4. Questionnaires

What is a questionnaire?

An open questionnaire is a document which is handed to a participant to comlete alone and the questions allow them to explain their responses. These can include closed questions whereby the participants selects an answer from a range of responses.

What are 2 examples of open questions used in questionnaires?

1. Callender and Jackson did a questionnaire of 2000 students and found working class students are more debt fearing which affected whether they went to university

2. Venkatesh 2011 - did a questionnaire about gangs however not many peoplle replied so he switched to do an observation

What are 3 examples of closed questions used in questionnaires?

1. Crime survey of England and Wales - had 32,000 responses

2. Connor and Dewson - 4000 questionnaires to investigate factors affecting working class students attending university

3. 2021 census on population growth which showed the populatjon had grown by around 3.5 million since the 2011 census and the people identifying as white had decreased by 500,000

What would be some practical pros and cons of investigating using questionnaires?

Pros - cheap and quick to administer especially online or by post

- generally easy to analyse depending if it's open or closed

Cons - low response rate when sent by post (only 4.5% from 100,000)

- not practical for younger kids because they might not understand the questions/anyone might understand wrong without clarification

What would be some ethical pros and cons of investigating using questionnaires?

Pros - informed consent is easily gained in the questionnaire

- can be anonymous however some people might not always believe this

Cons - sensitive topics might cause distress and the researcher won't be there for support

What would be some reliability pros and cons of investigating using questionnaires?

Pros - easy to repeat and get the same results if it is standardised

Cons - respondents may interpret questions differently so give different responses meaning you can't obtain the same results by repeating

What would be some validity pros and cons of investigating using questionnaires?

Pros - good for simple factual answers such as age

- people may see it is anonymous and so answer more honestly

- standardised nature allows one variable to be isolated

Cons - people might give socially desirable answers

- often lack depth or insight because there are no follow up questions

- potential for misunderstanding

What would be some representative pros and cons of investigating using questionnaires?

Pros - can cover huge samples especially online or school ones because students are pressured into answering -> however this may affect validity if they are scared of getting into trouble

Cons - less chance of getting a representative sample of all the subgroups because lots may not answer if the questionnaire is painting them in a bad light

What would be some theoretical pros and cons of investigating using questionnaires?

Favoured by positivists if closed questions, favoured by interpretivists if open questions