GCSE Information Technology Project

Creating a Questionnaire

A questionnaire is not simply a list of questions. It must be brief, to the point and quick to answer, preferably restricted to a small choice of answers. It should avoid racial or gender stereotyping or otherwise cause embarrassment. If the data collected is to be entered into a computer then this should be considered when developing the questionnaire so that data may be transferred as easily and as accurately as possible. Number the questions and number the answers for each question, as you can use these later as a form of coding for your computer database.

Rules for question design

Designing a Questionnaire/Data Collection Sheet

There are various ways of doing this, here is a description of some with an example for each one:

1. A questionnaire printed on A4 paper, then printed or photocopied many times and distributed to a selected sample of people to return to you filled in. This would be expensive to reproduce and it might take some time before they were returned (if at all). It would however, allow you to get on with other work while you were waiting.
2. A sheet of questions with choice of answers, and tick columns for 10-20 persons. You would only need 2 or 3 copies, hence reducing printing costs. You would need to go around asking people yourself but it would ensure that the job was done, and done quickly. You would also be able to explain the questions if they were not well understood.
3. A questionnaire form produced on a web page would cut out printing altogether and only require you to advertise that it is there, then sit back and wait. The results would be sent to you by email which could be easily pasted directly into a database file, instead of having to transfer them yourself via the keyboard. It would require that the kind of people you want to survey have access to a computer and to the Internet. Unlike the first example, people do seem keen to respond using this media.
4. You do not necessarily have to ask any questions at all in order to collect your data. A simple table with column headings would do for something like a traffic survey. You would only need 1 or 2 copies. There would be no need to find people to ask or to take up anybody else's time. Your completed table would look very similar to a computer database making it easier, quicker and more accurate when transfering the data.

Choosing the software


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