What is the type of every question?
What is the type of every question? Also, write its advantages and disadvantages.
We define a questionnaire as an instrument for collecting data, which almost always involves asking a given subject to respond to a set of oral or written questions.
So, it’s like a survey then?
Well, yes and no.
A questionnaire and survey are not the same.
A survey is a process of gathering data that could involve a wide variety of data collection methods, including a questionnaire.
In essence, every questionnaire is a survey, but not every survey is a questionnaire.
But what makes questionnaires such a great tool for research and data collection?
There are many reasons for that, here are the ten biggest advantages.
Advantages of Questionnaires
- Questionnaires are inexpensive
First of all, questionnaires are one of the most affordable ways to gather quantitative data. Especially self-administered questionnaires, where you don’t have to hire surveyors to perform face-to-face interviews, are a cost-efficient way to quickly collect massive amounts of information from a large number of people in a relatively short period of time.
A questionnaire can be placed on your website or emailed to your customers. These methods have little to no cost, though strong targeting is necessary if you want to have the highest possible response rate receive the most accurate results.
Still, no matter what type of questionnaires you pick, it will be more affordable than outsourcing to a market research company.
- Questionnaires are practical
Apart from being inexpensive, questionnaires are also a practical way to gather data. They can be targeted to groups of your choosing and managed in various ways. You can pick and choose the questions asked as well as the format (open-ended or multiple choice). They offer a way to gather vast amounts of data on any subject. They can be used in a wide variety of ways.
For example, KBC Group learned just how practical surveys are. They were able to spread their quizzes, polls, and questionnaires during a three-day event. This made collecting real-time feedback almost effortless.
- Questionnaires offer a quick way to get results
It’s quick and easy to collect results with online and mobile tools. This means that you can gain insights in as little as 24 hours (or less!), depending on the scale and reach of your questionnaire.
You don’t need to wait for another company to deliver the answers you need.
Dajon Associates needed quality feedback fast. The South African consulting firm needed a way to make informed decisions quickly. An online questionnaire allowed them to collect the data they needed in the shortest time frame possible.
- Scalability
Questionnaires and surveys allow you to gather information from a large audience.
Online, you can literally distribute your questions to anyone, anywhere in the world (provided they have an internet connection). All you have to do is send them a link to your survey page. And you don’t even need to do this manually. This could be done through an automated email in your customer onboarding or lead nurturing campaigns.
This means that for a relatively low cost, you can target a city or a country.
You can use multiple data collection points, for example via multiple tablets in kiosk mode.
Geography no longer stands in the way of market research either, thanks to the internet. But be aware of cultural differences between people and countries when conducting worldwide research. Thanks to Survey Any place’s multiple languages features, you can easily create a single questionnaire available in multiple languages.
- Comparability
When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other research and may be used to measure change. This makes monthly or yearly questionnaires more and more valuable over time.
Improving comparability implies that errors due to translation have to be minimized. In terms of questionnaire translation for multi-national, multi-cultural, and multi-regional surveys the aim is to achieve a level of comparability across all local versions.
- Easy Analysis and visualization
Most survey- and questionnaire providers are quantitative in nature and allow easy analysis of results. With built-in tools, it’s easy to analyze your results without a background in statistics or scientific research.
You might think that questionnaires are not fun and getting respondents to actually complete them can be tricky. However, you can use interactive forms that will give you visual data insights to draw experienced user stories organized in dynamic timelines.
- Questionnaires offer actionable data
The more data you gather, the clearer the painting becomes. All this information gives marketers the capability to create new strategies and to follow trends in your audience. Analyzing data and building reports can be used to generate predictions and even create benchmarks for follow-up questions or questionnaires.
- Respondent anonymity
Online and email surveys allow respondents to maintain their anonymity.
Mail-in questionnaires also allow for complete invisibility, which maximizes comfort for those answering. Even phone interviews are not face-to-face, thereby making it a more private communication. This concealment puts respondents at ease and encourages them to answer truthfully; however, there is still a human touch to these phone interviews.
Digital questionnaires give the best sense of anonymity and privacy. This type of questionnaire is great for all sorts of businesses and subject matter and results in the most honest answers.
- Questionnaires don’t have time constraints
When using mail-in, online, or email questionnaires, there’s no time limit and there is no one on the other end waiting for an answer. Respondents can take their time to complete the questionnaire at their own leisure.
As a bonus, they will often answer more truthfully, as research has shown that having a researcher present can lead to less honest and more socially desirable answers.
- Questionnaires can cover every aspect of a topic
One of the biggest advantages is being able to ask as many questions as you like. Of course, it benefits the marketer to keep each individual questionnaire short, since respondents may find a long questionnaire frustrating. We suggest a limit of 10 questions for online surveys.
However, since they are efficient, cost-effective in nature, and have an easy mode of delivery, there is no harm in creating multiple questionnaires, each covering a subtopic of the main subject, that builds upon one another.
Disadvantages of Questionnaires
- Dishonest answers
While there are many positives to questionnaires, dishonesty can be an issue.
Respondents may not be 100% truthful with their answers.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, including social desirability bias and attempting to protect privacy. Stop dishonesty in its tracks by assuring respondents that their privacy is valued and that the process prevents personal identification.
- Unanswered questions
When using questionnaires, there is a chance that some questions will be ignored or left unanswered.
If questions are not required, there is always that risk they won’t be answered. Online questionnaires offer a simple solution to this issue: make answering the question required.
Otherwise, make your survey short and your questions uncomplicated and you will avoid question skipping and get better completion rates.
Also Read: What do you know about the taxonomy of educational objectives?
- Differences in understanding and interpretation
The trouble with not presenting questions to users face-to-face is that each may have different interpretations of your questions.
Without someone to explain the questionnaire fully and ensure each individual has the same understanding, results can be subjective.
Respondents may have trouble grasping the meaning of some questions that may seem clear to the creator.
This miscommunication can lead to skewed results. The best way to combat this situation is to create simple questions that are easy to answer.
- Hard to convey feelings and emotions
A survey or questionnaire cannot fully capture the emotional responses or feelings of respondents. Without administering the questionnaire face-to-face, there is no way to observe facial expressions, reactions, or body language.
Without these subtleties, useful data can go unnoticed.
Don’t get stuck trying to interpret emotion in data, instead go for a Likert scale, the response scale that often uses a rating scale from “slightly agree” to “strongly disagree.” This allows for strength and assertion in responses rather than multiple choice.
- Some questions are difficult to analyze
Questionnaires produce a lot of data. Multiple-choice questions can be tabulated and graphed, but open-ended questions are different.
Open-ended questions allow for individualized answers which cannot be quantified and must be reviewed by a human.
Too many open-ended questions can produce a flood of data, that can take forever to analyze. Fix this pitfall but choose your question types carefully. If you have ten questions, you probably don’t want more than one to be open-ended since these have no way to be quantified.
That’s why it’s important to select the right type of question as a questionnaire is only as effective as its questions.
Also Read: How will you define attitude?
- Respondents may have a hidden agenda
As with any sort of research, respondent bias can be an issue.
Participants in your survey may have an interest in your product, idea, or service. Others may be influenced to participate based on the subject of your questionnaire. These proclivities can lead to inaccuracies in your data, generated from an imbalance of respondents who see your topic in an overly positive or negative light.
Filter out a hidden agenda with a pre-screening. Come up with a few indirect questions that will remove those results wreckers.
- Lack of personalization
Customization is the prevailing marketing theme.
Any piece of marketing material is at risk of seeming impersonal unless time and care are taken to personalize it. If you’re unable to add touches of personalization, some potential respondents may be put off and ignore it.
This can be particularly difficult when the questionnaire or survey is taken voluntarily on a website, regardless of purchase or email.
Fix this by always sending emails containing respondents’ names. Use dynamic content on websites, and strive to use names, personal data, and personalized content in all communication.
- Unconscientious responses
Every administrator hopes for conscientious responses, but there’s no way to know if the respondent has really understood the question or read it thoroughly before answering.
At times, answers will be chosen before fully reading the question or the potential answers. Sometimes respondents will skip through questions, or split-second choices may be made, affecting the validity of your data.
This drawback is tough to defeat, but if you make your survey short and your questions simple you’re likely to get the most accurate responses.
- Accessibility issues
No matter what form of delivery is used, lack of accessibility is a threat. Surveys may be unsuitable for users with a visual or hearing impairment, or other impediments such as illiteracy. This should be considered when choosing to do research in this manner.
Always choose a questionnaire platform that has accessibility options built-in.
- Questionnaire or survey fatigue
We’ve all received survey invitations and the trend of companies using customer feedback surveys is up. This means that some level of survey fatigue is setting in with respondents.
In general, we can identify two types of survey fatigue:
Survey Response Fatigue: This occurs before the survey begins. Overwhelmed by the growing number of surveys, respondents will be less inclined to take part in your survey. As a result, you’ll suffer from a low response rate.