Designing Questionnaire: Types of Questionnaire Questions

Designing Questionnaire
Types of Questionnaire Questions

Designing Questionnaire
• TWO (2) types of questions:

a) Open-ended questions
b) Closed-ended questions
Open- ended Questions
• SUBJECTIVE questions.
• Require MORE THAN ONE word answers.
• Allow someone to give a free form answers using
their own knowledge, personal feelings, opinions or
ideas about a subject.
– What is it like to live in the state of Perlis?
– What is your favourite memory from childhood?
– What was your high school experience like?
• Usually begin with the following words: Why, How, What,
Describe, Tell me about…, or What do you think about…
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of using open-ended
questions?
Advantages of Open-ended Questions
1. Provide rich qualitative data.
2. Provide researcher opportunity to gain
insight on all opinions on a topic
3. Highlight responses that researchers or
evaluators could not have anticipated.
Disadvantages of Open-ended
Questions
1. Take longer time to read through and code.
2. Slow down the reporting process.
3. Hard to make generalization.
* Work best in studies with smaller populations.

Types of Open-ended Questions
a) Unstructured :
- Why did you choose to study at UniMAP?
- How can UniMAP improve itself to be the best public university in
Malaysia?
b) Word Association:
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the
following words:
Exam: _______ (nervous, challenging)
Concert: ______ ( interesting, boring)
c) Sentence Completion:
- On the day I arrived at UniMAP, I felt...
- A good student is someone…
Close-ended Questions
• OBJECTIVE questions.
• Come in a multitude of forms, but are defined by their
need to have explicit options for a respondent to select
from.
• Respondents need to choose from a list of pre-selected
options.
• ADVANTAGES:
– Quick to be answered.
– Provide quantifiable data useful for calculating statistical data
and percentages.
– Allow researchers to categorize respondents into group based
on the options they have selected.
Types of Close-ended Questions
1. Dichotomous or two-point questions (Yes or No

, Satisfied or Unsatisfied)
2. Multiple-choice questions (e.g.: A,B,C or D)
3. Scaled Questions
– Likert Scale
– Important questions
– Three to seven- point scales
– Semantic Differential
1. Dichotomous Questions
• A question which can have TWO possible
answers.
• Usually used in a survey that ask for Yes/No,
True/False or Agree/Disagree answers.
– Please enter your gender: Male / Female
– Do you like the new hostel at UniMAP Main
Campus? Yes / No
2. Multiple- choice questions
• Questions with three or more answer
options/ choices.
• Example:
What is your favourite pizza topping?
A. Pepperoni
B. Mushrooms
C. Anchovies
D. Sausage
3. Scaled Questions
a. Importance Questions
• To assess what is the MOST IMPORTANT to your respondents with
rating scale of 1 to 5.
• Help you to understand what the respondents like BEST and LEAST
about the program or service that you chose.
• Measuring the level of importance will garner critical information
that allow the service/ program to continue or to be modified.
• E.g.:
b. Likert Questions
• Help you ascertain how strongly your respondents
AGREE or DISAGREE to a series of statements.
• Help you assess your respondents feels towards
certain issue, product or service.
e.g.:
c. Semantic Differential
• The semantic differential scale asks a person to rate a product, brand,
or company based upon a seven-point rating scale that has two bi-
polar adjectives at each end. The following is an example of a semantic
differential scale question.
Example:
Would you say our web site is:
(7) Very Attractive
(6)
(5)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(1) Very Unattractive
• Notice that unlike the rating scale, the semantic differential scale does
not have a neutral or middle selection. A person must choose, to a
certain extent, one or the other adjective.
d. Rating Scale Questions
• Respondents are asked to RATE a particular issue
on a scale that ranges between POOR to GOOD.
PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
A. Presuming or Leading Questions
e.g.:
Don’t you think that the bank should open at night
for the convenience of clients?
Questions that use phrases like

“Wouldn’t you say that…” or “Don’t you agree that…”
* These phrases may also lead the respondents to prefer a

certain choice given.
B. Questions which rely on memory.
e.g.:
“How many times did you Whatsapp your
friend last week?”
“What were you doing on the night of 24th
December last year?”
* Questions which tax the respondent’s memory
too much are likely to lead to inaccurate reply.
C. Questions requiring prior knowledge.
e.g.:
“Do you think UniMAP’s engineering clean
room is the best in Malaysia?”
* For someone who is at UniMAP for the first time,

they will not know.
D. Long wordy question.
- Questions that have many words.

- If the questions are too long and detailed,
the respondents may get lost and their
responses will relate only the beginning or
the end of the question.
E. Double-barrelled Questions
e.g.:
Please rate the lecture in terms of its content and
presentation.
• Don’t ask for multiple information at a time.
• Ask for only one piece of information at a time.
1. content
2. presentation
F. Hypothetical Questions
Questions based on SPECULATION and FANTASY.
e.g.:
If you were the CEO of an ABC organization, what
would be the changes that you would bring?
If you were given a million dollar….

G. Sensitive Questions
- Personal details (e.g.: age); Health; Personal
Habits; Income; etc.
- People are likely to give honest replies to
personal questions if some rapport has been
developed with the interviewer.
- It is generally best to keep all questions dealing
with demographic (such as age) at the end of the
questionnaire.
Questionnaire Format
1. Title
2. Introduction
3. Confidentiality Statement
4. Instruction
5. Questions
• Section A: General Overview
• Section B: Problems
• Section C: Solutions
• Section D: Personal Information
1. Title
• State what your survey is about.
• E.g.:
– A Survey on Proposing to Build a Student’s Mall at
UniMAP Main Campus.
– A Proposal to Build 24-hours Mini Library at Wang
Ulu Hostel
2. Introduction
• At the beginning of the questionnaire:
i. Indicate WHO you are and WHY you are doing the survey.
You should also have a letter to your lecturer or supervisor to
authenticate this.
ii. (If applicable) indicate how the respondents were selected.
iii. Indicate how it is to be answered.
iv. How to return the questionnaire (if not being delivered in
person.
E.g.:
Hello,
We are students of UVW 312- English for Technical
Communication and we are doing on a survey
about________ in UniMAP. In order to complete
our survey, we need your help and cooperation.
We really appreciate your cooperation for taking
part in this survey, so that we can gather
information for our report. The questionnaire
consists of four sections. Please tick the
appropriate answer for each section.
3. Confidentiality Statement
• A legal agreement between researcher and the
respondents which stating the responses given in the survey
is CONFIDENTIAL and should not be released to third parties
without your prior consent.
• E.g.:
- All information given will be treated as confidential.
- Whatever the content in this in this proposal is confidential and is
only used in UVW 312’s assignment.
- All of the information provided will be treated as completely
confidential and it will not be possible for anyone to identify the
information that you give us when we write up the project report.
4. Instruction
QUESTIONS’ INSTRUCTION.
- At the beginning of each part:
 ensure that each section or question has clear
instruction on how to respond/ answer.
 Indicate the form of the answer expected.
e.g.:
-Please give your opinion/ answer for the statements by
placing a tick (√) in the appropriate box.
- Circle the appropriate answer.
5. Questions
• Section A : General Overview
– Questions for general opinion (SECTION A) should be
able to reflect respondents’ overall opinion based on
their experience using the service, e.g. how often they
use the service, how important is the service to them,
are they satisfied users, etc.
• Section B: Problems
– Questions for problems (SECTION B) should be able to
reflect respondents’ opinion and satisfactory level for
the problems that they have identified.
5. Questions
• Section C: Solutions
– Questions for solutions (SECTION C) should be able to
reflect respondents’ agreement for the solutions that
they have suggested.
• Section D: Demographic Profile

– Questions for Section D should be able to indicate
about the respondents’ background information such
as gender, age, level of study, etc.
Question Order
• Start with the easiest questions ( usually
close-ended)
Pilot Study
A. Purposes:
i. To test how long it takes to complete.
ii. To check that the questions are not
ambiguous.
iii.To check that the instructions are clear.
iv.To allow you to eliminate questions that do
not produce usable data.
v. Ideally it should be piloted on a group similar
to the one that will form the population of
your study.
Group Activity
Please sit in your group to discuss. 5

people per group.
Discussion
1) What is your idea about the program? What will the
program be like? Why do you want to propose the program?
2) What is the duration of the program? When do you plan to
have the program? Will the program be organized
weekly/monthly/annually?
3) Who will be involved to organize the program? Are you
proposing a collaboration with any department/
organization?
4) Who are your target audience for the program? Will the
program be made compulsory for the participants to attend?
Will it be free or not for them?
5) How do you plan to promote the program?
6) How are you going to get the fund/ budget for the program?

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Designing Questionnaire

Types of Questionnaire Questions

• TWO (2) types of questions:

* Work best in studies with smaller populations.

1. Dichotomous or two-point questions (Yes or No

Questions that use phrases like

* These phrases may also lead the respondents to prefer a

* For someone who is at UniMAP for the first time,

- Questions that have many words.

Questions based on SPECULATION and FANTASY.

If you were given a million dollar….

• Section D: Demographic Profile

Please sit in your group to discuss. 5

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