Questionaire Designs Flashcards
(34 cards)
What are self-administered questionnaires?
Self-administered questionnaires include postal, email, and web surveys.
They are cheap, quick, have a wide reach, and save time.
What are the advantages of self-administered questionnaires?
Advantages include being cheap, quick, having a wide reach, and saving time.
They can reach more people with less risk of variation.
What are the disadvantages of self-administered questionnaires?
Disadvantages include low response rates, no clarification possible, less obligation to complete, potential bias, and unknown respondents.
These factors can affect the reliability of the data.
What are structured interviews?
Structured interviews can be conducted face-to-face or via telephone.
They are designed to gather detailed information.
What are the advantages of structured interviews?
Advantages include better data quality and suitability for complex questions.
They allow for in-depth responses.
What are the disadvantages of structured interviews?
Disadvantages include being expensive and the risk of interviewer bias.
These factors can limit the feasibility of this method.
What are the advantages of self-administrated questionaires?
Low cost of data collection and processing
Quick to administer
Absence of interviewer bias
Access to respondents who live at widely dispersed addresses or abroad
Contact people who are rarely at home
Convenient for respondents
Used to screen a population for subsection who can then be interviewed
What are the disadvantages of self-administrated questionaires?
Need accurate and up to date list of populations
Low response rates
Unsuitable for some respondents
Cannot correct misunderstanding
No control over order of questions answered
Do not know who answers questionaires
Cannot collect additional data e.g. observation
Greater risk of missing data
Rely on respondent to complete questionaire aided only by written instruction and covering letter
What are the advantages structured interviews?
Used for smaples where there are no compete lists
Interview schedules can be longer and more compete than postal questionaires
Obtain more detailed information - open questions
Good response rates
Used for people who are not literate
use complex questions
use prompts to explain interesting replies and comments
Interviewer has control over question order
useful for sensitive subjects
face to face interviews allows collection of observational data
What are the disadvantages of structured interviews?
Expensive compared to postal surveys
Difficult to use with diffuse samples
Bias
Interviewer bias
Acquiescence
Social desirability
Evaluation apprehension
What is anonymity in ethical considerations?
Anonymity means that participants cannot be identified from the data. There is no method of sending reminder letters. Consider if the data is ‘truly’ anonymous.
What does confidentiality entail?
Confidentiality ensures that data is secured and not shared without permission. A code number is included in the top right corner of the questionnaire, allowing for potential identification of respondents.
What is informed consent?
Informed consent can be written or implied. For example, returning a completed questionnaire implies consent.
What is implied consent?
Implied consent is given when subjects are informed about the research and return the form, such as in a short postal questionnaire.
What is the ideal reponse rate?
60%+
How can response rate be improved?
○ Advance letters
○ Letter of introduction - influential person
○ Personalisation
○ Contact phone number for queries
○ Put a return by date so reminder letters can be sent
○ Include a return envelope (+ postage)
○ Address envelope to respondent
○ Do not make it longer than 8 side (general population)
○ Link questions and sections - motivation to complete
○ Incentives - how much? - how much effort is it going to take and what is the probability of me winning?
○ Clear, short, well-designed questionnaires
○ Return envelopes with postage
○ Follow-up non-responders
○ Simple easy to follow questions
How to design good questions?
use existing questions/ questionaires
- validated i.e. tried and tested
- standard coding systems
still adviseable to pilot and check it works
question developed from:
- literature search
- prelimary data collectoon e.g.focus groups, interviews
Define good questions
- Free-form answers
- Not a yes or no response
- Good for exploratory research.
- Harder to analyse
- Unpopular if used in a postal questionnaire - can be off putting
Define closed questions
- Fixed response options (yes/no, multiple choice, Likert scales).
- Easier for analysis (SPSS friendly).
- Better if motivation is low
Creates false options/bias if all options are not included
What are some types of response scales?
Yes/No, Checklists (circle or tick relevant response), Rankings, Semantic Differentials.
What should always be included in response scales?
An ‘Other, please specify…’ option if needed.
What is an example of a factual question?
Where do you work?
