Disadvantages of questionnaires

Practical problems

The data from questionnaires tend to be limited and superficial. This is because they tend to be fairly brief, since most respondents are unlikely to compare and return a long, time-consuming questionnaire.

Low response rate

Very low response rates can be a major problem, especially with postal questionnaires.

If the respondents are different from the non-respondents, this will provide distorted and unrepresentative results, from which no accurate generalisations can be made.

Inflexibility

Questionnaires are a very inflexible method. Once the questionnaire has been finalised, the researcher is stuck with the questions they have decided to ask and cannot explore any areas of interest should they come up during the research.

Questionnaires are just snapshots in time

They give a picture of social reality only in a moment of time- the moment when the respondent answers the questions.

Detachment

Lack of contact means that there is now way to clarify what the questions mean to the respondent or to deal with misunderstandings. Questionnaires fail to do this because they the most detached of all primary methods.

Lying, forgetting and ‘Right answer-ism’

Problems of validity are created when respondents give answers that are not full or frank. For example, respondents may forget, not know, not understand, or try to please, or second-guess the researcher. Some may give ‘respectable’ answers they fell they ought to give, rather than tell the truth.

The ‘Imposition Problem’ (imposing researcher’s meanings)

By choosing which questions to ask, the researcher, not the respondent, has already decided what is important. If we use close-ended questions, respondents then try to fit their own views into the ones on offer.