How to Make a Questionnaire
Questionnaires are perfect methods to reach insights into what different people think, feel, and want. In this article, we will discuss how to make a questionnaire by using effective methods.
Survey Vs. Questionnaire; What’s the Difference?
You may not have the answer to this question. Don’t worry because many people, even professional researchers, know these two different words as synonyms. The difference between survey and questionnaire is that questionnaire contains any written set of questions. On the other hand, a survey is a process that includes collecting, evaluating, and analyzing. In other sayings, a questionnaire can be described as content, while a survey can be described as a broader term that helps us collect and analyze. Now, we will look at some steps you need to know to create an effective and efficient questionnaire.
Before Making a Questionnaire
you need to decide what you would like to learn. To do this, ask yourself what data you need and how you are going to use the data. These questions will help you determine what you want to learn and put the questions in the order in which you will ask them.
Tip: You should eliminate your questions because the questionnaire should not be too long. Because of this, decide which of your questions are essential for your goals and which might be unnecessary.
Make It Well Designed
Make sure that the questions will help you reach the information you want to learn. You can begin with a wide range of questions and then eliminate them one by one. At this point, one of the most important factors is that you need to use as few words as possible. Your questions should be clear and have simple answers. For instance, open-ended questions might not be a good idea for your goal. On the other side, closed-ended questions (yes/no or true/false) can help you more than you think.
To get specific answers, the best choice is mostly probably closed-ended questions because respondents will have limited options they can choose from. On the other side, you may solicit feedback. Open-ended questions are the most appropriate options to get what you want. Unlike closed-ended, open-ended questions solicit answers that you cannot imagine because your respondents will not have a specific range to choose from.
Be careful about open-ended questions. If your open-ended questions are too open, your respondents will not be able to answer what you want to learn. On the other side, if your open-ended questions are not open enough, your respondents’ answers will not most probably work.
You Should Avoid Confusion and Bias
For instance, leading questions are not a good idea to reach the information you wish. To achieve this, you can change the words of the question. Also, clarity plays a vital factor. If you can not ask your question correctly, it does not work. Avoid unnecessary clauses or unclear subject-object relationships to obtain maximum efficiency.
Tip: You can ask the same questions using different ways to reduce the probability of bias, so you will be able to find the truest opinion on a given topic.
Think About the Order of Your Questions
The design of your questionnaire as important as making the questionnaire. The questions you will use need to be related to each other. In addition to this, if you add some personal problems at the beginning of your questionnaire, your responders will probably be more honest and willing.
Tip: You can offer incentives to attract your target respondents’ attention. It is a kind of exchange between their time and the answers you wish to obtain. For instance, if you use a mobile phone or e-mail to deliver your questionnaire, you can offer a coupon they can use at the end of it.
One of the most important processes of creating your questionnaire is to test it. There are lots of people you can ask your questions. Start with your family members and friends!
You can revise your questions because some of the questions perfectly work during your testing process but may not work as you hope in the field. To achieve this, your questions need to make sense to your target demographic.
Reach Your Target Respondents
At this point, you have several options. For instance, you can prefer to use online services. Another option is to use a phone or send an e-mail. There is one more option. You can work with professionals or volunteers.
Your questionnaire should be designed based on your delivery method. Note that each method has some advantages and disadvantages because you limit what you can do. To reach the most efficient way, ask yourself which delivery method best for your questionnaire. For instance, if you decide to deliver your questionnaire via phone or e-mail, you will be able to reach more people, unlike the face-to-face method. However, you can send pictures through the mail, unlike the mobile phone method. You should also pay attention to your respondents because some may be shy to answer some questions in the face-to-face approach.
FAQ About Making Questionnaire
There are different types of questionnaires. These are structured questionnaires, unstructured questionnaires, closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires.
Yes, you can combine. For instance, you can prefer a yes/no scale and multiple-choice scale at the same time.
There is not any exact answer because the answer depends on your needs and wants. If you would like to collect and analyze demographic data, the best option will be the ‘survey’ option. On the other hand, if you wish to learn different types of comments, use the questionnaire method.
According to some research, longer than 20 minutes lead to decreasing in the data quality of questionnaires. Be careful.
You need to evaluate your questions and then review them one by one. If there is an unnecessary or unclear question, eliminate it. The ideal number is the number of clear, understandable, and purpose-oriented questions.
Making a Questionnaire in Short
Both questionnaires and surveys help us reach different data from different people. But we should know the difference between them. A questionnaire is a technique to get what other people think and feel. We need to follow several steps to make a questionnaire properly. However, your main focus should be short and sweet questions. Try to attract your target audiences’ attention and avoid confusion and bias. Lastly, if you are making a questionnaire for your brand, provided that you have a brand, you might consider looking at our review on Brand Awareness.
The post How to Make a Questionnaire is republished from Dopinger Blog
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