TAMAM PROJECT WORKSHOP
USING QUESTIONNAIRES FOR DATA COLLECTION
Dr. Ali AlBulushi
WHAT IS A QUESTIONNAIRE?
• A research tool for data collection
• It is a tool used to collect information/data from
usually large population about a specific phenomenon
under investigation.
• The term ‘questionnaire’ used in different ways:
– often refers to self-administered and postal
questionnaires (mail surveys)
– some authors also use the term to describe
structured interview schedules (telephone or faceto-face)
WHY A QUESTIONNAIRE
• Target large amount of people
• Use to describe, compare or explain a phenomenon
• Can cover a wide range of activities and behaviour,
knowledge, attitudes, preferences
• Specific objectives, standardised and highly structured
questions
• Used to collect quantitative data – information that
can be counted or measured.
What are the
strengths and
limitations of
questionnaires?
Let’s get some from
you!
STRENGTHS OF QUESTIONNAIRES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Helps to collect background and baseline information easily
Can target large number of people
Reach respondents in widely dispersed locations
Can be relatively low cost in time and money
Relatively easy to get information from people quickly
Standardised questions
Analysis can be straight-forward and responses pre-coded
Low pressure for respondents
Lack of interviewer bias
(possibility of ‘ghost interviewer’ effect)
LIMITATIONS OF QUESTIONNAIRES
• Low response rate and consequent bias and confidence in
results
• Unsuitable for some people (e.g. poor literacy, visually
impaired, young children)
• Question wording can have major effect on answers
• Misunderstandings cannot be corrected
• No opportunities to probe and develop answers
• No control over the context and order questions are
answered
• No check on incomplete responses
• Seeks information only by asking, can we trust what people
say? e.g. issues with over-reporting
QUESTIONNAIRE PREPARATION
• Establish the purpose and/or guiding question of the
questionnaire
• Construct the questionnaire
– Plan for the questions in light of your purpose
– Develop the questions
• Plan for the administration
DEVELOP THE QUESTIONS
• Types of Questions
1. Dichotomous questions (YES/NO)
2. MCQ
3. Scaled response (Likert scale)
4. Ranking
5. Checklist
It’s not necessary to have
the same type of
6. Open-ended
questions all through the
questionnaire
• Dichotomous Question
– Have you taught the ENGLISH basic education
curriculum to grade grade 8? ☐ YES
☐ NO
• Multiple Choice Question
– The new Basic Education Curriculum of English is:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A waste of time;
An extra burden on teachers
Not appropriate to our school
A useful complementary curriculum
Well-presented-and practicable
• Scale responses (Likert scale)
Strongly
disagree
The teacher is the only one who
should be held accountable for
students academic achievement
The teacher should address
students’ deviant behavior
when it is observed outside the
school
The teacher should discuss the
students’ progress with their
parents
There are many factors that
influence students’ academic
achievement
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly
agree
• Ranking
– Please indicate your priorities by placing numbers in
the boxes to indicate the ordering of your views, 1=the
highest priority, 2=the second highest, and so on.
– The proposed amendments to the English basic
education curriculum might e successful if the following
factors are addressed:
•
•
•
•
•
The appropriate material resources are in schools ☐
The amendments are made clear to all teachers ☐
The amendments are supported by the English team ☐
The necessary staff development is assured ☐
There are improvements to students achievement ☐
• Checklist
– Do you have a scheduled time outside class to
assist your students? ☐ YES
☐ NO
– How many students do you assist outside class
time on an average teaching day? _____ students
• Open-ended
– What are the difficulties that you personally face in
managing the interaction between your students in
the classroom?
OPEN VS. CLOSED QUESTIONS
(OPPENHEIM, 1992)
Strength
OPEN
CLOSE
D
Limitation
Freedom & spontaneity of
answer
Time-consuming
Opportunity to probe
Coding more problematic
Useful for testing hypothesis
about ideas or awareness
More effort from respondents
Requires little time
Loss of spontaneous responses
No extended writing
Bias in answer categories
Low costs
Sometimes too crude
Easy to process
May irritate respondents
Make group comparisons easy
Useful for testing specific
hypothesis
TASK 1
Please see the handout about
the questionnaire pitfalls
task prepared in Arabic.
‫هل تفضل المواد الدراسية الفلسفية والنظرية‬
‫وأكاديمة الطابع أم المواد العملية البسيطة والتي لها‬
‫صلة مباشرة بالواقع العملي لك كطالب؟‬
‫مو ّجه يقود المستجيب الى أجابة معينة دون‬
‫سؤال َ‬
‫أخرى‬
‫ما هي الجوانب المحددة لوضع المناظرة الميتافيزيقية‬
‫التي تود أن تراها معكوسة في مادة دراسية‬
‫كالمهارات الحياتية والتي تستهدف طالب الصف ‪١١‬‬
‫إناث في بيئة ساحلية؟‬
‫سؤال رفيع الثقافة حتى وإن تم توجيهه للمثفقين‬
‫جدا‬
‫تدرس مقررا بدون وزن أكاديمي (‪٣‬‬
‫هل تفضل أن ّ‬
‫أو ‪ ٤‬أو ‪ ٥‬حصص) لطالب غير متفرغين (األربعاء‬
‫ظهرا فقط) ومساءا واحدا فقط في األسبوع ويشمل‬
‫تعويضا ماليا عن المواصالت‪ ،‬أم مقررا أطول بدون‬
‫وزن أكاديمي (‪ ٦‬أو ‪ ٧‬أو ‪ ٨‬حصص) لطالب‬
‫متفرغين‪ ،‬أم مقررا كامال مصمم للمتفرغين في جزء‬
‫يوم محدد ولكن بدون حضور حصص مسائية؟‬
‫من ٍ‬
‫سؤال معقد‬
‫أن كان عمرك أكثر من ‪ ٤٥‬عاما ولم تحضر أي‬
‫دورة تدريبية خالل الخدمة‪ ،‬ضع عالمة ✓ في خانة‬
‫(أبداً) وعالمة ✓ أخرى في خانة (كبيرًالسن)‬
‫سؤال أو تعليمات مثيرة للحساسية‬
‫ما مدى شعورك بعدم تسجيل معلمين في دورات‬
‫تدريبية بدون وزن أكاديمي خالل الخدمة من‬
‫المعلمين الذين لم يكملوا عامين في سلك التدريس؟‬
‫سؤال بصياغة نفي مزدوجة‬
‫أجب في الصفحات ‪ ٥‬و‪ ٦‬و‪ ٧‬عن كل سؤال يتعلق‬
‫بأراءك عن الدورات التدريبية أثناء الخدمة بشكل عام‬
‫ومعتقداتك عن قيمتها في الحياة المهنية للمعلمين على‬
‫رأس عملهم؟‬
‫سؤال مفتوح جدا في أستبانة تكمل ذاتيا من‬
‫المستجيب وتتطلب وقتا كبيرا أيضا‬
‫هل يقوم طفلك بأنجاز واجباته بإنتظام؟‬
‫كم يبلغ عدد الطالب في المدرسة؟‬
‫كم عدد أجهزة الحاسب األلي في المدرسة؟‬
‫جزء منها‪ .‬ما معنى‬
‫تعددية التفسير للعبارة أو‬
‫ٍ‬
‫(بإنتظام)؟ كم عدد الطالب جميعها مع المتغيبين‬
‫بعذر (كرحلة مدرسية) أو بدون عذر؟ كل أجهزة‬
‫الحاسب اآللي بما فيها العاطلة عن العمل أو مع‬
‫الخاضغة للتصليح خارج المدرسة؟‬
‫؟‪ SNDP‬أم ‪PGKLM‬أيهما تفضل ال‬
‫وجود أختصارات غير مفهومة‬
‫كم عمرك؟‬
‫‪٦٠-٥٠ ،٥٠-٤٠ ،٤٠-٣٠ ،٣٠-٢٠ ،٢٠-١٥‬‬
‫فئات غير منفردة ‪ /‬منفصلة‬
‫يجب ان تدرس مادة المهارات الحياتية للطالب الغير‬
‫مجيدين فقط ولكن يمكن أن تقدم لجميع الطالب في‬
‫المراحل العليا‪.‬‬
‫سؤال مزدوج‬
TASK 1 FEEDBACK: AVOIDING
PITFALLS IN QUESTION WRITING
1. Abbreviations
2. Ambiguity and vague wording (fairly, generally, you – the
respondent, household, family?)
3. Doubled barrelled – ‘do you speak English or French?’
4. Double negatives – ‘Do not you de-emphasize corporal
punishment?’
5. Inappropriate categories
6. Leading questions – ‘do you like indoor confined
individualistic sports or outdoor open team-based sports in
the fresh air?’
7. Memory issues – ‘list at least 5 of your best subjects at
schools and the teachers who taught them.’
8. Social desirability
9. Question complexity
TASK 2
Each school should have brought a questionnaire
drafted to be used in TAMAM project. Exchange your
questionnaires and try to give feedback to the
questionnaire you received. Focus on the design,
layout, questions, purpose, instructions, length, userfriendliness, etc.
If you were
sending out a
questionnaire,
what would you
do to maximise
the response rate
and minimize
non-response?
TECHNIQUES FOR MINIMIZING NONRESPONSE
• Good design: thoughtful layout, easy to follow, simple
questions, appearance, length, degree of interest and
importance, thank people for taking part
• Pre-notification
• Explanation of selection
• Cover letter
• Incentives
– Small future incentives, e.g. prize draw
– Understanding why their input is important
• Reminders
• Confidentiality
• Anonymity
• Pre-paid return envelopes