Deny A.

Kwary
Airlangga University
www.kwary.net

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

Questionnaires
Mail

questionnaires

Advantages:

(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

questionnaires
Group-administered questionnaires

How to increase response rates:

Advance warning
Explanation of selection
Sponsorship
Envelope
Publicity
Incentives
Confidentiality
(THE CONTENT OF THIS FORM
IS ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENTIAL
AND WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED
UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)

Reminders
Anonymity
Appearance
Length
The topic and its
degree of interest
Rapport

Question types
An

open question does

not require a one word or
curtailed answer.
A closed question can
only be answered in a
limited way.

Open Questions
Advantages:
Freedom and spontaneity of the answers
Opportunity to probe
Useful for testing hypothesis about ideas
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming
Coding: very costly and slow to process
Demand more effort from the respondents

Closed Questions
Advantages:
No extended writing
Easy to process
Useful for testing specific hypothesis
Disadvantages:
Loss of spontaneous response
Bias in answer categories
May irritate respondents

Several formats of closed questions

Multiple

choice questions (MCQ)

True/False questions
Yes/No questions
Bogardus: Social distance scale (1930s)
Likert: Attitude scale (1960s)
Osgood: Semantic differential scale
(1970s)
Dorian: Ranking schemes (1981)

Some basic rules in designing the

question wording
Length
Avoid

double-barreled questions
Avoid proverbs
Avoid double negatives
Consider using Dont know and Not Applicable
categories.
Avoid acronyms, abbreviations, and technical
terms
Beware the dangers of alternative usage
Dont 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 children

Rosenthal

(1974): Attitudes of children towards

SE and AAVE.
Location: Florida
Respondents: 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.