Conducting and Reporting on a Questionnaire Survey
Focus: Conducting and Reporting on a
Conducting and Reporting on a Questionnaire Survey
Teacher’s Notes
Learning Activity 1 30 minutes (pair work) Suggested answers:
(a) If Mary wants to understand teenagers’ attitude to sex in general, a questionnaire survey is more suitable.
A questionnaire survey is a collection of responses to a set of questions on a large-scale, whereas interviews are usually done individually.
The interviewer can always ask follow-up questions if the answers provided are not clear or detailed enough. In a questionnaire survey, the researcher does not have this chance.
(b) She can conduct the questionnaire survey on the phone, on paper or via the Internet.
(c) Teenagers. If she wants to get an overview of teenagers’ attitude in general, the respondents should ideally come from different age groups and sexes to make the survey more representative.
In general, when deciding who to survey, the following should be considered:
• what your research is focussed on, which affects the group of people you want to survey (e.g. age, gender, occupation, income group)
• who you have easy access to Learning Activity 2
40 minutes (group work)
(a) Closed-ended questions, giving respondents a finite set of answers, are usually used when the researcher wishes to do statistical analysis, especially in order to ‘get a more complete picture’ of the situation. On the other hand, open-ended questions, which do not limit the respondents to definite answers and allow them to answer in their own words, allow the researcher to explore different possible responses and get more in-depth understanding.
(b) Below are the question cards for use in this learning activity. Teachers should make enough copies so that each group will have one set of all the question cards.
Closed-ended questions Open-ended questions
Question (i) Question (iv)
What counterfeit products have you bought?
(please tick the appropriate box(es))
What is your opinion of making the purchase of counterfeit products illegal?
Software
_________________________________
Videos
_________________________________
Fashion items
_________________________________
Jewelry
_________________________________
Stationery
_________________________________
Other
Question (ii) Question (v)
It is wrong for people to buy counterfeit products. Do you agree or disagree?
(please tick the appropriate box)
What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the following?
Strongly disagree 1
Copyright*
Disagree 2
Franchise*
Neutral 3
Trademark*
Agree 4
Strongly agree 5
Question (iii) Question (vi)
The quality of counterfeit products is
generally: (please tick the appropriate box) To stop people from buying counterfeit products, the most effective solution is:
Excellent
1
_________________________________
Very Good
2
_________________________________
Good
3
_________________________________
Suggested answers for (c):
1. Is it wrong for people to buy counterfeit products?
2. What counterfeit products have you bought before?
3. What do you think is an effective solution to piracy? / What do you think of making the purchase of counterfeit products a criminal offence?
Answers for (d):
1 – (vi) 2 – (iii) 3 – (iv) 4 – (i) 5 – (ii) 6 – (v)
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
You can put students into six groups and assign each group to answer one question in the question cards. Next, choose certain students from each group to report their answers to the whole class (and put them up on the board if necessary). Students should then be encouraged to reflect on what types of answers they are. This would help them not only to see how the questions differ from one another but also to do the matching exercise.
If necessary, make use of the glossary in the Supplementary Materials Section to explain vocabulary such as ‘copyright’, ‘franchise’ and ‘trademark’, which students may find challenging.
For more advanced students:
They can be asked to collect a certain number of questions per question type from authentic questionnaires within a given period. This can enhance their awareness of how questions are designed.
Learning Activity 3 40 minutes (group work)
This learning activity requires students to critique a sample questionnaire. Through this learning activity, students should be able to identify the points they should consider when writing a questionnaire:
Suggested answers: (Accept any reasonable answer)
1. The respondent’s name and personal information should not be included.
2. There should be a clear statement of the purpose of the survey and a polite request for the respondent to fill out the questionnaire.
3. Instructions as to how to answer the questions are missing, e.g. should the respondent put ticks?
4. The first question is what is known as a ‘double-barrelled’ question. ‘A lot’ to the first half of the question may be followed by ‘No’ to the second half. This should be rewritten as two separate questions.
5. Another problem with Question 1 is that the two options ‘many times’ and ‘a lot’ are too similar.
6. Question 2 is biased. It should be rewritten as: Do you agree that the school is partly responsible for school bullying?
7. The options in Question 3 are unclear. They can be changed to more specific descriptions like ‘Once to three times in a year’.
8. Question 4 is vague. It can be rewritten as: Do you think school prefects can help reduce school bullying?
9. The layout is not reader-friendly. More space should be provided especially for Question 4.
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
To make the task a bit easier, you might like to provide a few criteria for judging the effectiveness of the questionnaire, and ask students to rate them and give reasons to support their opinions. Here are a few examples:
• The respondent’s personal information is not required.
• Instructions are clear.
• All the questions are clear.
• All questions are not biased.
Alternatively, consider providing a few of the suggested comments as examples for students to start off with.
Learning Activity 4 60 minutes (group work)
The evaluation form can be found on the next page. Students should be encouraged to give critical feedback to each other’s questionnaires.
The survey can be conducted after class as homework to save lesson time.
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
Instead of asking students to design their own questionnaires in groups, the whole class can work on one survey questionnaire. First, the whole class (with the teacher’s assistance) can decide on a research topic (e.g. slimming culture). Next, students brainstorm possible sub-topics that may be researched with the use of a survey (e.g. diet, exercise habits, use of slimming products). You can put the sub-topics up in a graphic organiser on the board at the same time. Students form groups (the number of groups depends on the number of sub-topics). Assign each group of students to form a question on one sub-topic. The groups swap the questions and refine them following the comments given in Learning Activity 3. You can then collect all the questions and ask students to complete the questionnaire (e.g. re-order the questions, design the layout, put in a statement of the survey purpose, write the instructions). Students then conduct the survey in groups.
For more advanced students:
Instead of distributing the evaluation form to students, the students can design their own evaluation form as a class. This can be done with the use of an OHT or a computer with a projector. The skills in designing the evaluation form are similar to those they need when designing a questionnaire.