.

MERITS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE
 Questionnaires provide a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining large amounts of
information from a large sample of people.
 Data can be collected relatively quickly because the researcher would not need to be present when
the questionnaires were completed.
 This is useful for large populations when interviews would be impractical.
 Questionnaires can be an effective means of measuring the behaviour, attitudes, preferences,
opinions and, intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects more cheaply and quickly than other
methods.

DEMERITS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE

o Questionnaire can have more problems than benefits. For example, unlike interviews, the people
conducting the research may never know if the respondent understood the question that was being
asked.
o Also, because the questions are so specific to what the researchers are asking, the information gained
can be minimal.
o Questionnaires also produce very low return rates, whether they are mail or online questionnaires.
The other problem associated with return rates is that often the people who do return the
questionnaire are those who have a really positive or a really negative viewpoint and want their
opinion heard. The people who are most likely unbiased either way typically don't respond because
it is not worth their time.
 o One key concern with questionnaires is that there may contain quite large measurement errors.
These errors can be random or systematic. Random errors are caused by unintended mistakes by
respondents, interviewers and/or coders. Systematic error can occur if there is a systematic reaction
of the respondents to the scale used to formulate the survey question. Thus, the exact formulation
of a survey question and its scale are crucial, since they affect the level of measurement error.
o Further, if the questionnaires are not collected using sound sampling techniques, often the results
can be non-representative of the population—as such a good sample is critical to getting
representative results based on questionnaires.
o A problem with questionnaire is that respondents may lie due to social desirability. Most people
want to present a positive image of themselves and so may lie or bend the truth to look good, e.g.,
pupils would exaggerate revision duration.

REFERENCES
1. Gillham, B. (2017). Developing a questionnaire (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Continuum International
Publishing Group Ltd.
2. Munn, P., & Drever, E. (2004). Using questionnaires in small-scale research: A beginner's guide.
Glasgow, Scotland: Scottish Council for Research in Education
3. McLeod, S. A. (2018). Questionnaire. Retrieved from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/questionnaires.html