Advantages and Disadvantages of Questionnaires

Advantages

The main advantage of using questionnaires is that many people can be reached relatively easily and economically. A standard questionnaire provides quantifiable answers for a research topic. These answers are relatively easy to analyse.

Disadvantages

Questionnaires are not always the best way to gather information. For example, if there is little previous information on a problem, a questionnaire may only provide limited additional insight. On the one hand, the investigators may not have asked the right questions, which allow new insight into the research topic. On the other hand, questions often only allow a limited choice of responses. If the right response is not among the choice of answers, the investigators will obtain little or no valid information.

Another setback of questionnaires is the varying responses to questions. Respondents sometimes misunderstand or misinterpret questions. If this is the case, correcting these mistakes and collecting missing data in a second round will be very hard.

FEM PAGE CONTRIBUTORS 2007

Editor

Viviane Bremer

Original Author

Viviane Bremer