Questionnaires

Apr 21, 2023

Questionnaires, in whatever form they may take, have one distinct purpose, which is to gather information or responses from people who serve as respondents. Their designs or layouts usually revolve around a list or checklist of questions that can be used for academic or business purposes.

Questionnaire Definition & Meaning

A questionnaire is defined as a set of questions that are used to obtain statistically useful or personal information from individuals (i.e. research or interview respondents).

This means that it usually comes in written or printable forms with spaces for answers and the questions are usually open or close-ended.

What Is a Questionnaire?

A questionnaire is a research instrument that contains questions or other prompts that are made to gather information from a sample population of respondents through a research study or a simple survey. It can be considered as a form of a written interview, wherein the respondents write down their answers in a blank template or a blank form. The purpose of a questionnaire is also to gather qualitative or quantitative data.

10 Types of Questionnaire

Survey Questionnaire

One of the most common types of a questionnaire is a survey questionnaire. Surveys involve gathering data to use for analysis and forecasting, and making use of a questionnaire is one of the best ways of doing so. A survey questionnaire typically consists of the objectives of the survey, the details of the participants, a rating/scoring system, and any additional remarks regarding the survey.

Interview Questionnaire

Another very common type of questionnaire that is used today is an interview questionnaire. It usually consists of a couple of interview sheets with a list of pre-prepared questions for job candidates to fill out before a job interview takes place. The purpose of this type of questionnaire is to get the candidates to give additional details about their qualifications and interest in the role that they’re going for.

Branding Questionnaire

Questionnaires can also have a purpose for businesses, and a branding questionnaire is one sample of it. This type of questionnaire involves qualitative research and contains a set of questions designed to obtain key information about a business to achieve the desired brand identity. Additionally, it is used to gain a better understanding of a client’s needs when a company undergoes a rebranding process.

Teacher Questionnaire

Apart from being used in a business environment, a questionnaire can also be used in an academic setting, and a teacher questionnaire is one particular example of this. A teacher questionnaire is usually directed to the teachers and contains questions regarding matters such as school education, school policies, and classroom issues. Sometimes, the questions also talk about the teacher’s career, such as the teacher’s long-term goals, the subjects that the teacher usually teaches, and so on.

Buyer Questionnaire

A buyer questionnaire is a handy tool that is used by realtors for customers who are on the market for a new home. In other words, this is used by agents to learn what their buyer clients need and want from a home. When effectively done, this helps the buyers find the right home for their buyers and also helps them build a rapport with them.

Client Questionnaire

Another type of questionnaire used in a business setting is a client questionnaire. It is used to get a new customer or client’s information about their needs and goals. It’s common in a business setting since it is used by businesses to ensure that their team is achieving exactly what their client wants.

Health Questionnaire

A health questionnaire is a tool that is used by health care professionals to diagnose disorders of a patient, particularly mental health disorders. It can also be used by psychology majors as a psychological assessment tool to assess someone’s mental health condition or by dietary physicians to assess someone’s nutrition levels. This questionnaire usually covers factors such as someone’s loss of motivation, loss of appetite, mood swings, and so on.

School Questionnaire

A school questionnaire can be used by a student (usually for his/her thesis project) to gather relevant and required data concerning the school they’re in, or a different school. It can involve course evaluations or teacher career surveys. Sometimes, it can also take the form of a pre-graduation questionnaire, in which case, students are asked about their plans after finishing their studies, such as plans for pursuing another field.

Customer Questionnaire

A customer questionnaire is an essential tool to use when a business performs a customer satisfaction survey. It’s a tool that is used to gauge how satisfied or dissatisfied a customer is regarding a particular company’s product or service (food items, cartoon comic books, internet services). This questionnaire is essential since it helps companies truly understand their customers and what they think about the company.

Wedding Questionnaire

A wedding questionnaire is used by businesses that specialize in wedding planning. This is addressed to the couples that are about to be married/renew their vows. It contains general information about the couple such as their names and contact numbers, and the questions asked here generally involve the theme of their wedding, their overall budget, the place of the wedding, any special requests, and so on.

Questionnaire Uses, Purpose, Importance

Questionnaires come in different forms and can be used for quantitative or qualitative data gathering purposes. When creating this document, one needs to know how it can be used. Listed below are some of the uses and importance of this type of document.

Data Gathering

The main and most common purpose of making use of a questionnaire is to gather data from a respondent (such as a company employee). It’s an advantageous method since it’s a quick way to gather data even if the researcher isn’t present to collect them firsthand. This advantage is especially common in self-administered questionnaires.

Standardization of Responses

Questionnaires are also important to the researchers since it allows for a standardized response from the participants. This is common when a close-ended question is asked in the questionnaire wherein all respondents are asked the same questions in the same order. Encouraging standardized responses also allows room for the questionnaire to be checked for reliability.

Online Surveys

Questionnaires are also useful tools for online surveys. In an online survey, the questionnaire is typically sent via email (usually in a PDF format) or it can be downloaded from a company/brand’s social media profile. This method is cost-effective and the respondents can answer at their own leisure.

Demographic Analysis

One useful way of using questionnaires is to collect demographic information for analysis. In a demographic questionnaire, data such as the respondent’s education, income, and education are collected. Demographic data allows the researchers to better understand certain background characteristics of their respondents.

Rating Scales

Questionnaires are also used to collect quantitative data through the use of rating scales. In rating scales, multiple statements or questions are presented for each variable that is being examined. Questionnaires used for this purpose also usually contain response points (such as points ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree).

What’s in a Questionnaire? Parts?

Establishment Name

This part spells out the name of the company or establishment that conducts the data gathering procedure.

Logo

This part establishes the identity of the company conducting the data gathering procedure.

Title

The title of the questionnaire establishes how it’s going to be used.

Invitation

This involves identifying how the establishment is going to invite the respondent to answer the questionnaire.

Introduction

This is where the nature of the questionnaire is explained, along with the type of data being collected, how the data will be stored, used, and managed, and any incentives the respondents may receive.

Instructions

The instructions explicitly describe the methods in which the respondents will answer the questionnaire and should be written as a whole and in the questionnaire’s subsections.

Items and Response Sets

This serves as the main part of the questionnaire and this is where the respondents will interact and give their responses.

Closing Statement

This appears at the end of the questionnaire and can simply be a “thank you” message and can also include instructions for debriefing and/or contact information of the people conducting the data gathering procedure.

How to Design a Questionnaire

1. Pick a Questionnaire Size

2. Determine the purpose of the Questionnaire

3. Select a Questionnaire Template

4. Modify the contents of the template to suit the purpose of the questionnaire

5. Decide on writing open-ended questions to solicit feedback or close-ended questions to gather specific answers

6. Add logos or supporting graphics and photos

7. Finalize the template and download

Questionnaire vs. Survey

A questionnaire refers to a set of questions typically used for research purposes and can be both qualitative and quantitative in nature.

A survey is a sophisticated method of quantitative research, usually comprised of a questionnaire, and is usually used with the intention of efficient data gathering from a set of respondents.

What’s the Difference Between a Questionnaire, Assessment, and Form?

Questionnaires are usually used when you want to survey respondents about different issues such as workplace policies, workplace harassment, and so on, and usually do not allow for right or wrong answers.

Assessments, on the other hand, are used when you want to analyze respondents on their knowledge regarding a specific topic and usually must include correct and incorrect answers since they are scored.

Forms are documents that are considered to be a superset of questionnaires, surveys, polls, and assessments since a form can either be one of these documents.

Questionnaire Sizes

Questionnaires are also documents that need to adhere to the right size according to the purpose/preference. Here are the standard questionnaire sizes that should be noted.

Questionnaire Ideas and Examples

Questionnaire documents have different sizes and they also have different purposes. The process of designing these printable forms should be relatively straightforward, but in the situation that difficulties are encountered, here are different questionnaire ideas and examples that can be a source of inspiration when you’re assigned to create this form of document.

• Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Couples Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Job Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Health Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Tenant Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Student Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Business Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Satisfaction Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Research Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Discovery Questionnaire Ideas and Examples
• Food Questionnaire Ideas and Examples

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