The Usefulness of Questionnaires in Carrying out research.

The Usefulness of Questionnaires in Carrying out research Questionnaires are a set of written questions that are given to the respondent in the same order, so that the same information is collected and collated. There are several different types of questionnaires, like Structured interview questionnaires and Postal questionnaires, which can be used to evaluate people's opinions. Questionnaires can be very useful in carrying out research, because questionnaires use quantitative data. Quantitative data is mainly about numbers and statistics, and it also usually involves a lot of respondents. The advantages of quantitative data are, with facts, figures and numbers, you can see trends and patterns. This kind of data can be analysed using computers. You could also use large samples and surveys. Quantitative data is also useful in carrying out research, because it can be reanalysed, so sociologists can use it again, therefore it is also reliable. The most common type of questionnaire from which research is carried out, is the self-completion questionnaire given to people to fill in, usually in a work place or a school. Structured interview questionnaires are undertaken by trained researchers who guide respondents through the questions. This eliminates errors and misunderstandings. Postal questionnaires are mailed to respondents with a Stamped Addressed Envelope. This type of

  • Word count: 695
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Mathematical and Computer Sciences
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Sociological research methods - questionnaires

O2 Socio Paper 1 Q4 Using questionnaires is favoured by positivists as they produce results that can be easily generalised, are highly reliable and largely representable of the studied subjects. This also means that interpretivists dislike this method as the results are not personal and have very little depth to them. There are strengths and weaknesses to both arguments. An advantage of questionnaires is that they are cheap and fast to produce, this means that they can be produced on mass to produce more reliable results. Answers in questionnaires are easily comparable with standardised and close ended questions and could produce representative, qualitative data that is also easily replicable. This means that sociologists are able to make links and comparisons in society in different areas and during different time periods. If a large number of questionnaires are sent out they should produce representative results with a better chance of being truly accurate. Connor and Dewson send out nearly 4000 surveys to 14 higher education institutes around the country which resulted in a large sample size. This method is also favoured more for purposed of educational attitudes than others such as participant observations, which is used to study small groups and produce valid qualitative data. A researcher’s hypothesis should be proven or proven wrong with the results of the

  • Word count: 751
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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Compare and Contrast Questionnaires and Interviews as Sociological Research Methods

Compare and Contrast Questionnaires and Interviews as Sociological Research Methods Sociologists can use many types of experiment when conducting research, all of which have many advantages and disadvantages. One form of research a sociologist could take is a questionnaire. Positivists are more likely to use this type, as they prefer large scale or 'macro' research, involving a lot of people. This is because they believe that doing large scale research gets a more varied answer, and a more representative conclusion as the group being studied is much more varied. A questionnaire collects quantitative data, as it is mostly expressed in numerical form. Within a questionnaire, many different types of question can be used. For instance, a sociologist could just use simple closed questions, such as a person's name or the year they left school. They could also use multiple choice questions, category questions, where the participant must choose more than one option, or open questions. Within these questions, the respondent is able to go more into depth with their answers. An example of a famous questionnaire was the 'Bristol Stool Chart' questionnaire. Within this, the majority of Bristol's population was sent a questionnaire asking them how many times they went to a toilet during the week. They were then asked to record the shape, size, consistency and texture of their faeces.

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Business Studies
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Examine the problems some sociologists find when using postal questionnaires in their research.

Examine the problems some sociologists find when using postal questionnaires in their research. Sociologists face various problems when postal questionnaires are used in their research. These problems centre on the nature of questionnaires, which can be defined as structured documents containing questions that provide the data a sociologist requires to draw conclusions from a study. These problems can be attributed to the researcher (for example, poorly worded questions) or the answerer (dishonest/incomplete responses etc.). Postal questionnaires are typically employed by Positivists in a macro sociological investigation. Postal questionnaires usually return a lot of results. Positivists favour this means of data collection because it can be easily distributed to thousands of people. The problem of low response rates is negated by the number of questionnaires a sociologist can send out: once written, the documents can be easily delivered to a multitude of addresses, and therefore provide the researcher with a considerable amount of data. Indeed, if properly put together, they provide quantitative, representative data, enabling the sociologist to easily highlight trends or norms and, with sufficient data, draw more valid conclusions. However, poorly composed questionnaires can deter people from responding. Although simple initiatives such as free pens motivate people to

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Compare and contrast the effectiveness of questionnaires and interviews in sociological research.

George Amos 12K - Sociology Compare and contrast the effectiveness of questionnaires and interviews in sociological research. When sociologists wish to collect some data about people's behaviour, questions must first be asked. It comes as no surprise to learn that sociologists spend most of their time asking questions of the respondents and collecting the data. But what is the best way to ask these questions? Questionnaires have become an everyday occurrence with most people having filled in a questionnaire at some point in the life span. There are two methods of asking questions; firstly, an interviewer can ask questions of the respondents and record the results, which means that the questionnaire is likely to be filled out correctly, but on the other hand, the respondent may change his or her opinion based on what they think the interviewer wants them to hear. I.e. if the interviewer is a female, a male respondent is more likely to be sympathetic to feminist views. The second method is the self-completion method of answering. Self-completion questionnaires can be either; Posted to respondents, which has the ability to cover a large geographical area but tends to suffer from a large non-response. Another style is when the questionnaire is given to the respondent and the interviewer waits until the respondent is done. This style is good because the interviewer will be

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Computer Science
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Assess the strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires, as a research method

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires, as a research method Questionnaires are the most commonly used form of collecting data, as they are useful for gathering large quantities of basic educational information quickly and cheaply. They can be sent to people at home, completed then returned by post, emailed to you online or completed on the spot. For example, in a shopping centre, someone may approach you with a clip board and ask you a set of questions to answer there and then. The people completing the questionnaires are known as respondents, who are asked to provide answers to pre-set questions. Questionnaires can fit into two types of categories; structured or semi-structured questionnaires. A structured questionnaire has a fixed response. This means that there is either a box to tick or the answer is either yes or no. These types of questionnaires are liked by positivists. Positivists believe that society is made up of 'social facts' that can be studied scientifically to discover laws of cause and effect. They prefer this type of questionnaire as it gives you quantitative data (data in statistical or numerical form). This type of data makes it quick and easy to analyse the responses. On the other hand, a semi-structured questionnaire also includes yes and no answers, however, it may also ask why. This will make the responses become qualitative data. This

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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Examine some of the problems that sociologists may encounter when using questionnaires in their research

Examine some of the problems that sociologists may encounter when using questionnaires in their research Research is important for sociologists if they desire to prove a theory or to fund their own theories and opinions on. One method of doing this is by using questionnaires in which tend to be generally structured. If these questions are "open questions" then they allow the interviewee more flexibility in their answers and can give a more personal feel to the research as the interviewee is adding their own incite into the topic. However with structured questionnaires there is always a problem in that the interviewee may feel pressured into trying to give the correct answer so the data may not be valid. If the questionnaire is structured with "closed questions" then the answers expressed are not as personal and can be invalid due to the interviewee just ticking any box and therefore not reliable. Also with closed questions the question itself can be bias in the way it's phrased therefore causing another problem for using a questionnaire. Perhaps because questionnaires are easier to produce they are less effective for research methods. Practically using questionnaires is time consuming or expensive as the most efficient way of using questionnaires is face-to-face and so requires either a hired person or oneself to patrol the streets asking random members of the public to

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Choice of research method. here are various types of research methods available, such as questionnaires, participant observation, longitudinal studies and interviews.

Choice of research method By definition, sociology refers to the systematic study of human behavior and society. It is a popular debate in sociological research concerning the idea that the choice of research is mainly influenced by the theoretical perspective of the sociologist. However, it has been suggested that there are other factors that might as well influence the sociologist's choice of research method, those being the choice of the research topic and the practical and ethical considerations. There are various types of research methods available, such as questionnaires, participant observation, longitudinal studies and interviews. First of all, a sociologist's theoretical perspective plays an important role in influencing his choice of research method, those being the structural and interpretive perspective. Structuralist such as functionalist and Marxist see structure of society that affects the way human behave. They believe in positivism view concerning the idea that sociologist should confine themselves to study social facts which can be objectively observed and measured. And that sociologist should not be concerned with the internal meanings, motives, feelings and emotions of individuals as they exists only in the person's consciousness and cannot be measured objectively. As such, structuralist sees quantitative research method as being the most appropriate way

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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Questionnaires and Structured Interviews

Questionnaires and Structured Interviews Sociologists are interested in many aspects of human behaviour that are the result of the social context in which we live. Sociologists have developed many theories and arguments to explain human behaviour. Although they often disagree with each other's theories, they all agree that theories and arguments should all be based on sound evidence, and that to collect this evidence, empirical research needs to be carried out. Thus, scientific research is the only valid form of research. The structural view of society dominated early sociology, and according to this view society is made up of structures that determine how humans behave. The structures are not dependent on particular individuals but have an existence of their own. The structures that make up society are its norms (expected ways of behaving) and its values (expected ways of thinking). Sociologists have developed a wide range of techniques, or methods, for collecting evidence about human behaviour. The different methods produce different types of evidence. Many Sociologists debate about the value of different types of data and their interpretation of human behaviour. A questionnaire is a list of questions, by which there can be multiple choice answers or space for opinions. A structured interview is a sequence of questions asked to a person face-to-face designed to

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Assess the usefulness of Postal Questionnaires

Assess the usefulness of Postal Questionnaires Postal questionnaires are surveys sent out by post with a pre-paid envelope. A researcher will often use some form of incentive in order to encourage high response rate, this could be entry to some sort of competition or perhaps a small free gift if sent back before a certain date. Postal questionnaires like all questionnaires are restricted to two basic types of question: Closed-ended (or "closed question") is a question for which a researcher provides a suitable list of responses (e.g. Yes / No). This produces mainly quantitative data. Open-ended (or "open question") is a question where the researcher doesn't provide the respondent with a set answer from which to choose. Rather, the respondent is asked to answer "in their own words". This produces mainly qualitative data. Some advantages of using postal questionnaires as oppose to other forms of questionnaire are: The researcher is able to contact large numbers of people quickly, easily and efficiently using a postal questionnaire (since all he / she has to do is identify the group that will be targeted and post them the list of questions).Questionnaires are relatively quick and easy to create, code and interpret, especially if closed questions are used. In addition, the respondent, not the researcher does the time consuming part of completing the questionnaire. The

  • Word count: 1224
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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