2. INSTRUMENTATION
The whole process of preparing to
collect data which includes:
Selection or design of the instruments
Location
Time
Frequency
Administration
3. Consideration in selecting a
research instrument
Validity- measures what it is supposed
to measure
Reliability- gives consistent result
Objectivity- absence of subjective
judgments
Usability- convenience instrument
4. What is Questionnaire?
A questionnaire is a research instrument
consisting of a series of questions and other
prompts for the purpose of gathering
information from respondents.
5. Getting started
Plan the survey as a whole
Objectives - what you want your
questionnaire to achieve
Data needs - your research goals, and
think about what information you need to
elicit from respondents to meet those
goals.
6. Getting started
o Analysis - how you are going to analyse
each question to get the results you need.
Remember there is a difference between
things you need to know, and those it would
be nice to know
7. Introduction
The introduction of the questionnaire is
very important because it outlines the
pertinent information about the survey.
The introduction should:
provide the title or subject of the survey
explain the purpose of the survey
request the respondent’s co-operation
inform the respondent about confidentiality issues, the status
of the survey (voluntary or mandatory) and any existing data-
sharing agreements with other organizations.
8. Formatting The Questions
Appropriate format for each question
has to be ascertained
Each of the formats serves specific
purposes that coincide with the
researcher’s information and data
analysis needs
9. Likert Scale
Usually used to measure the strength
of an attitude or an opinion
respondents specify their level of
agreement or disagreement on a
symmetric agree-disagree scale for a
series of statements
10. Likert Scale
The respondent is presented a
sentence and is asked to agree or
disagree on a 3,5 or 7 point scale.
It provides an excellent means of
gathering opinions and attitudes
When writing the scale, you must
include instructions that describe how
to complete it
11. Likert Scale
On a survey or questionnaire, a typical
Likert item usually takes the following
format:
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Neither agree Agree Strongly
disagree nor disagree agree
"balanced" because there are equal
amounts of positive and negative
positions
12. Sample 1
Strongly Not Strongly
disagree Disagree sure Agree agree
I use research
methods in my
job
13. Rating Questions
Ratings are assigned solely on the
basis of the score’s absolute position
within a range of possible values
Easy to write, easy to answer
Provide a level of quantification that is
adequate for most purposes
14. Sample
Select the choice that best describes
your actions in the first five minutes of
the classes you teach
5= always, 4= almost always, 3= about half the time, 2= rarely, 1= never
_____ state lesson objectives and overview at start of the lesson
______ state lesson objectives but no overview at start of the lesson
______ don’t state objectives or overview at start of the lesson
15. Ranking Questions
The respondent is given a list of items
and asked to rank them in order of
importance
16. Sample:
Rank in order of importance the following five weaknesses of the
training program. That is, place 1 beside the weakness you consider most
important, 2 beside the next most important weakness and so forth, until you
have ranked all five weaknesses.
Rank
The training program was too short. ____
The content did not suit my needs. ____
The content was too theoretical. ____
The training group was too large. ____
The training methods were poor. ____
17. Open-Ended Questions
Easy to write
Do not require an extensive
knowledge of the subject
18. Sample
1. What do you understand by the term ‘e-Learning’?
2. Give some examples of e-learning activities carried
out in your faculty.
3. What is your opinion regarding the integration of
ICT into university teaching and learning?
4. What suggestion(s) do you have to further improve
the integration of ICT into university teaching and
learning?
19. Open-Ended Questions
Incomplete and ambiguous answers
Hard to analyze
Respondent may produce various
answers
Cannot be subjected to machine-
processing
“content analysis”- read and reread
20. Open-ended Questions
People are uncertain about what the
questions means and how they are
expected to answer
Increase respond burden- quality
varies with respondent’s literacy,
people are 10 times less likely to
answer open-ended questions
21. Pilot-test the Questionnaire
WHY?
It is difficult to criticize your own written work
It is essential to obtain comments from at least a
small group of the intended respondents
It identifies the ambiguities in the instructions
It clarifies the wording of the questionnaire
It alerts you to the omissions or anticipated
answers in MCQ or ranking questions
22. HOW?
Assemble a group of volunteers (6 to 12),
have them complete the questionnaire
individually
Encourage them to write comments on the
actual questionnaire
After the pilot-test, review the verbal and
written comments and evaluate its
effectiveness
Revise the instrument
If necessary, second pilot-test is advisable
23. Questionnaire Considerations
Be sure to commit the study goals to
writing.
Whenever you are unsure of a
question, refer to the study goals and a
solution will become clear.
Ask only questions that directly address
the study goals.
24. Cont..
Keep your questionnaire short.
Response rate is the single most
important indicator of how much
confidence you can place in the results.
A low response rate can be devastating
to a study.
One of the most effective methods of
maximizing response is to shorten the
questionnaire.
25. Cont..
Try to eliminate questions. If the information
will be used in a decision-making process,
then keep the question... it's important.
To include other experts and relevant
decision-makers in the questionnaire design
process. Their suggestions will improve the
questionnaire.
Formulate a plan for doing the statistical
analysis during the design stage of the project.
Know how every question will be analyzed
and be prepared to handle missing data.
26. Cont..
Make the envelope unique.
Provide a well-written cover letter.
Give your questionnaire a title that is short
and meaningful to the respondent.
Include clear and concise instructions on how
to complete the questionnaire. Be sure to
print the return address on the questionnaire
itself (since questionnaires often get
separated from the reply envelopes).
Begin with a few non-threatening and
interesting items.
27. Cont..
Use simple and direct language. This will
reduce misunderstandings and make the
questionnaire appear easier to complete.
One way to eliminate misunderstandings is to
emphasize crucial words in each item by
using bold, italics or underlining.
Leave adequate space for respondents to
make comments. Leaving space for
comments will provide valuable information
not captured by the response categories.
Place the most important items in the first half
of the questionnaire.
28. Cont..
Hold the respondent's interest. We want the
respondent to complete our questionnaire
Provide incentives as a motivation for a
properly completed questionnaire.
Use professional production methods for the
questionnaire--either desktop publishing or
typesetting and key lining.
Make it convenient. The easier it is for the
respondent to complete the questionnaire the
better.
The final test of a questionnaire is to try it on
representatives of the target audience.
29. Advantages
Very cheap – only for printing
Very close to 100% of response.
Can be posted or by e-mail.
30. Disadvantages
Less honest response.
Rush to complete.
E-mail – maybe answered by other
person, low level in computer literacy
Some people are not able to read and
write.
By post – quite expensive.
By hand – time consuming.
31. Preparing Data for Analysis
Researcher must score the data that have been collected
and then organize it to facilitate analysis.
-Collected data must be scored accurately and consistently.
If not, any conclusions from the data may be erroneous or
misleading.
-The data usually done by transferring data to some sort of
summary data sheet or card.
Example: Table 7.3 ( according to the textbook)
32. Table 7.3: Hypothetical Results of Study
Involving a Comparison of Two Counseling
Methods
Score for Method A Method B
“Rapport”
91-100 1 4
81-90 1 2
71-80 3 5
61-70 4 2
51-60 5 5
41-50 6 1
31-40 4 1
21-30 1 7
11-20 3 5
1-10 4 1
N=33 33
33. Data Analysis
1. Computing the basic statistics for all items
on the questionnaire
- frequency distributions, means, standard
deviations
2. Comparing groups (e.g males vs females) using
cross-tabulations or graphs
3. Examine interrelationships among variables
using correlations and related statistics
34. Conclusion
Well constructed questionnaires permit
researchers to gather reasonably valid
quantitative and qualitative data in simple,
timely and costly efficient manner.
Questionnaires lend themselves to logical
and organized data entry and analysis.
Developing the questionnaire requires
thought, care and time. But the end product
can be satisfying.
