Creating A Good Questionnaire IB Geography Internal Assessment
Creating A Good Questionnaire IB Geography Internal Assessment
Requirements for the IA • 50 Completed Questionnaires (English/Spanish) – No limit on how many questions, though it must not take up more than the front and back of 1 sheet of paper. – Include demographic questions first, then closed, then open • 6 Completed Interviews – Typed Transcripts must be submitted
Advantages and Disadvantages of Questionnaires • Advantages – Can assess a large group quickly – Easy to analyze if constructed correctly • Disadvantages – Requires “good” language skills – Some people give answers they think you want – Not very good for getting in-depth information
The Basics • The purpose of a questionnaire in this case is to yield quantifiable data based on participant responses. • There are 2 main types of questions asked in questionnaires: open and closed.
Open Questions • Used to explore topics in-depth • Advantage: Gives people a chance to respond in detail and explain their opinion • Disadvantage: They are time-consuming for you to summarize and analyze
Examples of Open Questions • What do you think of …. ? • What do you like about…. ?
Open Questions • Open-ended Questions – Example: – What changes would you like to see in our science class? • Stem Plus Questions Example: • Some things I would like to see change in our science class are _________
Closed Questions • A closed question is one where the respondent is limited to one or more of a limited range of options. • Advantages: – Questionnaires based on closed questions are much easier and quicker to analyze. – A large amount of information can be processed in a short period of time.
Closed Questions • Disadvantages: – Respondents tend to presume the answer in advance – Respondents may put what they think you want to see – Data may not be entirely accurate because they may be rounding to fit your answer choices – More inclined to lie when they see possible answers – it is sometimes necessary to add a catch-all category of “Other”. – Questionnaires that have numerous Yes/No questions are unlikely to yield much useful data, or allow for interesting methods of presentation
Examples of Closed Questions • Here are 2 examples of closed questions: – Do you agree that the new school is good for the community? Yes/No – How many times do you visit the grocery store each month? 1, 1 -2, 3 -5, >5
Closed Questions • Dichotomous Questions (2 choices) – Yes/No – Agree/Disagree Do you think a paper recycling program should be started in your school? Yes No
Closed Questions • Multiple-choice Questions – Give respondents options – May ask for single or multiple answers Example: How did you hear about our Website? ___ Newspaper ___ Magazine ___ Radio ___ Internet ___ Other: Please specify _____
Closed Questions • Rank Order Questions – Respondents place things in order – Example: – Which activities do you like to do in your spare time? Place a “ 1” next to the activity that you like to do most, a “ 2” by the next favorite, and so on to the least favorite. • • • ___ Watch TV ___ Read ___ Visit friends ___ Surf the Internet ___ Shop
Closed Questions • Rating Scale (Semantic Differential) – Also called a “Likert Scale” – Give a statement; choose your response along a scale – Example: My students are motivated to learn. Strongly Agree Not Sure Disagree Strongly Disagree
Demographics Questions • Demographic questions may ask about personal characteristics such as -– age – race/ethnicity – gender – neighborhood
Things to Avoid Unclear or ambiguous questions Examples: What do you think about school? What role should the principal play in educating students?
Things to Avoid • Know your audience • Make sure that the length, content, and wording matches the intended audience • Keep questions clear and concise • Avoid technical wording
Things to Avoid • Will the question help you to answer the fieldwork question? Will it help you formulate a good argument? • A question may be well-written, but possibly won’t yield you good enough data to answer the fieldwork question. • This is why it is so important to sit down with your group and really think about what data you need to answer your fieldwork question.
Some Guidelines for Interviewees • Choose who you interview very intentionally. • Divide your interviewees into 2 groups: – Experts: doctors, alderman, police, park district workers, priests, grocery store managers, etc. – Sample of the varying population groups: sample of men/women, black/white/hispanic, high education/low education, many children/no children, good health/poor health, someone who lives in food desert/someone who doesn’t, someone from high crime neighborhood/someone from low crime, etc.
The Questions • Your questions will change depending on who you’re interviewing. • Aim to have enough questions to get an indepth response in between 15 -20 minutes. • Questions should all be open ended, providing plenty of opportunity for interviewee to respond with explanations, details, and examples. • Avoid bias at all costs!
- Slides: 20