Sociological Methods Questionnaires 7 th December 2016 Questionnaires

Sociological Methods Questionnaires 7 th December 2016

Questionnaires Learning Objectives • By the end of the lesson, you will be able to understand the issues involved in the use of questionnaires – strengths and weaknesses • By the end of the lesson, you will be able to describe and give and example of closed and open questions

What is a questionnaire? • A questionnaire is a series of questions on paper or online, which a researcher uses to find out about a social issue.

QUESTIONNAIRES Questionnaires are probably the most widely used research tool in sociology and many other subjects. The term survey is also used to sometimes to mean gathering quantitative data through questionnaires. General design principles are: - To keep it clear and simple - To keep questions as short as possible - To avoid questions that are open to different interpretations

Types of questions OPEN- Allow the respondents to answer in detail and as fully as they wish CLOSED- Only allow fixed answers such as yes or no GRADED- Respondents are asked how much they agree with questions and can record their responses on a scale of say 1 -6.

Getting started…can you match these questions 1) Do you know what a questionnaire is? 5 mins 2) Describe the types of question you know 3) Questionnaires are useful tools for sociologists. Do you: • Strongly agree, neither agree nor disagree, strongly disagree Open: Allow the respondents to answer in detail and as fully as they wish Closed: Only allow fixed answers such as yes or no Graded: Respondents are asked how much they agree with questions and can record their responses on a scale of say 1 -6

Have a go… Can you write an example of an open, closed and graded question? 2 mins

TASK: Read the statements on the worksheet and decide if they are a strength or a weakness. We will review your answers together… 10 mins

Strengths and Weaknesses of questionnaires 1. The researcher has decided what to ask and may choose a biased set of questions 4. They produce reliable data 7. Questions may be misunderstood and the respondent cannot ask for an explanation 9. Responses may lack validity 2. Response rates vary depending on the way the questionnaire is distributed 5. They can reach a large sample 3. People can take their time to think of appropriate answers 6. Respondents might rush through the questions especially if it is a long questionnaire 8. They are a quick way to collect a lot of data 11 They are relatively cheap to produce 10. If closed questions are asked the researcher has decided on the range of possible answers

In summary… Questionnaires are popular because they are a fairly quick and cheap way of collecting reliable data. There is no need for a team of interviewers and therefore it saves money.

The limitations of questionnaires How does the following video clip highlight the limitations of questionnaires https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Ik. YUDQCYGHA

Sociological Methods Limitations… Low response rate – affecting representativeness Not enough detail making it low in validity.

REPRESENTATIVENESS VALIDITY PRACTICALITY EVALUATION RECAP ISSUES RELIABILITY ETHICS Give Questionnaires a score out of 5 for each of the above criteria

Pilot study Why might you use one for questionnaires?

Check your understanding & Exam Practice Worksheet