Page 134 - SREENARAYANAGURU OPEN UNIVERSITY

Guidelines for the preparation of questionnaire

There are no strict rules to follow when developing
questionnaires. Several crucial decisions need to be made
regarding what should be included, how it should be presented,
the sequence of questions, and the layout of the questionnaire.

In terms of determining the content of the questionnaire,
researchers should consider a few important factors. Firstly, they
should assess whether each question is necessary and relevant.
Secondly, they need to ensure that the questions have appropriate
◆ Relevance, scope scope and coverage for the research objectives. Additionally,
and coverage of researchers should consider if the participants will be able to
questions answer the questions adequately as presented and if they will
be willing to answer them in the given format. Pre-testing and
revising the questionnaire can further enhance its effectiveness.
The content of a questionnaire typically consists of two types of
information: factual and attitude-based. Factual information aims
to gather objective data from respondents about their background,
environment, habits, and similar aspects. Personal information
◆ Factual and attitude- is often collected at the beginning of the questionnaire. On the
based questions other hand, attitude-based questions emphasises into a person’s
inclinations, prejudices, ideas, fears, and convictions regarding
specific topics. Examples of attitude-based questions include
measuring agreement, satisfaction, and opinions, which serve as
verbal expressions of attitudes. By incorporating both factual and
attitude-based questions, researchers can gather comprehensive
information from respondents.

Type of questions
The various types of questions are listed as follows:
a. Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are those questions which are designed
to permit a free response from the respondent rather than one
limited to certain stated alternatives. These questions enable
individuals to express their thoughts, opinions, or experiences in
their own words. However, before open-ended responses can be
◆ Permit free response analysed using computer-based methods, they must be coded. This
coding process facilitates systematic analysis and comparison of
the open-ended data, enabling researchers to derive meaningful
insights from the collected information. Open-ended questions
are more difficult to handle, raising problem of interpretation,
comparability and interviewer bias. For example-
In your opinion, what are some key factors that contribute to
the success of an E-commerce business?

128 SGOU - SLM -MCom Research Methodology