What is a questionnaire?A set of questions on a topic or group
of topics designed to be answered by a respondent (Richards at al.
1992: 303)
Methods of Data Collection Using QuestionnairesMail
questionnairesAdvantages: (1) Low cost of data collection, (2)
avoidance of interviewer bias, and (3) ability to reach respondents
who live far away.Disadvantages: (1) low response rates, (2) no
opportunity to correct misunderstanding, and (3) no check on
incomplete sentences.Self-administered
questionnairesGroup-administered questionnaires
How to increase response rates:Advance warningExplanation of
selectionSponsorship EnvelopePublicityIncentivesConfidentiality
(THE CONTENT OF THIS FORM IS ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENTIAL AND WILL NOT
BE DISCLOSED UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES)RemindersAnonymityAppearanceLengthThe topic and its
degree of interestRapport
Question typesAn open question does not require a one word or
curtailed answer.A closed question can only be answered in a
limited way.
Open QuestionsAdvantages:Freedom and spontaneity of the
answersOpportunity to probeUseful for testing hypothesis about
ideasDisadvantages:Time-consumingCoding: very costly and slow to
processDemand more effort from the respondents
Closed QuestionsAdvantages:No extended writingEasy to
processUseful for testing specific hypothesisDisadvantages:Loss of
spontaneous responseBias in answer categoriesMay irritate
respondents
Several formats of closed questionsMultiple choice questions
(MCQ)True/False questionsYes/No questionsBogardus: Social distance
scale (1930s)Likert: Attitude scale (1960s)Osgood: Semantic
differential scale (1970s)Dorian: Ranking schemes (1981)
Some basic rules in designing the question wordingLengthAvoid
double-barreled questionsAvoid proverbsAvoid double
negativesConsider using Dont know and Not Applicable
categories.Avoid acronyms, abbreviations, and technical termsBeware
the dangers of alternative usageDont over-tax the respondents
memories
Matched-guise technique(Read pp. 177-178)
Giles & Powesland (1975). Speech Style and Social
Evaluation.Matched-guised technique: an investigator who could
speak either Birmingham accent and RP spoke to two groups of
17-year-olds about psychology, using one accent with one group and
the other accent with the other group. Result: The investigator was
rated higher in his RP in terms of competence, intelligence, and
industrious.
Giles and Ryan (1982): concluded that a certain accent can
change public opinion and show the speakers social class.
Matched-guised technique: Four groups of people were asked to
listen to a recording about capital punishment. The first group
listened to the argument in RP;The second group listened to it in
South Wales accent;The third in Somerset accent;The fourth in
Birmingham accent. Result: The RP speaker is considered to have
higher competency than the local accent speakers. However, the
respondents tend to agree with arguments of the local accent
speaker.
Matched guise technique to childrenRosenthal (1974): Attitudes
of children towards SE and AAVE.Location: FloridaRespondents: 136
school children between the ages three to six.The children saw two
identical boxes, each with a tape-recorder and a present hidden.73%
of the children expected a present from the voice with SE.
