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- Questionnaire Design | Methods, Question Types & Examples
Questionnaire Design | Methods, Question Types & Examples
Published on July 15, 2021 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on January 9, 2023.
A questionnaire is a list of questions or items used to gather data from respondents about their attitudes, experiences, or opinions. Questionnaires can be used to collect quantitative and/or qualitative information.
Questionnaires are commonly used in market research as well as in the social and health sciences. For example, a company may ask for feedback about a recent customer service experience, or psychology researchers may investigate health risk perceptions using questionnaires.
Table of contents
Questionnaires vs. surveys, questionnaire methods, open-ended vs. closed-ended questions, question wording, question order, step-by-step guide to design, frequently asked questions about questionnaire design.
A survey is a research method where you collect and analyze data from a group of people. A questionnaire is a specific tool or instrument for collecting the data.
Designing a questionnaire means creating valid and reliable questions that address your research objectives , placing them in a useful order, and selecting an appropriate method for administration.
But designing a questionnaire is only one component of survey research. Survey research also involves defining the population you’re interested in, choosing an appropriate sampling method , administering questionnaires, data cleansing and analysis, and interpretation.
Sampling is important in survey research because you’ll often aim to generalize your results to the population. Gather data from a sample that represents the range of views in the population for externally valid results. There will always be some differences between the population and the sample, but minimizing these will help you avoid several types of research bias , including sampling bias , ascertainment bias , and undercoverage bias .
Questionnaires can be self-administered or researcher-administered . Self-administered questionnaires are more common because they are easy to implement and inexpensive, but researcher-administered questionnaires allow deeper insights.
Self-administered questionnaires
Self-administered questionnaires can be delivered online or in paper-and-pen formats, in person or through mail. All questions are standardized so that all respondents receive the same questions with identical wording.
Self-administered questionnaires can be:
- cost-effective
- easy to administer for small and large groups
- anonymous and suitable for sensitive topics
But they may also be:
- unsuitable for people with limited literacy or verbal skills
- susceptible to a nonresponse bias (most people invited may not complete the questionnaire)
- biased towards people who volunteer because impersonal survey requests often go ignored.
Researcher-administered questionnaires
Researcher-administered questionnaires are interviews that take place by phone, in-person, or online between researchers and respondents.
Researcher-administered questionnaires can:
- help you ensure the respondents are representative of your target audience
- allow clarifications of ambiguous or unclear questions and answers
- have high response rates because it’s harder to refuse an interview when personal attention is given to respondents
But researcher-administered questionnaires can be limiting in terms of resources. They are:
- costly and time-consuming to perform
- more difficult to analyze if you have qualitative responses
- likely to contain experimenter bias or demand characteristics
- likely to encourage social desirability bias in responses because of a lack of anonymity
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Your questionnaire can include open-ended or closed-ended questions or a combination of both.
Using closed-ended questions limits your responses, while open-ended questions enable a broad range of answers. You’ll need to balance these considerations with your available time and resources.
Closed-ended questions
Closed-ended, or restricted-choice, questions offer respondents a fixed set of choices to select from. Closed-ended questions are best for collecting data on categorical or quantitative variables.
Categorical variables can be nominal or ordinal. Quantitative variables can be interval or ratio. Understanding the type of variable and level of measurement means you can perform appropriate statistical analyses for generalizable results.
Examples of closed-ended questions for different variables
Nominal variables include categories that can’t be ranked, such as race or ethnicity. This includes binary or dichotomous categories.
It’s best to include categories that cover all possible answers and are mutually exclusive. There should be no overlap between response items.
In binary or dichotomous questions, you’ll give respondents only two options to choose from.
White Black or African American American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Ordinal variables include categories that can be ranked. Consider how wide or narrow a range you’ll include in your response items, and their relevance to your respondents.
Likert scale questions collect ordinal data using rating scales with 5 or 7 points.
When you have four or more Likert-type questions, you can treat the composite data as quantitative data on an interval scale . Intelligence tests, psychological scales, and personality inventories use multiple Likert-type questions to collect interval data.
With interval or ratio scales , you can apply strong statistical hypothesis tests to address your research aims.
Pros and cons of closed-ended questions
Well-designed closed-ended questions are easy to understand and can be answered quickly. However, you might still miss important answers that are relevant to respondents. An incomplete set of response items may force some respondents to pick the closest alternative to their true answer. These types of questions may also miss out on valuable detail.
To solve these problems, you can make questions partially closed-ended, and include an open-ended option where respondents can fill in their own answer.
Open-ended questions
Open-ended, or long-form, questions allow respondents to give answers in their own words. Because there are no restrictions on their choices, respondents can answer in ways that researchers may not have otherwise considered. For example, respondents may want to answer “multiracial” for the question on race rather than selecting from a restricted list.
- How do you feel about open science?
- How would you describe your personality?
- In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for productivity in remote work?
Open-ended questions have a few downsides.
They require more time and effort from respondents, which may deter them from completing the questionnaire.
For researchers, understanding and summarizing responses to these questions can take a lot of time and resources. You’ll need to develop a systematic coding scheme to categorize answers, and you may also need to involve other researchers in data analysis for high reliability .
Question wording can influence your respondents’ answers, especially if the language is unclear, ambiguous, or biased. Good questions need to be understood by all respondents in the same way ( reliable ) and measure exactly what you’re interested in ( valid ).
Use clear language
You should design questions with your target audience in mind. Consider their familiarity with your questionnaire topics and language and tailor your questions to them.
For readability and clarity, avoid jargon or overly complex language. Don’t use double negatives because they can be harder to understand.
Use balanced framing
Respondents often answer in different ways depending on the question framing. Positive frames are interpreted as more neutral than negative frames and may encourage more socially desirable answers.
Use a mix of both positive and negative frames to avoid research bias , and ensure that your question wording is balanced wherever possible.
Unbalanced questions focus on only one side of an argument. Respondents may be less likely to oppose the question if it is framed in a particular direction. It’s best practice to provide a counter argument within the question as well.
Avoid leading questions
Leading questions guide respondents towards answering in specific ways, even if that’s not how they truly feel, by explicitly or implicitly providing them with extra information.
It’s best to keep your questions short and specific to your topic of interest.
- The average daily work commute in the US takes 54.2 minutes and costs $29 per day. Since 2020, working from home has saved many employees time and money. Do you favor flexible work-from-home policies even after it’s safe to return to offices?
- Experts agree that a well-balanced diet provides sufficient vitamins and minerals, and multivitamins and supplements are not necessary or effective. Do you agree or disagree that multivitamins are helpful for balanced nutrition?
Keep your questions focused
Ask about only one idea at a time and avoid double-barreled questions. Double-barreled questions ask about more than one item at a time, which can confuse respondents.
This question could be difficult to answer for respondents who feel strongly about the right to clean drinking water but not high-speed internet. They might only answer about the topic they feel passionate about or provide a neutral answer instead – but neither of these options capture their true answers.
Instead, you should ask two separate questions to gauge respondents’ opinions.
Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree
Do you agree or disagree that the government should be responsible for providing high-speed internet to everyone?
You can organize the questions logically, with a clear progression from simple to complex. Alternatively, you can randomize the question order between respondents.
Logical flow
Using a logical flow to your question order means starting with simple questions, such as behavioral or opinion questions, and ending with more complex, sensitive, or controversial questions.
The question order that you use can significantly affect the responses by priming them in specific directions. Question order effects, or context effects, occur when earlier questions influence the responses to later questions, reducing the validity of your questionnaire.
While demographic questions are usually unaffected by order effects, questions about opinions and attitudes are more susceptible to them.
- How knowledgeable are you about Joe Biden’s executive orders in his first 100 days?
- Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Joe Biden is managing the economy?
- Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president?
It’s important to minimize order effects because they can be a source of systematic error or bias in your study.
Randomization
Randomization involves presenting individual respondents with the same questionnaire but with different question orders.
When you use randomization, order effects will be minimized in your dataset. But a randomized order may also make it harder for respondents to process your questionnaire. Some questions may need more cognitive effort, while others are easier to answer, so a random order could require more time or mental capacity for respondents to switch between questions.
Step 1: Define your goals and objectives
The first step of designing a questionnaire is determining your aims.
- What topics or experiences are you studying?
- What specifically do you want to find out?
- Is a self-report questionnaire an appropriate tool for investigating this topic?
Once you’ve specified your research aims, you can operationalize your variables of interest into questionnaire items. Operationalizing concepts means turning them from abstract ideas into concrete measurements. Every question needs to address a defined need and have a clear purpose.
Step 2: Use questions that are suitable for your sample
Create appropriate questions by taking the perspective of your respondents. Consider their language proficiency and available time and energy when designing your questionnaire.
- Are the respondents familiar with the language and terms used in your questions?
- Would any of the questions insult, confuse, or embarrass them?
- Do the response items for any closed-ended questions capture all possible answers?
- Are the response items mutually exclusive?
- Do the respondents have time to respond to open-ended questions?
Consider all possible options for responses to closed-ended questions. From a respondent’s perspective, a lack of response options reflecting their point of view or true answer may make them feel alienated or excluded. In turn, they’ll become disengaged or inattentive to the rest of the questionnaire.
Step 3: Decide on your questionnaire length and question order
Once you have your questions, make sure that the length and order of your questions are appropriate for your sample.
If respondents are not being incentivized or compensated, keep your questionnaire short and easy to answer. Otherwise, your sample may be biased with only highly motivated respondents completing the questionnaire.
Decide on your question order based on your aims and resources. Use a logical flow if your respondents have limited time or if you cannot randomize questions. Randomizing questions helps you avoid bias, but it can take more complex statistical analysis to interpret your data.
Step 4: Pretest your questionnaire
When you have a complete list of questions, you’ll need to pretest it to make sure what you’re asking is always clear and unambiguous. Pretesting helps you catch any errors or points of confusion before performing your study.
Ask friends, classmates, or members of your target audience to complete your questionnaire using the same method you’ll use for your research. Find out if any questions were particularly difficult to answer or if the directions were unclear or inconsistent, and make changes as necessary.
If you have the resources, running a pilot study will help you test the validity and reliability of your questionnaire. A pilot study is a practice run of the full study, and it includes sampling, data collection , and analysis. You can find out whether your procedures are unfeasible or susceptible to bias and make changes in time, but you can’t test a hypothesis with this type of study because it’s usually statistically underpowered .
A questionnaire is a data collection tool or instrument, while a survey is an overarching research method that involves collecting and analyzing data from people using questionnaires.
Closed-ended, or restricted-choice, questions offer respondents a fixed set of choices to select from. These questions are easier to answer quickly.
Open-ended or long-form questions allow respondents to answer in their own words. Because there are no restrictions on their choices, respondents can answer in ways that researchers may not have otherwise considered.
A Likert scale is a rating scale that quantitatively assesses opinions, attitudes, or behaviors. It is made up of 4 or more questions that measure a single attitude or trait when response scores are combined.
To use a Likert scale in a survey , you present participants with Likert-type questions or statements, and a continuum of items, usually with 5 or 7 possible responses, to capture their degree of agreement.
You can organize the questions logically, with a clear progression from simple to complex, or randomly between respondents. A logical flow helps respondents process the questionnaire easier and quicker, but it may lead to bias. Randomization can minimize the bias from order effects.
Questionnaires can be self-administered or researcher-administered.
Researcher-administered questionnaires are interviews that take place by phone, in-person, or online between researchers and respondents. You can gain deeper insights by clarifying questions for respondents or asking follow-up questions.
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How to Develop a Questionnaire for Research
Last Updated: December 4, 2022 References Approved
wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 24 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 41 testimonials and 92% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 559,196 times. Learn more...
A questionnaire is a technique for collecting data in which a respondent provides answers to a series of questions. [1] X Research source To develop a questionnaire that will collect the data you want takes effort and time. However, by taking a step-by-step approach to questionnaire development, you can come up with an effective means to collect data that will answer your unique research question.
Designing Your Questionnaire
- Come up with a research question. It can be one question or several, but this should be the focal point of your questionnaire.
- Develop one or several hypotheses that you want to test. The questions that you include on your questionnaire should be aimed at systematically testing these hypotheses.
- Dichotomous question: this is a question that will generally be a “yes/no” question, but may also be an “agree/disagree” question. It is the quickest and simplest question to analyze, but is not a highly sensitive measure.
- Open-ended questions: these questions allow the respondent to respond in their own words. They can be useful for gaining insight into the feelings of the respondent, but can be a challenge when it comes to analysis of data. It is recommended to use open-ended questions to address the issue of “why.” [2] X Research source
- Multiple choice questions: these questions consist of three or more mutually-exclusive categories and ask for a single answer or several answers. [3] X Research source Multiple choice questions allow for easy analysis of results, but may not give the respondent the answer they want.
- Rank-order (or ordinal) scale questions: this type of question asks your respondent to rank items or choose items in a particular order from a set. For example, it might ask your respondents to order five things from least to most important. These types of questions forces discrimination among alternatives, but does not address the issue of why the respondent made these discriminations. [4] X Research source
- Rating scale questions: these questions allow the respondent to assess a particular issue based on a given dimension. You can provide a scale that gives an equal number of positive and negative choices, for example, ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” [5] X Research source These questions are very flexible, but also do not answer the question “why.”
- Write questions that are succinct and simple. You should not be writing complex statements or using technical jargon, as it will only confuse your respondents and lead to incorrect responses.
- Ask only one question at a time. This will help avoid confusion
- Asking questions such as these usually require you to anonymize or encrypt the demographic data you collect.
- Determine if you will include an answer such as “I don’t know” or “Not applicable to me.” While these can give your respondents a way of not answering certain questions, providing these options can also lead to missing data, which can be problematic during data analysis.
- Put the most important questions at the beginning of your questionnaire. [7] X Research source This can help you gather important data even if you sense that your respondents may be becoming distracted by the end of the questionnaire.
- Only include questions that are directly useful to your research question. [9] X Trustworthy Source Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for leading international efforts to end world hunger and improve nutrition Go to source A questionnaire is not an opportunity to collect all kinds of information about your respondents.
- Avoid asking redundant questions. This will frustrate those who are taking your questionnaire.
- Consider if you want your questionnaire to collect information from both men and women. Some studies will only survey one sex.
- Consider including a range of ages in your target demographic. For example, you can consider young adult to be 18-29 years old, adults to be 30-54 years old, and mature adults to be 55+. Providing the an age range will help you get more respondents than limiting yourself to a specific age.
- Consider what else would make a person a target for your questionnaire. Do they need to drive a car? Do they need to have health insurance? Do they need to have a child under 3? Make sure you are very clear about this before you distribute your questionnaire.
- Consider an anonymous questionnaire. You may not want to ask for names on your questionnaire. This is one step you can take to prevent privacy, however it is often possible to figure out a respondent’s identity using other demographic information (such as age, physical features, or zipcode).
- Consider de-identifying the identity of your respondents. Give each questionnaire (and thus, each respondent) a unique number or word, and only refer to them using that new identifier. Shred any personal information that can be used to determine identity.
- Remember that you do not need to collect much demographic information to be able to identify someone. People may be wary to provide this information, so you may get more respondents by asking less demographic questions (if it is possible for your questionnaire).
- Make sure you destroy all identifying information after your study is complete.
Writing your questionnaire
- My name is Jack Smith and I am one of the creators of this questionnaire. I am part of the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan, where I am focusing in developing cognition in infants.
- I’m Kelly Smith, a 3rd year undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico. This questionnaire is part of my final exam in statistics.
- My name is Steve Johnson, and I’m a marketing analyst for The Best Company. I’ve been working on questionnaire development to determine attitudes surrounding drug use in Canada for several years.
- I am collecting data regarding the attitudes surrounding gun control. This information is being collected for my Anthropology 101 class at the University of Maryland.
- This questionnaire will ask you 15 questions about your eating and exercise habits. We are attempting to make a correlation between healthy eating, frequency of exercise, and incidence of cancer in mature adults.
- This questionnaire will ask you about your recent experiences with international air travel. There will be three sections of questions that will ask you to recount your recent trips and your feelings surrounding these trips, as well as your travel plans for the future. We are looking to understand how a person’s feelings surrounding air travel impact their future plans.
- Beware that if you are collecting information for a university or for publication, you may need to check in with your institution’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) for permission before beginning. Most research universities have a dedicated IRB staff, and their information can usually be found on the school’s website.
- Remember that transparency is best. It is important to be honest about what will happen with the data you collect.
- Include an informed consent for if necessary. Note that you cannot guarantee confidentiality, but you will make all reasonable attempts to ensure that you protect their information. [12] X Research source
- Time yourself taking the survey. Then consider that it will take some people longer than you, and some people less time than you.
- Provide a time range instead of a specific time. For example, it’s better to say that a survey will take between 15 and 30 minutes than to say it will take 15 minutes and have some respondents quit halfway through.
- Use this as a reason to keep your survey concise! You will feel much better asking people to take a 20 minute survey than you will asking them to take a 3 hour one.
- Incentives can attract the wrong kind of respondent. You don’t want to incorporate responses from people who rush through your questionnaire just to get the reward at the end. This is a danger of offering an incentive. [13] X Research source
- Incentives can encourage people to respond to your survey who might not have responded without a reward. This is a situation in which incentives can help you reach your target number of respondents. [14] X Research source
- Consider the strategy used by SurveyMonkey. Instead of directly paying respondents to take their surveys, they offer 50 cents to the charity of their choice when a respondent fills out a survey. They feel that this lessens the chances that a respondent will fill out a questionnaire out of pure self-interest. [15] X Research source
- Consider entering each respondent in to a drawing for a prize if they complete the questionnaire. You can offer a 25$ gift card to a restaurant, or a new iPod, or a ticket to a movie. This makes it less tempting just to respond to your questionnaire for the incentive alone, but still offers the chance of a pleasant reward.
- Always proof read. Check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
- Include a title. This is a good way for your respondents to understand the focus of the survey as quickly as possible.
- Thank your respondents. Thank them for taking the time and effort to complete your survey.
Distributing Your Questionnaire
- Was the questionnaire easy to understand? Were there any questions that confused you?
- Was the questionnaire easy to access? (Especially important if your questionnaire is online).
- Do you feel the questionnaire was worth your time?
- Were you comfortable answering the questions asked?
- Are there any improvements you would make to the questionnaire?
- Use an online site, such as SurveyMonkey.com. This site allows you to write your own questionnaire with their survey builder, and provides additional options such as the option to buy a target audience and use their analytics to analyze your data. [19] X Research source
- Consider using the mail. If you mail your survey, always make sure you include a self-addressed stamped envelope so that the respondent can easily mail their responses back. Make sure that your questionnaire will fit inside a standard business envelope.
- Conduct face-to-face interviews. This can be a good way to ensure that you are reaching your target demographic and can reduce missing information in your questionnaires, as it is more difficult for a respondent to avoid answering a question when you ask it directly.
- Try using the telephone. While this can be a more time-effective way to collect your data, it can be difficult to get people to respond to telephone questionnaires.
- Make your deadline reasonable. Giving respondents up to 2 weeks to answer should be more than sufficient. Anything longer and you risk your respondents forgetting about your questionnaire.
- Consider providing a reminder. A week before the deadline is a good time to provide a gentle reminder about returning the questionnaire. Include a replacement of the questionnaire in case it has been misplaced by your respondent. [20] X Research source
Community Q&A
You Might Also Like
- ↑ https://www.questionpro.com/blog/what-is-a-questionnaire/
- ↑ https://www.hotjar.com/blog/open-ended-questions/
- ↑ https://www.questionpro.com/a/showArticle.do?articleID=survey-questions
- ↑ https://surveysparrow.com/blog/ranking-questions-examples/
- ↑ https://www.lumoa.me/blog/rating-scale/
- ↑ http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Soc_survey.shtml
- ↑ http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/hdr/design/2.4.3.html
- ↑ http://www.fao.org/docrep/W3241E/w3241e05.htm
- ↑ http://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/questionaires.htm
- ↑ https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/survey-rewards/
- ↑ http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/how-to-develop-a-questionnaire
- ↑ https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/take-a-tour/?ut_source=header
About This Article
To develop a questionnaire for research, identify the main objective of your research to act as the focal point for the questionnaire. Then, choose the type of questions that you want to include, and come up with succinct, straightforward questions to gather the information that you need to answer your questions. Keep your questionnaire as short as possible, and identify a target demographic who you would like to answer the questions. Remember to make the questionnaires as anonymous as possible to protect the integrity of the person answering the questions! For tips on writing out your questions and distributing the questionnaire, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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Harvard University Program on Survey Research
- Questionnaire Design Tip Sheet
This PSR Tip Sheet provides some basic tips about how to write good survey questions and design a good survey questionnaire.
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- How to write a research questionnaire?
The main purpose of any research questionnaire should be to help the researcher in extracting maximum data with the help of minimum questions from the respondents. The questionnaire thus acts as a standard guide for the interviewers who need to ask the questions in same way, as without this standardization the process can get haphazard. Questionnaires are a very important part of data collection methodology which ultimately facilitate the analysis. 1
According to many scholars, there are five people who should be considered i.e. Client, Researcher. Interviewer, Respondent and the data processor while designing a questionnaire. A questionnaire only fails when it is designed with insufficient thought. Common problems that are observed in a failed survey include; missed out questions, badly constructed questionnaire, or too long or too complicated questions. 1,2
Steps which are involved in designing a questionnaire include: 3
- Chalk out the requirements of the study
- Define target respondents
- Select a method(s) for reaching to target respondents (Emails, online surveys, personal interviews, etc.)
- Formulate the content of the questionnaire with proper wording
- Arrange questions in meaningful order and format
- Finally, check the validity and reliability of the questionnaire and pre-test the questionnaire on a small fraction of population.
The survey plan for any research study will have a range of objectives and thus can require qualitative or quantitative methods or both. The questionnaire can thus be divided into three types as per the requirements of the research study: 4
- Structured Questionnaires: Closed-ended questions with predefined answers, used in large interview programs for anything over 30 to more than 200 interviews. It can be carried out through mails, telephonic interviews, online surveys.
- Semi-Structured Questionnaires: Mixture of close and open-ended questions, used mainly in business related market research wherein large range of responses is obtained. It can be carried out either on telephone or through face-to-face interviews.
- Unstructured Questionnaires: Designed to obtain elicit free responses and mainly comprises of qualitative questions. The questionnaire guide has a list of questions with apparent order but it is not as rigid the other two questionnaires.
Questions are designed basically to collect three different types of information from target population these include behavioral information, attitudinal information and classification information. Each of these information types have been defined below: 5,6
- Behavioral Information: Factual information about what respondents does and also defines the frequency with which certain actions are carried out. These questions are used in surveys to find out market size, awareness, usage etc.
- Attitudinal Information: Information about what people think about a particular product, service or brand can be extracted with the help of ratings. These questions are used in brand mapping surveys, and customer and employee satisfaction surveys.
- Classification Information: The information which is used to group the respondents to differentiate within the group, for example the socio-demographic information like, age, gender, marital status, socio-economic background, educational qualification etc. This kind of information is obtained in every survey.
- Paul Hague (March, 2006); “ A practical Guide to market Research ”, Stockport, UK; Chap 8 An Introduction to Questionnaire Design, Pg 129-149
- Fink, A. (2003) How to ask survey questions, 2nd edition, Sage, London (Thousand Oaks).
- I.M. Crawford (1997); “Marketing Research and Information systems” Rome; Chap 4 Questionnaire Design
- Proctor, T. (2003) Essentials of marketing research, 3rd edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall, Harlow. Chapter 7, pp. 176-205.
- Czaja, R. and Blair, J. (1996) Designing surveys: a guide to decisions and procedures, Thousand Oaks, London. Chapters 4-6, pp. 51-106.
- De Vaus, D. A. (1996) Surveys in social research, UCL Press, London. Chapter 6, pp. 80-106.
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My thesis – “An assessment of the effectiveness of tactile communication on interactive process of congenitally deafblind in —” Questions on methods, materials and equipment, challenges and intervention. descriptive survey design. I need your advice on preparation of a questionnaire please. With regards.
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8+ Dissertation Questionnaire Examples & Samples in PDF | DOC
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Dissertation Research Questionnaire
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Sample Dissertation Questionnaire
What Is a Dissertation Questionnaire?
- It is a document used in the processes of data gathering.
- Questionnaires in PDF used for a dissertation contain questions that can help assess the current condition of the community which is the subject of study within the dissertation.
- It specifies the questions that are needed to be answered to assure that there is a basis in terms of the results that will be presented in a dissertation.
How to Write a Dissertation Questionnaire
- Be specific with the kind of dissertation that you are creating and align the purposes of the dissertation questionnaire that you need to make to your study.
- List down the information needed from the community who will provide the answers to your questions.
- Open a software where you can create a questionnaire template. You may also download survey questionnaire examples and templates to have a faster time in formatting the document.
- The purpose of the dissertation questionnaire.
- The guidelines and instructions in answering the dissertation questions.
- The name of the person to who will use the questionnaire results to his/her dissertation.
- The institution to whom the dissertation will be passed.
- List down the questions based on your needs.
Undergraduate Dissertation Questionnaire
Project Management Dissertation
Guidelines for Writing a Dissertation Questionnaire
- Make sure that you are well aware of the data that is needed in your dissertation so you can properly curate questions that can supply your information needs.
- It will be best to use a dissertation questionnaire format that is organized, easy to understand, and properly structured. This will help the people who will answer the dissertation questionnaire quickly know how they can provide the items that you would like to know.
- Always make sure that your instructions in answering the questions are precise and directly stated.
- You may look at questionnaires in Word for comparisons. Doing this will help you assess whether there are still areas of improvement that you may tap with the content and format of the dissertation questionnaire that you have created.
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Dissertation surveys: Questions, examples, and best practices
Collect data for your dissertation with little effort and great results.
Dissertation surveys are one of the most powerful tools to get valuable insights and data for the culmination of your research. However, it’s one of the most stressful and time-consuming tasks you need to do. You want useful data from a representative sample that you can analyze and present as part of your dissertation. At SurveyPlanet, we’re committed to making it as easy and stress-free as possible to get the most out of your study.
With an intuitive and user-friendly design, our templates and premade questions can be your allies while creating a survey for your dissertation. Explore all the options we offer by simply signing up for an account—and leave the stress behind.
How to write dissertation survey questions
The first thing to do is to figure out which group of people is relevant for your study. When you know that, you’ll also be able to adjust the survey and write questions that will get the best results.
The next step is to write down the goal of your research and define it properly. Online surveys are one of the best and most inexpensive ways to reach respondents and achieve your goal.
Before writing any questions, think about how you’ll analyze the results. You don’t want to write and distribute a survey without keeping how to report your findings in mind. When your thesis questionnaire is out in the real world, it’s too late to conclude that the data you’re collecting might not be any good for assessment. Because of that, you need to create questions with analysis in mind.
You may find our five survey analysis tips for better insights helpful. We recommend reading it before analyzing your results.
Once you understand the parameters of your representative sample, goals, and analysis methodology, then it’s time to think about distribution. Survey distribution may feel like a headache, but you’ll find that many people will gladly participate.
Find communities where your targeted group hangs out and share the link to your survey with them. If you’re not sure how large your research sample should be, gauge it easily with the survey sample size calculator.
Need help with writing survey questions? Read our guide on well-written examples of good survey questions .
Dissertation survey examples
Whatever field you’re studying, we’re sure the following questions will prove useful when crafting your own.
At the beginning of every questionnaire, inform respondents of your topic and provide a consent form. After that, start with questions like:
- Please select your gender:
- What is the highest educational level you’ve completed?
- High school
- Bachelor degree
- Master’s degree
- On a scale of 1-7, how satisfied are you with your current job?
- Please rate the following statements:
- I always wait for people to text me first.
- Strongly Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Strongly agree
- My friends always complain that I never invite them anywhere.
- I prefer spending time alone.
- Rank which personality traits are most important when choosing a partner. Rank 1 - 7, where 1 is the most and 7 is the least important.
- Flexibility
- Independence
- How openly do you share feelings with your partner?
- Almost never
- Almost always
- In the last two weeks, how often did you experience headaches?
Dissertation survey best practices
There are a lot of DOs and DON’Ts you should keep in mind when conducting any survey, especially for your dissertation. To get valuable data from your targeted sample, follow these best practices:
Use the consent form.
The consent form is a must when distributing a research questionnaire. A respondent has to know how you’ll use their answers and that the survey is anonymous.
Avoid leading and double-barreled questions
Leading and double-barreled questions will produce inconclusive results—and you don’t want that. A question such as: “Do you like to watch TV and play video games?” is double-barreled because it has two variables.
On the other hand, leading questions such as “On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate the amazing experience with our customer support?” influence respondents to answer in a certain way, which produces biased results.
Use easy and straightforward language and questions
Don’t use terms and professional jargon that respondents won’t understand. Take into consideration their educational level and demographic traits and use easy-to-understand language when writing questions.
Mix close-ended and open-ended questions
Too many open-ended questions will annoy respondents. Also, analyzing the responses is harder. Use more close-ended questions for the best results and only a few open-ended ones.
Strategically use different types of responses
Likert scale, multiple-choice, and ranking are all types of responses you can use to collect data. But some response types suit some questions better. Make sure to strategically fit questions with response types.
Ensure that data privacy is a priority
Make sure to use an online survey tool that has SSL encryption and secure data processing. You don’t want to risk all your hard work going to waste because of poorly managed data security. Ensure that you only collect data that’s relevant to your dissertation survey and leave out any questions (such as name) that can identify the respondents.
Create dissertation questionnaires with SurveyPlanet
Overall, survey methodology is a great way to find research participants for your research study. You have all the tools required for creating a survey for a dissertation with SurveyPlanet—you only need to sign up . With powerful features like question branching, custom formatting, multiple languages, image choice questions, and easy export you will find everything needed to create, distribute, and analyze a dissertation survey.
Happy data gathering!
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You can follow these steps to develop a strong research question: Choose your topic. Do some preliminary reading about the current state of the field. Narrow your focus to a specific niche. Identify the research problem that you will address.
Step-by-step guide to design Step 1: Define your goals and objectives. The first step of designing a questionnaire is determining your aims. What... Step 2: Use questions that are suitable for your sample. Create appropriate questions by taking the perspective of your... Step 3: Decide on your ...
How to Frame and Explain the Survey Data Used in a Thesis Surveys are a special research tool with strengths, weaknesses, and a language all of their own. There are many different steps to designing and conducting a survey, and survey researchers have specific ways of describing what they do.
Develop questions for your questionnaire. The questions that you develop for your questionnaire should be clear, concise, and direct. This will ensure that you get the best possible answers from your respondents. Write questions that are succinct and simple.
Questionnaire Design Tip Sheet; Sampling, Coverage, and Nonresponse Tip Sheet; PSR Survey Toolbox. Introduction to Surveys for Honors Thesis Writers; Managing and Manipulating Survey Data: A Beginners Guide; PSR Introduction to the Survey Process; Survey Research at Harvard. Related Centers/Programs at Harvard; General Survey Reference ...
How to write a research questionnaire? Chalk out the requirements of the study. Define target respondents. Select a method (s) for reaching to target respondents (Emails, online surveys, personal interviews, etc.) Formulate the content of the questionnaire with proper wording. Arrange questions in ...
Open a software where you can create a questionnaire template. You may also download survey questionnaire examples and templates to have a faster time in formatting the document. Create a header or initial discussion which may include: The purpose of the dissertation questionnaire.
How to write dissertation survey questions. The first thing to do is to figure out which group of people is relevant for your study. When you know that, you’ll also be able to adjust the survey and write questions that will get the best results. The next step is to write down the goal of your research and define it properly.