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Unit 9 Quantitative Methods

1. Explain why length of a questionnaire determines its response rate.

What should be the length of the questionnaire has been debated for long. There is a belief that if it is lengthy the respondents may not fill it and leave it incomplete, therefore, resulting in low response rate. If the questionnaire has less number of questions there is a possibility of getting high response rate. 

2. Why is covering letter necessary in a mailed questionnaire?

Covering letter explains the objective of the survey and it requests the respondents to fill it. The researcher through this letter assures the respondents the confidentiality of their answers and the usage of data for research purpose only.

3. Differentiate between open-ended and close-ended questions.

Open-ended questions are those questions where respondents give answers in their own language. They freely express their views and answer according to their interpretation. These questions are also called unstructured questions. 

Close-ended questions are structured questions. Every question has a number of alternate answers. A respondent has to select one answer. These questions are also called pre-coded questions. 

4. What is a rating scale?

Rating scale is a measuring tool that requires the observer to assign the rated object to categories or continuum that have numerals assigned to them. 

5. Why is pre-testing required before finalization of questionnaire?

Pre-testing as the name suggests is a process of finalizing the questionnaire before putting it to actual use. It is essential as it alerts the researcher to the weaknesses, trouble points, and ambiguity in the questions. After pretesting the researcher revises and circulates it to the target population. 

6. State the advantages of web-based questionnaire.

Web-based questionnaire has advantages over printed questionnaire. The former can be distributed and received back from the wide spread population automatically. The answers can be validated. It is easy, quick and inexpensive. 

7. Differentiate between the laboratory and field experiments.

The difference between laboratory experiment and the field experiment is simple. Usually the laboratory experiment is conducted in an artificial situation, where as the field experiment is carried out in a real-life setting. 

8. Enumerate the different experimental designs.

Following are the experimental designs:

i) Before-After or Pre-test-Post-test experimental design 

ii) After-only or Post-test only experimental design 

iii) Quasi Design or Ex-Post-facto experimental design; and 

iv) Special design or Mixed design

9. State the advantages of experimental method.

Advantages of experimental method are given below: 

• Its power to determine casual relationship is much better than that of all other methods; 

• The influence of extraneous variable can be more effectively controlled; 

• The element of human error is more reduced; 

• More conditions may be created and tested in this method; and 

• This method yields generally exact measurement and it can be repeated

10. Define questionnaire and state its advantages and limitations. 

Definition of Questionnaire

In simple words, a questionnaire is a set of written questions for respondents to answer. These answers become the primary data for investigation. 

According to Krishan Kumar (1992) "a questionnaire is a written document listing a series of questions pertaining to the problem under study, to which the investigator requires the answers'. 

Schvaneveltd (1985) defined questionnaire as "a data-gathering device that elicits from a respondent the answers· or reactions to printed (pre-arranged) questions presented in a specific order." 

Busha and Harter (1980) opined that questionnaires are often used in surveys as the primary data collection instruments. 

Advantages of Questionnaire Method 

• Easier and quicker to collect data. Through this method large amount of data can be generated in short span of time. 

• Direct responses can be obtained. 

• Information received is quantifiable. Quantitative as well as qualitative responses can be procured. Background information of the respondents, which is otherwise difficult to obtain, could be collected. 

• Empirical data can be collected. 

• Cost effective. 

• Response from a large population can be received covenng a wide geographical area. 

• High rate of response can be generated from educated population. 

• Respondents get a chance to prepare and revise their answers before finally answering the questionnaire. 

• Researchers also get a chance though pretest to revise the final questionnaire. 

• Responses are easy to analyse and tabulate. 

• Questionnaire method provides the respondents with a means to express their views on any given topic freely. 

• Questionnaire has a fixed format with a given number of questions. This helps in eliminating variation in questioning process. 

Limitations of Questionnaire Method 

• Difficult to receive adequate response rate. People are in the habit of not filling and returning in time. 

• Reliability of data can be questioned. 

• Truthful answers cannot be asce1tained. 

• It is a time-consuming activity, which includes preparation, pretest, revision, distribution and sending reminders; adding to time and cost of data collection. 

• Incomplete answers also cause problems during analysis stage. 

• The researcher cannot observe the respondents' reaction at the time of filling up the questionnaire. 

• The questions can be wrongly interpreted which can affect the analysis. 

• Assumptions of the researchers for certain things may prove opposite to the respondents' perceptions. 

• Technical jargon or professional terminology may play havoc for the respondents. It may be possible that the questionnaire is returned with substantial number of unanswered questions. 

• Complex worded questions also fetch poor results. 

• There is a possibility that the questionnaire may be biased. It may not have included certain important questions which are very useful otherwise, due to the lop-sided preference of the researcher. 

• Verification of the accuracy of the responses received from questionnaires might be difficult. 

• Potential respondents may become discouraged by getting ill prepared questionnaires. 

11. What are the steps in planning an experiment? 

• Selecting the Problem 
• Selection of Setting
• Pilot Study
• Research Design
• Conducting the Experiment
• Evaluation of an Experiment