QUESTIONNAIREWhat are questionnaires?

What type of data do they produce?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using questionnaires in Sociological research?

Starter

Write the following statements into your book with the correct option (in Italics):

1. Graphs, tables, bar charts and pie charts are different types of quantitative/qualitative data.

2. Official crime rates, birth rates, death rates and marriage rates are types of primary/secondary, quantitative/qualitative data.

3. Personal letters, diaries, autobiographies and novels are types of primary/secondary, quantitative/qualitative data.

4. If a research method can be replicated precisely it is said to be reliable/valid.

5. Data that shows us what life is really like because it is truthful is said to be reliable/valid.

6. If a Sociologist allows their personal opinions to affect their research, they are said to have lost their subjectivity/objectivity.

Solutions

1. Graphs, tables, bar charts and pie charts are different types of quantitative data.

2. Official crime rates, birth rates, death rates and marriage rates are types of secondary quantitative data.

3. Personal letters, diaries, autobiographies and novels are types of secondary qualitative data.

4. If a research method can be replicated precisely it is said to be reliable.

5. Data that shows us what life is really like because it is truthful is said to be valid.

6. If a Sociologist allows their personal opinions to affect their research, they are said to have lost their objectivity.

Can you explain why?

Objectives

All to be able to describe different types of questionnaires.

Most to be able to outline the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires.

Some to be able to link the advantages and disadvantages of using questionnaires to validity and reliability of data produced through questionnaires.

Home learning

Complete the gap-fill worksheet on advantages and disadvantages of questionnaire.

Continue (or start!!!) revising for the exam (in 6 weeks) by reading through your exercise book.

Research methods

Research methods are different techniques used by Sociologists to find primary data. In other words, it refers to ways through which Sociologists find out facts about society.

A research method is also known as a social survey.

Research methods used by Sociologists include questionnaires, interviews and observations.

Task 1

Work in pairs. Use the textbook, pages 18 and 19. You have 10 minutes to find the answers

to these questions and write them into your book using full sentences:

1. What is a questionnaire?2. What are the three different types of

questionnaires? Describe each one. 3. What are the two types of questions that

can be included in questionnaires? Describe each one.

Questionnaires

1. A questionnaire is a list of written down questions which the respondents answer. The questions are standardised (all the same).

2. There are 3 types of questionnaires:

a) Postal self-completion – the questionnaires is posted to the respondents who fill in the answers by themselves and post it back to the researcher.

b) Hand-delivered – the researcher personally gives the questionnaire to the respondents, they fill it in and then the researcher comes to collect it from them.

c) Formal questionnaire – the researcher reads out the questions one by one, the respondent answers them and the researcher writes down the answer.

3. The questionnaire can be made up of 2 types of questions:

a) Closed-ended – these are multiple choice questions where the respondent has to choose one or more answers from the options they are given.

b) Open-ended - where the respondent is free to answer in their own words.

Task 2

Cut out the cards. Sort them into two columns - advantages and

disadvantages of questionnaires. Glue them into your book under these subheadings.

On some of the cards there are missing words. Use your own knowledge to fill the gaps with these words:

invalid reliable valid

You have 15 minutes. You can work with the person sitting next to you to

help each other out as well as use the textbook, pages 20 and 21.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are a cheap, quick and simple method for gathering data from large numbers of people.

In postal questionnaire, the researcher is not present when it is being filled in so the respondents will feel free to answer the questions truthfully. This makes the data valid.

The data is reliable as the questionnaire is standardised so it can be easily repeated by another researcher.

It produces quantitative data which is easy to analyse.

The respondents may not be able to understand the questions so they will answer them incorrectly. This makes the data invalid.

In postal questionnaires, the response rate (the number of people who fill in the questionnaire and return it) tends to be very low.

Closed ended questions provide only quantitative data which tells us how people behave, but doesn’t explain why they behave the way they do, so the data is limited.

In postal questionnaire, the researcher can never be sure that the right person completed the questionnaire.

Advantages Disadvantages

Task 3

Work on your own to answer these exam questions:

1. Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of using questionnaires. (2 marks)

One advantage of using questionnaires is... One disadvantage of using questionnaires is...

2. Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of using closed ended questions. (2 marks)

One advantage of using closed ended questions is... One disadvantage of using closed ended questions

is...

Possible answers

1. Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of using questionnaires. (2 marks)

One advantage of using questionnaires is that this is a very quick, cheap and simple method of collecting data from a large number of people.

One disadvantage of using questionnaires is that the data may lack validity if the respondents do not understand the questions because they will not be able to give a truthful answer.

2. Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of using closed ended questions. (2 marks)

One advantage of using closed ended questions is that they can be easily replicated which makes the data reliable.

One disadvantage of using closed ended questions is that they only produce quantitative data which does not tell use why people behave the way they do so it lacks validity.

Plenary

Work as a class to use the IWB to sort the statements under the correct column.

Write it into your book.

Can you identify if the statement is an advantage or disadvantage of that particular type of questionnaire? Write A for advantage and D for disadvantage next to each statement.

Solution

Self-completion postal questionnaire

Interview (formal) questionnaire

More time consuming and costly.Cheaper and quicker to carry out.

Can reach a large number of respondents who may be far away.

The respondents’ answers may be influenced by the presence of the researcher.

Low response rate – people may not return the questionnaires.

The researcher can explain the purpose of research and answer any questions the respondents may have about the research.

Usually has a good response rate.

Respondents may not follow the instructions or understand the questions.

A

A

D

D

D

D

A

A