The What and how
What is a questionnaire?
Answering this will give a better understanding of what they are and how important they can be when making any type of product. So what are they? Questionnaires work like this, you have a set amount of questions relating to the topic being covered (for example employee health) in order to get an idea of a wider margin of effects that something has had or to gauge opinion on a product or production depending on the situation.
What information can be gained?
There are two different types of data that you can get from this type of survey/questionnaire and when you begin to make or design one you need to think of when thinking up of one. The first one is Quantitative, this type mainly deals with measurements and numbers such as lengths or angles but it can be applied to media as well, we need to know the shot angles and locations not to mention timings too but how does that help us now? Well not only does it help when working out the camera work and setting but it can do a lot of work when it comes to pricing and sourcing, one of the best ways to get the data such as pricing or other data relating to this is through Secondary Research or Second-hand from existing sources such as the internet or newspaper.
Next is Qualitative which is less of a measure on more about what the characteristics then stats like its counter part, what can we get from this? Well if continue with our media example we can find out what people are looking for in a product promotion such as within an advert with it's visuals or persuasiveness, or maybe to get information on the product itself (if that's what your promoting) but they can also help to figure out what you want to make and how effective it will be once production is done.
Different Types
Now as with many other things within the world there are different types of questionnaire however there isn't as many different types as you think there are. The different types include:
Computer: This is where the questionnaire is sent out in an email and the receiver has to respond either through a link or document that attached to said email. As a method of distribution and response this is a good type to use as it gives people more freedom and time to respond. However there could be issues relating to inboxes such as spam folders etc. or the more likely outcome which is that people who get sent them will ignore what's sent through.
Phone: This type of questionnaire is more problematic than others mainly due to the fact that it has fewer methods of response. For example trying to gauge a full group response will be more difficult than a face-to-face or on the web type but the main thing is expense as more often than not companies calling out could be charged large sums if calls are made to multiple people over large extended periods. This is not including reception, possible language barriers and other such things that could have an effect.
Face-to-face: This is almost self descriptive as it's done during the initial interview stage at the end of the talk, but this has many different forms such as being in someone's home or place of work which can make them feel uncomfortable given the circumstances but it's yet again more expensive for the company as they would have to pay for the copies of the questionnaire and the time spent outside of the office (and possible travel too).
Post: Now we've all had mail ballots and this works on a similar principle and can actually give some good results as people sent can reply to them in their spare time which means that data gathered could be more accurate. However again costs are a considerable thing to consider as it's a lot of pre-paid resources that could end up being put into the bin by the responder.
Strengths and effectiveness:
So as a technique for collecting data how good is a questionnaire? Well if we look at it from a statistical stand point then we can see that it's certainly very helpful in getting a baseline for what's being tested, if different groups are being evaluated then it can triangulate the areas in which the groups come from or help find the groups that found it more useful than others. They can help with getting a general percentage for certain products/services or to help provide an idea of how it works for them (the consumer) and maybe an idea from a larger audience on what the company/organization can do to help improve it for next time.
These types of research methods used are easy to make and send then simple to fill out for the responder making it a much smoother process than some other methods out there. It helps to give companies a guidance for focus groups to talk about or to get information from even if it's verbal.
Weaknesses and limitations:
As with most things there isn't perfection coming out of this by any means there are a few pitfalls that come with using them. I mentioned previously throughout this response about company costings and this is a big limitation that changes depending on which type is used, if it's a physical copy that can go in the post then you have to think about printing costs and envelopes to send to them that also include a return on them. Linking there's also the possibility of phone costs as most phone numbers will charge whoever rings first which is more often than not the company who made it.
Yet it's not just costs that have an effect on it but the information gained, for example in a survey of 100 people there could be 12% positive response, a 20% negative response and then there could be an undetermined result of 68% which isn't exactly helpful data to use when collaborating all the data together which makes this a big weakness when it comes to getting the data together.
Conclusion:
When using a questionnaire be careful, making sure that all the information that you get is justified in how effective it will be to you and the business/product being made. There are some fairly big negatives against this, such as funding and the amount of data that's collected at the end of this compared to how useful it is compared to other methods. However for a founding baseline in the development stage of the production to help guide your ideas and the flow of how it then develops it becomes a better value of research than others.
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