Also known as Feedback Form, Inquiry Form, and Paper-and-Pencil Survey.
Variants include Survey, Poll, Test, and Application Form.
A survey is a broad term that refers to the entire process of data collection to gather written or verbal information from a selected group of people. It involves all aspects of the research process including defining objectives, designing the questions, distributing the questionnaire, collecting responses, and analyzing the data. A survey may involve various data collection methods, such as questionnaires, observations, and interviews.
A questionnaire, on the other hand, is the actual set of questions or statements presented to participants to gather information. It is designed to quickly collect qualitative and quantitative data from a large number of respondents about a particular issue of interest. A questionnaire is a relatively inexpensive way to collect data, and the results are generally easy to analyze. While it is often part of a survey, it can also stand alone as a data collection tool.
Questionnaires can be conducted in different ways, such as in person, by phone, by email, or online. Online questionnaires help professionals reach large groups easily and allow for quick data collection and analysis.
Questionnaires are commonly used in academic research, marketing research, organizational behavior studies, and in quality and process improvement initiatives. They are widely used in improvement projects to gather data to identify areas of variation and opportunities for improvement. It can also be used to measure improvements over time following the improvement initiative. Questionnaires are also useful for acquiring benchmarking data, allowing organizations to compare their performance against industry standards, best practices, or competitors.
Management consultants, business analysts, and project managers often use questionnaires to gather valuable business information about customers, products, and work practices. This helps them identify organizational gaps, address concerns, and obtain feedback on stakeholder satisfaction with activities and deliverables. In service industries like hotels, restaurants, and training centers, questionnaires are commonly used to measure customer satisfaction and drive continuous service improvement.
Click to enlarge
Types of Questions
A questionnaire can include both qualitative and quantitative questions to provide a complete understanding of the problem. This allows analysts and researchers to gain both measurable data (quantitative) and deeper insights (qualitative) to better analyze and address the problem. Beyond qualitative and quantitative types, questions can also be categorized based on their format:
Closed-ended, where respondents choose from a set of predefined answers, like Yes/No, multiple choice, rating, or agreement levels. This type is useful when you expect and understand the range of responses. It is also easier to analyze because responses are structured and can be converted to numbers.
Open-ended, where respondents answer freely without predefined options. This type is helpful when the range of responses is unknown and may result in more detail. However, open-ended answers are harder to analyze as they are unstructured and may include subjective or extra information.
Closed-ended questions are useful as they provide a structured format for data collection. They reduce ambiguity and irrelevant responses, save time for both respondents and data analysts, and enable systematic analysis and comparison across groups or periods. When designing a closed-ended questionnaire, there are typically seven basic types of questions that can be used:
The binary-choice question, which offers respondents only two possible answers, such as “Yes” or “No”, or “True” or “False”.
The multiple-choice question, which asks respondents to select one choice from a set of mutually exclusive options.
The checklist question, which allows respondents to select all options that apply from a given list. They are typically used when multiple responses are possible.
The rating scale question, which asks respondents to rate something on a fixed scale, for example, from 1 to 5, and is often used to measure satisfaction, likelihood and preferences, with higher numbers typically representing more favorable options.
The Likert scale question, also known as the agreement levels scale, which asks respondents to indicate their level of feeling or agreement with options like “strongly agree”, “agree”, “disagree”, or “strongly disagree”.
The frequency scale question, which asks respondents how often they do something, with options like “Never”, “Rarely”, “Sometimes”, “Often”, and “Always”. This format is useful for understanding behaviors and habits.
The ranking scale question, which asks respondents to rank items by preference, which allows them to prioritize options based on their level of importance, relevance, or appeal.
Click to enlarge
Designing and Conducting a Questionnaire
Although writing a questionnaire might seem straightforward, creating an effective one requires careful planning and specific skills and experience to gather the needed information efficiently. Without careful planning and structure, important questions may be overlooked, and others might not be framed in a useful way. The following steps explain how to design and conduct a questionnaire:
- Clearly define the objective of the questionnaire and the specific information to be collected.
- Identify the target respondents, select an appropriate sampling method, and determine the most effective way to distribute the questionnaire.
- Decide on the questionnaire type, the types of questions, and the measurement scales to be used.
- Draft the questionnaire and organize the questions in a logical sequence.
- Conduct a pilot test and make necessary revisions.
- Distribute the finalized questionnaire to the respondents.
- Collect the responses, compile the data, and analyze the results to gain insights on the topic.
Basic Rules
Here are basic rules for designing effective questionnaires:
- Provide relevant background information to help respondents understand the context of the survey.
- Avoid making assumptions about respondents.
- Make sure questions are culturally appropriate.
- Use positive statements and avoid biased or leading questions.
- Keep the questionnaire short to increase response rates.
- Ensure questions follow a natural flow.
- Use simple language that can be easily understood by respondents of all educational levels, and avoid jargon or technical terms.
- Avoid asking multiple questions in one item to prevent confusion.
- Include a “not applicable” option where relevant to allow respondents to skip irrelevant questions without providing incorrect answers.
- End with a broad open-ended question to capture additional insights.
Remember to collect data at the right level of detail. If the data is too broad, important information may be lost. If data is too specific, it may become irrelevant or unhelpful.
Wrapping Up
A questionnaire is a powerful tool for data collection that is often a key component of a broader survey process. It is widely used in both business and academic contexts to gather valuable insights from respondents. Questionnaires offer a structured and cost-effective way to collect qualitative and quantitative data.
Whether used within an organizational setting or beyond, questionnaires are valuable tools for gathering targeted data, understanding trends, driving decision-making, and identifying opportunities for improvement and growth
References
A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge. International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA).
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management Institute, Inc.
Kubiak, T. M. The Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Infotech.
Other Formats
Slides
Poster
Infographic
Do you want to use the slides in your training courses?
Questionnaire Training Material –
Related Articles
Related Templates
