Evaluation of Questionnaires as a Method of Research

A questionnaire is defined as ‘the main instrument for collecting survey research’ (Lavrakas, 2008). They are versatile as they can be used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data, such as the individual answers within a sample group or the popularity of some pre-selected options.  

Questionnaires have advantages in their ease of distribution and opportunities for wide sampling. They are usually quick to complete and can be completed in a variety of settings such as online, in person, or written, so they can have many avenues of distribution making them very accessible. Accessibility in turn adds to the ability to reach a wide variety of people as more will be inclined to take part in the survey because it is easier to do. 

However, each type of questionnaire has its own advantages and disadvantages, meaning they can vary in effectiveness. For example, questionnaires conducted through a computer, such as those sent out via email, are very inexpensive yet they are easily ignored or buried in crowded inboxes. On the other hand, a questionnaire conducted face-to-face may result in better engagement and understanding at the cost of being more expensive to run (Dudovskiy, no date). 

Something else that adds to the versatility of the questionnaire style of research is that it can be used to collect either qualitative or quantitative data, or both (Dudovskiy, no date). Questionnaires can be used to collect quantitative data by including ‘restricted questions with multiple choice answer options’ (Dudovskiy, no date) the results of which can be understood much like a poll – with answers being counted rather than read individually. The latter method is however used for collecting qualitative data, where researchers use open-ended questions and record the unique answers given by participants. While this can provide more insightful results, they may require more time-consuming analysis. 

Therefore, questionnaires are overall a good way to collect both general and specific data, albeit with some notable drawbacks such as specific data being harder to analyse in questionnaire format, especially with large sample sizes.

Bibliography:

• Lavrakas, P., 2008. Encyclopedia of survey research methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.
• Dudovskiy, J. (no date) Questionnaires. [online] Research-Methodology.net. Available at: <https://research-methodology.net/research-methods/survey-method/questionnaires-2/> [Accessed 30 March 2022].