📝 Clear wording
Questions must be easy to understand, short and about one thing at a time. If a question is confusing, people may guess what it means and give answers that do not tell the researcher what they wanted to know.
Questionnaires and Interviews » Questionnaires
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 7.3.1, 7.3.3
- What a questionnaire is and its main features
- Questionnaire techniques: clear wording, avoiding leading questions, rating scales, question order, paper or online
- Strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires
- How to apply questionnaires to a new scenario
This lesson is part of Paper 2 Section D, the non-experimental methods questions. You have already met observation. Now you will look at a method where researchers ask people questions instead of watching them.
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Unlock This CourseWhat is a questionnaire?
Imagine a researcher wants to know how many hours of sleep students get on a school night. They could follow students home and watch them, but that would take forever. It is much easier to write down some questions and ask the students to answer them.
Key terms:
- Questionnaire: a method of collecting data by asking written questions to participants.
The key word is written. The participants read the questions and write or tick their own answers. The researcher does not need to be in the room. Questionnaires can be given out on paper or completed online, for example on a website or an app. Both ways use the same idea.
(Postal questionnaires, which are sent out and returned by post, are not needed for your exam.)
Learn this
A questionnaire = written questions that participants answer for themselves. If the questions are asked out loud by a person, that is a different method (an interview), covered in the next lesson.
Questionnaire techniques
A questionnaire is only useful if the questions are good. Researchers use a number of techniques to make sure they collect useful data.
🚫 Avoiding leading questions
A leading question pushes the participant towards a particular answer. It is better to ask a neutral question, so the answer shows what the person really thinks.
📈 Rating scales
A rating scale asks participants to pick a number on a scale, for example 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). It makes answers easy to compare and count.
🔢 Question order
The order of the questions matters. Easy, non-threatening questions usually come first, and an earlier question can change how someone answers a later one.
Key terms:
- Leading question: a question that pushes the participant towards a particular answer.
- Rating scale: a set of numbers, such as 1 to 5, from which the participant chooses the one that fits their view.
Questionnaires can use open questions (answers in the participant's own words) and closed questions (fixed answer choices). You will learn about both in the lesson called Open and Closed Questions.
Leading questions in action
Worked example
Leading: "Don't you agree that the new school gym is brilliant?" This pushes people to say yes.
Better: "How would you rate the new school gym, from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good)?" This is neutral, because it does not suggest which answer is right, and the rating scale makes the answers easy to compare.
Question order: if the researcher first asks "How often do you miss your sports club?" and then asks about the gym, people may rate the gym differently because the first question has put them in a certain frame of mind. Starting with simple questions such as age and year group helps people settle in.
Paper or online?
A questionnaire can be delivered in two ways.
- Paper: handed out and collected, for example in a classroom. Everyone who is there can take part, even without a device, but the answers must be collected and typed up.
- Online: sent as a link and completed on a screen. It can reach many people far away, and answers are collected automatically. However, only people with internet access can take part.
Strengths and weaknesses
✅ Strengths
- Data can be collected from many people quickly.
- It is cheap and easy to give to a large group.
- Everyone answers the same questions, so answers are easy to compare.
- Answers can be kept private, so people may feel able to share personal views.
❌ Weaknesses
- Participants may give socially desirable answers, saying what makes them look good rather than the truth.
- They may not remember accurately.
- A question may be misunderstood and the researcher is not there to explain it.
- Some people may not return or finish the questionnaire.
Key terms:
- Socially desirable answer: an answer given to look good to others, rather than the honest answer.
Applying it to a new scenario
Worked example
A researcher wants to find out how much time students in a large school spend on their phones each evening and how they feel about it.
Why use a questionnaire? It lets the researcher collect data from hundreds of students quickly, using the same questions for everyone, perhaps as an online form.
Techniques to use: a clear question such as "About how many hours do you spend on your phone on a school evening?", a rating scale from 1 to 5 for "How well do you sleep?", and no leading questions such as "Isn't too much phone time bad for you?"
A weakness: students might under-report their phone time to look more sensible, which is a socially desirable answer. This means the data may not be accurate.
Common mistakes
- Saying a questionnaire involves speaking to people. A questionnaire is written. Asking spoken questions is an interview.
- Writing "it is quick" and stopping. Say why: lots of people can answer at the same time.
- Writing a leading question as an example of a good question. Always check that a question does not suggest the answer.
- Giving general points. In a scenario question, use the details given, such as who the participants are and what is being studied.
Exam-style question
A researcher wants to find out how students feel about the amount of homework they are given. The researcher decides to use a questionnaire.
(a) Describe what is meant by a questionnaire. [2 marks]
(b) Suggest one question the researcher could ask, using a rating scale. [2 marks]
(c) Explain one weakness of using a questionnaire in this research. [2 marks]
Model answer
(a) A questionnaire is a method of collecting data (1) by asking written questions to participants (1).
(b) "How much homework do you feel you get each week, from 1 (far too little) to 5 (far too much)?" (1 for a clear question about homework, 1 for including a rating scale with its two ends explained.)
(c) Students may give socially desirable answers (1), for example saying they do not mind homework because they think their teachers will read the answers, so the data may not show how they really feel (1).
Exam tip
In part (b), write the whole question and show the scale, with what the numbers mean. Just writing "a rating scale" will not get the marks.