Avoid jargon– ensure your language is clear and simple.. Remember for some respondents English may be their second language. Avoid double-barrelled questions: you enjoy playing “Do badminton and tennis? or you agree with the “ “Do recommendations of the Stern Review on the economics of climate change?” Ask for one piece of information at a time. Avoid double negatives – e.g. instead of asking respondents whether they agree with the negative statement, in public “Smoking places should not be abolished”, use the positive in public “Smoking places should be abolished”. Ensure options do not overlap e.g. How many years have you worked in education? Overlap Age: 0-5 5-10 10-15 years No overlap Age: 0-4 5-9 10-14 years Layout The appearance of your questionnaire will go a long way towards encouraging responses. Always allow: enough space to answer questions provide plenty of white space between questions use clear headings where necessary.. use a minimum of font size 10pt Emailing questionnaires There are some advantages and disadvantages to using e-mail to send your questionnaire. Advantages Disadvantages Quick to send be seen as spam and easily deleted to send If you send the questionnaire as an ‘Free’ attachment, could be difficult to download Easy to send to large populations so may If sending in the body of an it may improve response rate lose formatting Easy for respondents to hit and If emailing to discussion lists, you may ‘Reply’ respond. have no idea of the sample size and therefore what percentage of people reply. Difficult (impossible) to reply anonymously Piloting your questionnaire
Avoid jargon– ensure your language is clear and simple.. Remember for some respondents English may be their second language. Avoid double-barrelled questions: “Do you enjoy playing badminton and tennis? “ or “Do you agree with the recommendations of the Stern Review on the economics of climate change?” Ask for one piece of information at a time. Avoid double negatives – e.g. instead of asking respondents whether they agree with the negative statement, “Smoking in public places should not be abolished”, use the positive “Smoking in public places should be abolished”. Ensure options do not overlap e.g. How many years have you worked in education? Overlap Age: 0-5 5-10 10-15 years No overlap Age: 0-4 5-9 10-14 years Layout The appearance of your questionnaire will go a long way towards encouraging responses. Always allow: enough space to answer questions provide plenty of white space between questions use clear headings where necessary.. use a minimum of font size 10pt Emailing questionnaires There are some advantages and disadvantages to using e-mail to send your questionnaire. Advantages Disadvantages Quick to send be seen as spam and easily deleted ‘Free’ to send If you send the questionnaire as an attachment, could be difficult to download Easy to send to large populations so may improve response rate If sending in the body of an it may lose formatting Easy for respondents to hit ‘Reply’ and respond. If emailing to discussion lists, you may have no idea of the sample size and therefore what percentage of people reply. Difficult (impossible) to reply anonymously Piloting your questionnaire
ivq-science-for-work-unit-4-teacher-guidance.docx