Creating a Qualitative
Questionnaire
Types of Questions
• Open – Give range and flexibility; allow more
diverse answers
– Brief written answers
• Closed – request specific information
– Two-way: YES or NO
– Multiple-choice questions
– Ranking Scales
– Checklists
Demographics and Basics
• What do you want/ need to know?
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Age
Gender
Grade
Ethnicity*
– When and where the questionnaire was answered
*Will this be diverse enough to include
• Might be a good place for a footnote under methodology!
Writing Questions
• Design approximately 10 questions, and cut
down from there to the most important.
• Use your research question to guide the types
of questions you ask
– What are you trying to find out?
– How will your questions measure that?
• Try to use multiple questions to gather data on
the same concept
– Essentially asking the same question in multiple
ways
Sample Open-Ended Questions
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Define the term “X” in no more than one sentence.
Give at least one term that means the same as “X.”
Give at least one term that means the opposite of “X.”
Use the term “X” (or some variation of it) in a sentence.
Have you ever used this term? Is so, briefly describe when
and why.
• Have you ever been called “X?” If so, briefly describe when
and why.
• Have you ever called yourself “X?” If so, briefly describe
when and why.
• If someone were to call you “X,” would you think it was an
insult or a compliment? Explain.
Sample Closed Questions
• Pick the word that means the same as “X.”
• Pick the word that means the opposite as “X.”
• Rate the connotation of the word “X.”
1 being negative and 5 being positive
• How often do you use the word “X.”
1 being almost never and 5 very often
Look at some of the questions under the
methodology section of some of the examples.
Use the following disclaimer
• This should be word for word and in a place that it is
easily seen and understood:
My name is _______________, and I am gathering
information for an English 112 course project. My
professor, Jacob Fisher, would like us to ask people to fill
out questionnaires so that we might learn how to gather
and analyze data. I would appreciate your taking a few
minutes to fill out my questionnaire. Your responses will
be completely anonymous and will be employed only in
the project that I write for the class. Thank you for your
time.
A note about using Google Forms
• ENSURE ANONYMITY
Note how many of
these will give
information about
the responder.
The Qualitative Questionnaire
• Tips:
– Should be user friendly
– Should be as short as possible
• While still being effective
– Use both open and closed questions
• Though rely more on closed
– The more options on a closed question the better
– Watch for bias on closed questions