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Research Questionnaire Examples

When a researcher creates a research paper using the scientific method they will need to use a gathering method that is adjacent to the research topic. This means that the researcher will use a quantitative research method for a quantitive topic and a qualitative method for a qualitative  one.  The research questionnaire is one of the quantitative data-gathering methods a researcher can use in their research paper.

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What Is a Research Questionnaire?

A research questionnaire is a physical or digital questionnaire that researchers use to obtain quantitative data. The research questionnaire is a more in-depth version of a survey   as its questions often delve deeper than survey questions .

How to Write a Research Questionnaire

A well-made research questionnaire can effectively and efficiently gather data from the population. Creating a good research questionnaire does not require that many writing skills , soft skills , or hard skills , it just requires the person to properly understand the data set they are looking for.

Step 1: Select a Topic or Theme for the Research Questionnaire

Begin by choosing a topic or theme   for the research questionnaire as this will provide much-needed context for the research questionnaire. Not only that but the topic will also dictate the tone of the questions in the questionnaire.

Step 2: Obtain or Use a Research Questionnaire Outline

You may opt to use a research questionnaire outline or outline format for your research questionnaire. This outline will provide you with a structure you can use to easily make your research questionnaire.

Step 3: Create your Research Questionnaire

Start by creating questions that will help provide you with the necessary data to prove or disprove your research question. You may conduct brainstorming sessions to formulate the questions for your research questionnaire.

Step 4: Edit and Have Someone Proofread the Questionnaire

After you have created and completed the research questionnaire, you must edit the contents of the questionnaire. Not only that but it is wise to have someone proofread the contents of your questionnaire before deploying the questionnaire. 

How does a research questionnaire help businesses?

A successful business or company utilizes research questionnaires to not only obtain data from their customers but also to gather data about the performance and quality of the employees in the business. The research questionnaire provides the business or company with actionable data, which they can use to improve the product, service, or commodity to obtain more customers.

Do I need to provide a consent form when I ask someone to answer the research questionnaire?

Yes, consent is very important as without this the data you have gathered from your questionnaires or surveys are useless. Therefore it is important to provide a consent form with your research questionnaire when you are asking a participant to answer the document.

What type of answers are allowed in the research questionnaire?

Research questionnaires can host a multitude of types of questions each with its specific way of answering.  A questionnaire can use multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and closed questions. Just be sure to properly pace the questions as having too many different types of answering styles can demotivate or distract the target audience, which might lead to errors.

A research questionnaire is a data-gathering document people can use to obtain information and data from a specific group of people. Well-made and crafted research questionnaires will provide much-needed information one can use to answer a specific research question.

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1. open-ended questionnaires, 2. closed-ended questionnaires, 3. mixed questionnaires, 4. pictorial questionnaires, step 1: identify the goals of your research questionnaire , step 2: define your target respondents, step 3: create questions , step 4: choose an appropriate question type , step 5: design the sequence and layout of the questions.

  • The instrument used for data collection
  • Is a tool that is distributed
  • May contain open- or closed-ended questions
  • Collects information on a topic
  • Process of gathering and analyzing data
  • Is an activity that is conducted
  • Mainly comprised of closed-ended questions
  • Aims to draw data for statistical analysis

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Methodology

  • Survey Research | Definition, Examples & Methods

Survey Research | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on August 20, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Survey research means collecting information about a group of people by asking them questions and analyzing the results. To conduct an effective survey, follow these six steps:

  • Determine who will participate in the survey
  • Decide the type of survey (mail, online, or in-person)
  • Design the survey questions and layout
  • Distribute the survey
  • Analyze the responses
  • Write up the results

Surveys are a flexible method of data collection that can be used in many different types of research .

Table of contents

What are surveys used for, step 1: define the population and sample, step 2: decide on the type of survey, step 3: design the survey questions, step 4: distribute the survey and collect responses, step 5: analyze the survey results, step 6: write up the survey results, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about surveys.

Surveys are used as a method of gathering data in many different fields. They are a good choice when you want to find out about the characteristics, preferences, opinions, or beliefs of a group of people.

Common uses of survey research include:

  • Social research : investigating the experiences and characteristics of different social groups
  • Market research : finding out what customers think about products, services, and companies
  • Health research : collecting data from patients about symptoms and treatments
  • Politics : measuring public opinion about parties and policies
  • Psychology : researching personality traits, preferences and behaviours

Surveys can be used in both cross-sectional studies , where you collect data just once, and in longitudinal studies , where you survey the same sample several times over an extended period.

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Before you start conducting survey research, you should already have a clear research question that defines what you want to find out. Based on this question, you need to determine exactly who you will target to participate in the survey.

Populations

The target population is the specific group of people that you want to find out about. This group can be very broad or relatively narrow. For example:

  • The population of Brazil
  • US college students
  • Second-generation immigrants in the Netherlands
  • Customers of a specific company aged 18-24
  • British transgender women over the age of 50

Your survey should aim to produce results that can be generalized to the whole population. That means you need to carefully define exactly who you want to draw conclusions about.

Several common research biases can arise if your survey is not generalizable, particularly sampling bias and selection bias . The presence of these biases have serious repercussions for the validity of your results.

It’s rarely possible to survey the entire population of your research – it would be very difficult to get a response from every person in Brazil or every college student in the US. Instead, you will usually survey a sample from the population.

The sample size depends on how big the population is. You can use an online sample calculator to work out how many responses you need.

There are many sampling methods that allow you to generalize to broad populations. In general, though, the sample should aim to be representative of the population as a whole. The larger and more representative your sample, the more valid your conclusions. Again, beware of various types of sampling bias as you design your sample, particularly self-selection bias , nonresponse bias , undercoverage bias , and survivorship bias .

There are two main types of survey:

  • A questionnaire , where a list of questions is distributed by mail, online or in person, and respondents fill it out themselves.
  • An interview , where the researcher asks a set of questions by phone or in person and records the responses.

Which type you choose depends on the sample size and location, as well as the focus of the research.

Questionnaires

Sending out a paper survey by mail is a common method of gathering demographic information (for example, in a government census of the population).

  • You can easily access a large sample.
  • You have some control over who is included in the sample (e.g. residents of a specific region).
  • The response rate is often low, and at risk for biases like self-selection bias .

Online surveys are a popular choice for students doing dissertation research , due to the low cost and flexibility of this method. There are many online tools available for constructing surveys, such as SurveyMonkey and Google Forms .

  • You can quickly access a large sample without constraints on time or location.
  • The data is easy to process and analyze.
  • The anonymity and accessibility of online surveys mean you have less control over who responds, which can lead to biases like self-selection bias .

If your research focuses on a specific location, you can distribute a written questionnaire to be completed by respondents on the spot. For example, you could approach the customers of a shopping mall or ask all students to complete a questionnaire at the end of a class.

  • You can screen respondents to make sure only people in the target population are included in the sample.
  • You can collect time- and location-specific data (e.g. the opinions of a store’s weekday customers).
  • The sample size will be smaller, so this method is less suitable for collecting data on broad populations and is at risk for sampling bias .

Oral interviews are a useful method for smaller sample sizes. They allow you to gather more in-depth information on people’s opinions and preferences. You can conduct interviews by phone or in person.

  • You have personal contact with respondents, so you know exactly who will be included in the sample in advance.
  • You can clarify questions and ask for follow-up information when necessary.
  • The lack of anonymity may cause respondents to answer less honestly, and there is more risk of researcher bias.

Like questionnaires, interviews can be used to collect quantitative data: the researcher records each response as a category or rating and statistically analyzes the results. But they are more commonly used to collect qualitative data : the interviewees’ full responses are transcribed and analyzed individually to gain a richer understanding of their opinions and feelings.

Next, you need to decide which questions you will ask and how you will ask them. It’s important to consider:

  • The type of questions
  • The content of the questions
  • The phrasing of the questions
  • The ordering and layout of the survey

Open-ended vs closed-ended questions

There are two main forms of survey questions: open-ended and closed-ended. Many surveys use a combination of both.

Closed-ended questions give the respondent a predetermined set of answers to choose from. A closed-ended question can include:

  • A binary answer (e.g. yes/no or agree/disagree )
  • A scale (e.g. a Likert scale with five points ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree )
  • A list of options with a single answer possible (e.g. age categories)
  • A list of options with multiple answers possible (e.g. leisure interests)

Closed-ended questions are best for quantitative research . They provide you with numerical data that can be statistically analyzed to find patterns, trends, and correlations .

Open-ended questions are best for qualitative research. This type of question has no predetermined answers to choose from. Instead, the respondent answers in their own words.

Open questions are most common in interviews, but you can also use them in questionnaires. They are often useful as follow-up questions to ask for more detailed explanations of responses to the closed questions.

The content of the survey questions

To ensure the validity and reliability of your results, you need to carefully consider each question in the survey. All questions should be narrowly focused with enough context for the respondent to answer accurately. Avoid questions that are not directly relevant to the survey’s purpose.

When constructing closed-ended questions, ensure that the options cover all possibilities. If you include a list of options that isn’t exhaustive, you can add an “other” field.

Phrasing the survey questions

In terms of language, the survey questions should be as clear and precise as possible. Tailor the questions to your target population, keeping in mind their level of knowledge of the topic. Avoid jargon or industry-specific terminology.

Survey questions are at risk for biases like social desirability bias , the Hawthorne effect , or demand characteristics . It’s critical to use language that respondents will easily understand, and avoid words with vague or ambiguous meanings. Make sure your questions are phrased neutrally, with no indication that you’d prefer a particular answer or emotion.

Ordering the survey questions

The questions should be arranged in a logical order. Start with easy, non-sensitive, closed-ended questions that will encourage the respondent to continue.

If the survey covers several different topics or themes, group together related questions. You can divide a questionnaire into sections to help respondents understand what is being asked in each part.

If a question refers back to or depends on the answer to a previous question, they should be placed directly next to one another.

Before you start, create a clear plan for where, when, how, and with whom you will conduct the survey. Determine in advance how many responses you require and how you will gain access to the sample.

When you are satisfied that you have created a strong research design suitable for answering your research questions, you can conduct the survey through your method of choice – by mail, online, or in person.

There are many methods of analyzing the results of your survey. First you have to process the data, usually with the help of a computer program to sort all the responses. You should also clean the data by removing incomplete or incorrectly completed responses.

If you asked open-ended questions, you will have to code the responses by assigning labels to each response and organizing them into categories or themes. You can also use more qualitative methods, such as thematic analysis , which is especially suitable for analyzing interviews.

Statistical analysis is usually conducted using programs like SPSS or Stata. The same set of survey data can be subject to many analyses.

Finally, when you have collected and analyzed all the necessary data, you will write it up as part of your thesis, dissertation , or research paper .

In the methodology section, you describe exactly how you conducted the survey. You should explain the types of questions you used, the sampling method, when and where the survey took place, and the response rate. You can include the full questionnaire as an appendix and refer to it in the text if relevant.

Then introduce the analysis by describing how you prepared the data and the statistical methods you used to analyze it. In the results section, you summarize the key results from your analysis.

In the discussion and conclusion , you give your explanations and interpretations of these results, answer your research question, and reflect on the implications and limitations of the research.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

  • Student’s  t -distribution
  • Normal distribution
  • Null and Alternative Hypotheses
  • Chi square tests
  • Confidence interval
  • Quartiles & Quantiles
  • Cluster sampling
  • Stratified sampling
  • Data cleansing
  • Reproducibility vs Replicability
  • Peer review
  • Prospective cohort study

Research bias

  • Implicit bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Placebo effect
  • Hawthorne effect
  • Hindsight bias
  • Affect heuristic
  • Social desirability bias

A questionnaire is a data collection tool or instrument, while a survey is an overarching research method that involves collecting and analyzing data from people using questionnaires.

A Likert scale is a rating scale that quantitatively assesses opinions, attitudes, or behaviors. It is made up of 4 or more questions that measure a single attitude or trait when response scores are combined.

To use a Likert scale in a survey , you present participants with Likert-type questions or statements, and a continuum of items, usually with 5 or 7 possible responses, to capture their degree of agreement.

Individual Likert-type questions are generally considered ordinal data , because the items have clear rank order, but don’t have an even distribution.

Overall Likert scale scores are sometimes treated as interval data. These scores are considered to have directionality and even spacing between them.

The type of data determines what statistical tests you should use to analyze your data.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

  • Your research questions and/or hypotheses
  • Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
  • The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
  • Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
  • Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
  • Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
  • Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

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Writing survey questions.

Perhaps the most important part of the survey process is the creation of questions that accurately measure the opinions, experiences and behaviors of the public. Accurate random sampling will be wasted if the information gathered is built on a shaky foundation of ambiguous or biased questions. Creating good measures involves both writing good questions and organizing them to form the questionnaire.

Questionnaire design is a multistage process that requires attention to many details at once. Designing the questionnaire is complicated because surveys can ask about topics in varying degrees of detail, questions can be asked in different ways, and questions asked earlier in a survey may influence how people respond to later questions. Researchers are also often interested in measuring change over time and therefore must be attentive to how opinions or behaviors have been measured in prior surveys.

Surveyors may conduct pilot tests or focus groups in the early stages of questionnaire development in order to better understand how people think about an issue or comprehend a question. Pretesting a survey is an essential step in the questionnaire design process to evaluate how people respond to the overall questionnaire and specific questions, especially when questions are being introduced for the first time.

For many years, surveyors approached questionnaire design as an art, but substantial research over the past forty years has demonstrated that there is a lot of science involved in crafting a good survey questionnaire. Here, we discuss the pitfalls and best practices of designing questionnaires.

Question development

There are several steps involved in developing a survey questionnaire. The first is identifying what topics will be covered in the survey. For Pew Research Center surveys, this involves thinking about what is happening in our nation and the world and what will be relevant to the public, policymakers and the media. We also track opinion on a variety of issues over time so we often ensure that we update these trends on a regular basis to better understand whether people’s opinions are changing.

At Pew Research Center, questionnaire development is a collaborative and iterative process where staff meet to discuss drafts of the questionnaire several times over the course of its development. We frequently test new survey questions ahead of time through qualitative research methods such as  focus groups , cognitive interviews, pretesting (often using an  online, opt-in sample ), or a combination of these approaches. Researchers use insights from this testing to refine questions before they are asked in a production survey, such as on the ATP.

Measuring change over time

Many surveyors want to track changes over time in people’s attitudes, opinions and behaviors. To measure change, questions are asked at two or more points in time. A cross-sectional design surveys different people in the same population at multiple points in time. A panel, such as the ATP, surveys the same people over time. However, it is common for the set of people in survey panels to change over time as new panelists are added and some prior panelists drop out. Many of the questions in Pew Research Center surveys have been asked in prior polls. Asking the same questions at different points in time allows us to report on changes in the overall views of the general public (or a subset of the public, such as registered voters, men or Black Americans), or what we call “trending the data”.

When measuring change over time, it is important to use the same question wording and to be sensitive to where the question is asked in the questionnaire to maintain a similar context as when the question was asked previously (see  question wording  and  question order  for further information). All of our survey reports include a topline questionnaire that provides the exact question wording and sequencing, along with results from the current survey and previous surveys in which we asked the question.

The Center’s transition from conducting U.S. surveys by live telephone interviewing to an online panel (around 2014 to 2020) complicated some opinion trends, but not others. Opinion trends that ask about sensitive topics (e.g., personal finances or attending religious services ) or that elicited volunteered answers (e.g., “neither” or “don’t know”) over the phone tended to show larger differences than other trends when shifting from phone polls to the online ATP. The Center adopted several strategies for coping with changes to data trends that may be related to this change in methodology. If there is evidence suggesting that a change in a trend stems from switching from phone to online measurement, Center reports flag that possibility for readers to try to head off confusion or erroneous conclusions.

Open- and closed-ended questions

One of the most significant decisions that can affect how people answer questions is whether the question is posed as an open-ended question, where respondents provide a response in their own words, or a closed-ended question, where they are asked to choose from a list of answer choices.

For example, in a poll conducted after the 2008 presidential election, people responded very differently to two versions of the question: “What one issue mattered most to you in deciding how you voted for president?” One was closed-ended and the other open-ended. In the closed-ended version, respondents were provided five options and could volunteer an option not on the list.

When explicitly offered the economy as a response, more than half of respondents (58%) chose this answer; only 35% of those who responded to the open-ended version volunteered the economy. Moreover, among those asked the closed-ended version, fewer than one-in-ten (8%) provided a response other than the five they were read. By contrast, fully 43% of those asked the open-ended version provided a response not listed in the closed-ended version of the question. All of the other issues were chosen at least slightly more often when explicitly offered in the closed-ended version than in the open-ended version. (Also see  “High Marks for the Campaign, a High Bar for Obama”  for more information.)

sample questionnaire for research paper

Researchers will sometimes conduct a pilot study using open-ended questions to discover which answers are most common. They will then develop closed-ended questions based off that pilot study that include the most common responses as answer choices. In this way, the questions may better reflect what the public is thinking, how they view a particular issue, or bring certain issues to light that the researchers may not have been aware of.

When asking closed-ended questions, the choice of options provided, how each option is described, the number of response options offered, and the order in which options are read can all influence how people respond. One example of the impact of how categories are defined can be found in a Pew Research Center poll conducted in January 2002. When half of the sample was asked whether it was “more important for President Bush to focus on domestic policy or foreign policy,” 52% chose domestic policy while only 34% said foreign policy. When the category “foreign policy” was narrowed to a specific aspect – “the war on terrorism” – far more people chose it; only 33% chose domestic policy while 52% chose the war on terrorism.

In most circumstances, the number of answer choices should be kept to a relatively small number – just four or perhaps five at most – especially in telephone surveys. Psychological research indicates that people have a hard time keeping more than this number of choices in mind at one time. When the question is asking about an objective fact and/or demographics, such as the religious affiliation of the respondent, more categories can be used. In fact, they are encouraged to ensure inclusivity. For example, Pew Research Center’s standard religion questions include more than 12 different categories, beginning with the most common affiliations (Protestant and Catholic). Most respondents have no trouble with this question because they can expect to see their religious group within that list in a self-administered survey.

In addition to the number and choice of response options offered, the order of answer categories can influence how people respond to closed-ended questions. Research suggests that in telephone surveys respondents more frequently choose items heard later in a list (a “recency effect”), and in self-administered surveys, they tend to choose items at the top of the list (a “primacy” effect).

Because of concerns about the effects of category order on responses to closed-ended questions, many sets of response options in Pew Research Center’s surveys are programmed to be randomized to ensure that the options are not asked in the same order for each respondent. Rotating or randomizing means that questions or items in a list are not asked in the same order to each respondent. Answers to questions are sometimes affected by questions that precede them. By presenting questions in a different order to each respondent, we ensure that each question gets asked in the same context as every other question the same number of times (e.g., first, last or any position in between). This does not eliminate the potential impact of previous questions on the current question, but it does ensure that this bias is spread randomly across all of the questions or items in the list. For instance, in the example discussed above about what issue mattered most in people’s vote, the order of the five issues in the closed-ended version of the question was randomized so that no one issue appeared early or late in the list for all respondents. Randomization of response items does not eliminate order effects, but it does ensure that this type of bias is spread randomly.

Questions with ordinal response categories – those with an underlying order (e.g., excellent, good, only fair, poor OR very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, very unfavorable) – are generally not randomized because the order of the categories conveys important information to help respondents answer the question. Generally, these types of scales should be presented in order so respondents can easily place their responses along the continuum, but the order can be reversed for some respondents. For example, in one of Pew Research Center’s questions about abortion, half of the sample is asked whether abortion should be “legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, illegal in all cases,” while the other half of the sample is asked the same question with the response categories read in reverse order, starting with “illegal in all cases.” Again, reversing the order does not eliminate the recency effect but distributes it randomly across the population.

Question wording

The choice of words and phrases in a question is critical in expressing the meaning and intent of the question to the respondent and ensuring that all respondents interpret the question the same way. Even small wording differences can substantially affect the answers people provide.

An example of a wording difference that had a significant impact on responses comes from a January 2003 Pew Research Center survey. When people were asked whether they would “favor or oppose taking military action in Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s rule,” 68% said they favored military action while 25% said they opposed military action. However, when asked whether they would “favor or oppose taking military action in Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s rule  even if it meant that U.S. forces might suffer thousands of casualties, ” responses were dramatically different; only 43% said they favored military action, while 48% said they opposed it. The introduction of U.S. casualties altered the context of the question and influenced whether people favored or opposed military action in Iraq.

There has been a substantial amount of research to gauge the impact of different ways of asking questions and how to minimize differences in the way respondents interpret what is being asked. The issues related to question wording are more numerous than can be treated adequately in this short space, but below are a few of the important things to consider:

First, it is important to ask questions that are clear and specific and that each respondent will be able to answer. If a question is open-ended, it should be evident to respondents that they can answer in their own words and what type of response they should provide (an issue or problem, a month, number of days, etc.). Closed-ended questions should include all reasonable responses (i.e., the list of options is exhaustive) and the response categories should not overlap (i.e., response options should be mutually exclusive). Further, it is important to discern when it is best to use forced-choice close-ended questions (often denoted with a radio button in online surveys) versus “select-all-that-apply” lists (or check-all boxes). A 2019 Center study found that forced-choice questions tend to yield more accurate responses, especially for sensitive questions.  Based on that research, the Center generally avoids using select-all-that-apply questions.

It is also important to ask only one question at a time. Questions that ask respondents to evaluate more than one concept (known as double-barreled questions) – such as “How much confidence do you have in President Obama to handle domestic and foreign policy?” – are difficult for respondents to answer and often lead to responses that are difficult to interpret. In this example, it would be more effective to ask two separate questions, one about domestic policy and another about foreign policy.

In general, questions that use simple and concrete language are more easily understood by respondents. It is especially important to consider the education level of the survey population when thinking about how easy it will be for respondents to interpret and answer a question. Double negatives (e.g., do you favor or oppose  not  allowing gays and lesbians to legally marry) or unfamiliar abbreviations or jargon (e.g., ANWR instead of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) can result in respondent confusion and should be avoided.

Similarly, it is important to consider whether certain words may be viewed as biased or potentially offensive to some respondents, as well as the emotional reaction that some words may provoke. For example, in a 2005 Pew Research Center survey, 51% of respondents said they favored “making it legal for doctors to give terminally ill patients the means to end their lives,” but only 44% said they favored “making it legal for doctors to assist terminally ill patients in committing suicide.” Although both versions of the question are asking about the same thing, the reaction of respondents was different. In another example, respondents have reacted differently to questions using the word “welfare” as opposed to the more generic “assistance to the poor.” Several experiments have shown that there is much greater public support for expanding “assistance to the poor” than for expanding “welfare.”

We often write two versions of a question and ask half of the survey sample one version of the question and the other half the second version. Thus, we say we have two  forms  of the questionnaire. Respondents are assigned randomly to receive either form, so we can assume that the two groups of respondents are essentially identical. On questions where two versions are used, significant differences in the answers between the two forms tell us that the difference is a result of the way we worded the two versions.

sample questionnaire for research paper

One of the most common formats used in survey questions is the “agree-disagree” format. In this type of question, respondents are asked whether they agree or disagree with a particular statement. Research has shown that, compared with the better educated and better informed, less educated and less informed respondents have a greater tendency to agree with such statements. This is sometimes called an “acquiescence bias” (since some kinds of respondents are more likely to acquiesce to the assertion than are others). This behavior is even more pronounced when there’s an interviewer present, rather than when the survey is self-administered. A better practice is to offer respondents a choice between alternative statements. A Pew Research Center experiment with one of its routinely asked values questions illustrates the difference that question format can make. Not only does the forced choice format yield a very different result overall from the agree-disagree format, but the pattern of answers between respondents with more or less formal education also tends to be very different.

One other challenge in developing questionnaires is what is called “social desirability bias.” People have a natural tendency to want to be accepted and liked, and this may lead people to provide inaccurate answers to questions that deal with sensitive subjects. Research has shown that respondents understate alcohol and drug use, tax evasion and racial bias. They also may overstate church attendance, charitable contributions and the likelihood that they will vote in an election. Researchers attempt to account for this potential bias in crafting questions about these topics. For instance, when Pew Research Center surveys ask about past voting behavior, it is important to note that circumstances may have prevented the respondent from voting: “In the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, did things come up that kept you from voting, or did you happen to vote?” The choice of response options can also make it easier for people to be honest. For example, a question about church attendance might include three of six response options that indicate infrequent attendance. Research has also shown that social desirability bias can be greater when an interviewer is present (e.g., telephone and face-to-face surveys) than when respondents complete the survey themselves (e.g., paper and web surveys).

Lastly, because slight modifications in question wording can affect responses, identical question wording should be used when the intention is to compare results to those from earlier surveys. Similarly, because question wording and responses can vary based on the mode used to survey respondents, researchers should carefully evaluate the likely effects on trend measurements if a different survey mode will be used to assess change in opinion over time.

Question order

Once the survey questions are developed, particular attention should be paid to how they are ordered in the questionnaire. Surveyors must be attentive to how questions early in a questionnaire may have unintended effects on how respondents answer subsequent questions. Researchers have demonstrated that the order in which questions are asked can influence how people respond; earlier questions can unintentionally provide context for the questions that follow (these effects are called “order effects”).

One kind of order effect can be seen in responses to open-ended questions. Pew Research Center surveys generally ask open-ended questions about national problems, opinions about leaders and similar topics near the beginning of the questionnaire. If closed-ended questions that relate to the topic are placed before the open-ended question, respondents are much more likely to mention concepts or considerations raised in those earlier questions when responding to the open-ended question.

For closed-ended opinion questions, there are two main types of order effects: contrast effects ( where the order results in greater differences in responses), and assimilation effects (where responses are more similar as a result of their order).

sample questionnaire for research paper

An example of a contrast effect can be seen in a Pew Research Center poll conducted in October 2003, a dozen years before same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. That poll found that people were more likely to favor allowing gays and lesbians to enter into legal agreements that give them the same rights as married couples when this question was asked after one about whether they favored or opposed allowing gays and lesbians to marry (45% favored legal agreements when asked after the marriage question, but 37% favored legal agreements without the immediate preceding context of a question about same-sex marriage). Responses to the question about same-sex marriage, meanwhile, were not significantly affected by its placement before or after the legal agreements question.

sample questionnaire for research paper

Another experiment embedded in a December 2008 Pew Research Center poll also resulted in a contrast effect. When people were asked “All in all, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in this country today?” immediately after having been asked “Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?”; 88% said they were dissatisfied, compared with only 78% without the context of the prior question.

Responses to presidential approval remained relatively unchanged whether national satisfaction was asked before or after it. A similar finding occurred in December 2004 when both satisfaction and presidential approval were much higher (57% were dissatisfied when Bush approval was asked first vs. 51% when general satisfaction was asked first).

Several studies also have shown that asking a more specific question before a more general question (e.g., asking about happiness with one’s marriage before asking about one’s overall happiness) can result in a contrast effect. Although some exceptions have been found, people tend to avoid redundancy by excluding the more specific question from the general rating.

Assimilation effects occur when responses to two questions are more consistent or closer together because of their placement in the questionnaire. We found an example of an assimilation effect in a Pew Research Center poll conducted in November 2008 when we asked whether Republican leaders should work with Obama or stand up to him on important issues and whether Democratic leaders should work with Republican leaders or stand up to them on important issues. People were more likely to say that Republican leaders should work with Obama when the question was preceded by the one asking what Democratic leaders should do in working with Republican leaders (81% vs. 66%). However, when people were first asked about Republican leaders working with Obama, fewer said that Democratic leaders should work with Republican leaders (71% vs. 82%).

The order questions are asked is of particular importance when tracking trends over time. As a result, care should be taken to ensure that the context is similar each time a question is asked. Modifying the context of the question could call into question any observed changes over time (see  measuring change over time  for more information).

A questionnaire, like a conversation, should be grouped by topic and unfold in a logical order. It is often helpful to begin the survey with simple questions that respondents will find interesting and engaging. Throughout the survey, an effort should be made to keep the survey interesting and not overburden respondents with several difficult questions right after one another. Demographic questions such as income, education or age should not be asked near the beginning of a survey unless they are needed to determine eligibility for the survey or for routing respondents through particular sections of the questionnaire. Even then, it is best to precede such items with more interesting and engaging questions. One virtue of survey panels like the ATP is that demographic questions usually only need to be asked once a year, not in each survey.

U.S. Surveys

Other research methods.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Grad Coach (R)

What’s Included: Research Paper Template

If you’re preparing to write an academic research paper, our free research paper template is the perfect starting point. In the template, we cover every section step by step, with clear, straightforward explanations and examples .

The template’s structure is based on the tried and trusted best-practice format for formal academic research papers. The template structure reflects the overall research process, ensuring your paper will have a smooth, logical flow from chapter to chapter.

The research paper template covers the following core sections:

  • The title page/cover page
  • Abstract (sometimes also called the executive summary)
  • Section 1: Introduction 
  • Section 2: Literature review 
  • Section 3: Methodology
  • Section 4: Findings /results
  • Section 5: Discussion
  • Section 6: Conclusion
  • Reference list

Each section is explained in plain, straightforward language , followed by an overview of the key elements that you need to cover within each section. We’ve also included links to free resources to help you understand how to write each section.

The cleanly formatted Google Doc can be downloaded as a fully editable MS Word Document (DOCX format), so you can use it as-is or convert it to LaTeX.

FAQs: Research Paper Template

What format is the template (doc, pdf, ppt, etc.).

The research paper template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

What types of research papers can this template be used for?

The template follows the standard best-practice structure for formal academic research papers, so it is suitable for the vast majority of degrees, particularly those within the sciences.

Some universities may have some additional requirements, but these are typically minor, with the core structure remaining the same. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalise your structure.

Is this template for an undergrad, Masters or PhD-level research paper?

This template can be used for a research paper at any level of study. It may be slight overkill for an undergraduate-level study, but it certainly won’t be missing anything.

How long should my research paper be?

This depends entirely on your university’s specific requirements, so it’s best to check with them. We include generic word count ranges for each section within the template, but these are purely indicative. 

What about the research proposal?

If you’re still working on your research proposal, we’ve got a template for that here .

We’ve also got loads of proposal-related guides and videos over on the Grad Coach blog .

How do I write a literature review?

We have a wealth of free resources on the Grad Coach Blog that unpack how to write a literature review from scratch. You can check out the literature review section of the blog here.

How do I create a research methodology?

We have a wealth of free resources on the Grad Coach Blog that unpack research methodology, both qualitative and quantitative. You can check out the methodology section of the blog here.

Can I share this research paper template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template. If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, all we ask is that you reference this page as your source.

Can Grad Coach help me with my research paper?

Within the template, you’ll find plain-language explanations of each section, which should give you a fair amount of guidance. However, you’re also welcome to consider our private coaching services .

Free Webinar: Literature Review 101

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sample questionnaire for research paper

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21 Questionnaire Templates: Examples and Samples

Questionnaire Templates and Examples

Questionnaire: Definition

A questionnaire is defined a market research instrument that consists of questions or prompts to elicit and collect responses from a sample of respondents. A questionnaire is typically a mix of open-ended questions and close-ended questions ; the latter allowing for respondents to enlist their views in detail.

A questionnaire can be used in both, qualitative market research as well as quantitative market research with the use of different types of questions .

LEARN ABOUT: Open-Ended Questions

Types of Questionnaires

We have learnt that a questionnaire could either be structured or free-flow. To explain this better:

  • Structured Questionnaires: A structured questionnaires helps collect quantitative data . In this case, the questionnaire is designed in a way that it collects very specific type of information. It can be used to initiate a formal enquiry on collect data to prove or disprove a prior hypothesis.
  • Unstructured Questionnaires: An unstructured questionnaire collects qualitative data . The questionnaire in this case has a basic structure and some branching questions but nothing that limits the responses of a respondent. The questions are more open-ended.

LEARN ABOUT:   Structured Question

Types of Questions used in a Questionnaire

A questionnaire can consist of many types of questions . Some of the commonly and widely used question types though, are:

  • Open-Ended Questions: One of the commonly used question type in questionnaire is an open-ended question . These questions help collect in-depth data from a respondent as there is a huge scope to respond in detail.
  • Dichotomous Questions: The dichotomous question is a “yes/no” close-ended question . This question is generally used in case of the need of basic validation. It is the easiest question type in a questionnaire.
  • Multiple-Choice Questions: An easy to administer and respond to, question type in a questionnaire is the multiple-choice question . These questions are close-ended questions with either a single select multiple choice question or a multiple select multiple choice question. Each multiple choice question consists of an incomplete stem (question), right answer or answers, close alternatives, distractors and incorrect answers. Depending on the objective of the research, a mix of the above option types can be used.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) Question: Another commonly used question type in a questionnaire is the Net Promoter Score (NPS) Question where one single question collects data on the referencability of the research topic in question.
  • Scaling Questions: Scaling questions are widely used in a questionnaire as they make responding to the questionnaire, very easy. These questions are based on the principles of the 4 measurement scales – nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio .

Questionnaires help enterprises collect valuable data to help them make well-informed business decisions. There are powerful tools available in the market that allows using multiple question types, ready to use survey format templates, robust analytics, and many more features to conduct comprehensive market research.

LEARN ABOUT: course evaluation survey examples

For example, an enterprise wants to conduct market research to understand what pricing would be best for their new product to capture a higher market share. In such a case, a questionnaire for competitor analysis can be sent to the targeted audience using a powerful market research survey software which can help the enterprise conduct 360 market research that will enable them to make strategic business decisions.

Now that we have learned what a questionnaire is and its use in market research , some examples and samples of widely used questionnaire templates on the QuestionPro platform are as below:

LEARN ABOUT: Speaker evaluation form

Customer Questionnaire Templates: Examples and Samples

QuestionPro specializes in end-to-end Customer Questionnaire Templates that can be used to evaluate a customer journey right from indulging with a brand to the continued use and referenceability of the brand. These templates form excellent samples to form your own questionnaire and begin testing your customer satisfaction and experience based on customer feedback.

LEARN ABOUT: Structured Questionnaire

USE THIS FREE TEMPLATE

Employee & Human Resource (HR) Questionnaire Templates: Examples and Samples

QuestionPro has built a huge repository of employee questionnaires and HR questionnaires that can be readily deployed to collect feedback from the workforce on an organization on multiple parameters like employee satisfaction, benefits evaluation, manager evaluation , exit formalities etc. These templates provide a holistic overview of collecting actionable data from employees.

Community Questionnaire Templates: Examples and Samples

The QuestionPro repository of community questionnaires helps collect varied data on all community aspects. This template library includes popular questionnaires such as community service, demographic questionnaires, psychographic questionnaires, personal questionnaires and much more.

Academic Evaluation Questionnaire Templates: Examples and Samples

Another vastly used section of QuestionPro questionnaire templates are the academic evaluation questionnaires . These questionnaires are crafted to collect in-depth data about academic institutions and the quality of teaching provided, extra-curricular activities etc and also feedback about other educational activities.

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National Academies Press: OpenBook

Assessing Research-Doctorate Programs: A Methodology Study (2003)

Chapter: appendix d: sample questionnaires.

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Appendix D Sample Questionnaires {These questionnaires are subject to further review and revision.) 1. Institutional Questionnaire 2. Program Questionnaire 3. Faculty Questionnaire 4. Student Questionnaires a. Questionnaire for Acimittecl-to-Cancliclacy Doctoral Students b. Questionnaire for Program Gracluates 105

106 Institutional Questionnaire To the institutional coordinator: This questionnaire is intended to collect data about university-provided resources that are available to all doctoral programs. Typically, the ideal respondent will be in the university's office of institutional research. Most of the questions apply to all programs. One, on laboratory space, applies only to the sciences (including some social sciences). In listing programs, please refer to the attached taxonomy and answer for those programs that are present at your institution. I. For the libraries at your institution: (Please enter the average over the past three years) a. What is the average size of your professional library staff in total FTEs? b. What is the average annual library budget? c. What is the average annual budget for acquisition of books? d. A, ~ What is the average annual budget for acquisition of: print journals electronic journals ? What is the average annual budget for microprint and electronic databases? 2. Is health care insurance available to graduate students uncler an institutional plan? Yes No a. If available, health care insurance is made available to: ~ Students only ~ Students end faculty b. If available, what is the level of institutional support? (Check all that apply) Institution covers premium costs for: Teaching assistants ~ Research assistants ~ All other full-time graduate students ~ Al] graduate students Institution covers partial premium costs for: Teaching assistants ~ Research assistants ~ All other full-time graduate students ~ All graduate students No institutional contribution for: ~ Teaching assistants ~ Research assistants ~ Other graduate students 3. Does the university provide childcare facilities that are available to graduate students? O Yes ~1 No a. If yes, is the cost subsidized by the institution? ~ Yes :] No b. If not, does the institution provide a listing of childcare providers to graduate students? O Yes ~ No 4. Is university-subsidized student housing available to doctoral students? :] Yes ~ No APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D If so, what is the percentage of the doctoral students who live in university-provided housing? 5. Are graduate students are unionized on your campus? ~ Yes ~ No If yes, ~ Some students ~ All students If yes, are teaching assistants unionized? ~ Yes ~ No If yes, ~ Some teaching assistants ~ All teaching assistants If yes, are research assistants unionized? ~ Yes ~ No If yes, ~ Some research assistants ~ All research assistants? 6. Which of the following apply to the doctoral program at the institutional level? a. The institution confers awards to honor graduate students for teaching and/or research. ~ Yes ~ No b. Awards are given to faculty for mentoring or other activities that promote scholarship of doctoral students. Yes ~ No c. The institution provides some form of travel support for doctoral students to attend professional meetings. ~ Yes ~ No d. There is an organized program at the institutional level to help doctoral students improve their teaching skills. ~ Yes ~ No e. The institution provides an office that assists doctoral students in learning about employment opportunities. ~ Yes ~ No 7. For the information displayed in the following table, please provide in a file sent by small to rdpilof~as~ed~ For the each doctoral program in science (including the social sciences) and engineering at your institution, what is the net assignable square feet (NASF) of research space dedicated to the program (exclude space that is used only for undergraduates)? Please use the same definitions for NASF and research space that are used in the NSF Survey of Scientific and Engineering Research Facilities. See "Taxonomy] for a list of the program iEelds in the study, and provide the information in the Emai! i ile for only those doctoral programs that are offered at your institution. 107

APPENDIX D Program #3 108 Program Research space NASF Shared space with other programs (Y/N) Program #1 Pro cram #2

APPENDIX D Background Information Program Questionnaire This information will enable the National Research Council to contact you if there are any questions about the data. It will also permit us to contact faculty for the purpose of administering a questionnaire to elicit reputational ratings and background! data ant! to contact students to obtain information about their perceptions of the practices and offerings ~ ~ ~ 1 of the doctoral program. Please note that in addition to the web questionnaire, we would like lists of faculty and previous employers to be sent to us via e-mail. Please indicate the doctoral program to which the following information applies 1. Please provide the name and e-mai! address of the program respondent who will serve as the primary contact with the graduate oro cram. Name: Title: E-mail address: Mailing Address: State Zip Cocle- If this is an interdisciplinary program, please list the departments affiliated with the program. For each individual identified in questions 2 and 3, please provide in a file sent by emai! to rdpilot~)nas.~du the information displayed in the table for the question. Program Faculty: For each faculty member or senior research fellow or associate who participates in your doctoral program by directing theses, serving on doctoral committees, or teaching graduate courses, please provide the following information. Name Rank Highest Gender Race/ US Citizen or Tenure E-mail l | Degree | (M or F) | Ethn city | Permanent | Status | Addres (Y/N) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = Faculty Employment History: For each faculty member listed in Question 2 who joined your program within the past five years, please provide the institution, company, or organization where he or she was employed immediately before joining your institution. pros

110 Name Prior employer Position at that employer 4. For the doctoral students in your program, please provide the number of students that fall into each of the following categories. a. Total number of students: b. Status: Full-time Part-time Unknown c. Gentler: Male Female Unknown d. Citizenship: U.S. Permanent Resilient Temporary Visa Unknown cI. Race/Ethnicity (if U.S. citizen or Permanent Residents) American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian or Pacific Islander Black White Hispanic Mexican American Puerto Rican Other Multiracial Unknown e. Percentage of doctoral students with master's degree Program Information 5. Does your program have a mission statement? If so, what is the mission statement? (50 words or less) ~ Yes :] No If there are particular areas of research emphasis in your doctoral program, please choose from the subfields in ETaxonomy]: APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D 6. How many Ph.D.s have been awarded in the program in each of the past five years? (Note: Years span from July ~ to June 30) 2001-02 2000-01 1999-00 1998-99 1997-98- 7. For each of the academic years listed in the following table, enter the number of students who entered the program in the year and the number who completed their degrees in 4, 6, or 8, years or are still in the program. (Note: Years span from July 1 to June 30) Entering Number Student of Academic Entering Year Cohort Doctoral Students 1992 1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 Number of Students admitted to candidacy by the end of the 4th year of enrollment Of those admitted to candidacy, number who complete within 4 years Of those admitted to candidacy, number who complete within 6 years Of those admitted to candidacy, number who complete within 8 years Of those admitted to candidacy, how many are still enrolled after 8 years? . I_ 7a. Averaged over the past three years, what percent of entering students withdrew from the program before completing two years of study? % 7b. Averaged over the past three years, what has been the median time to degree for those who completed the program? (Note: the median time is the number of years it takes half of the number of students from the same entering year who are admitted to candidacy to complete their degree.) 8. Is a master's degree required of students prior to admission to your program? ~ Yes ~ No 9. What proportion of your full-time first-year doctoral students receive full support throughout their first year (tuition and an adequate living allowance provided as stipend or salary in program related work (TA or RA)?

112 10. How many years of full financial support could students entering your doctoral program expect to receive from your institution or an external source? 1. Over the past five years approximately what fraction of the first-year students in your program received financial support either from your institution or from extramural grants or fellowships? Tuition only Tuition and stipend- Stipend only- 12. What proportion of currently enrolled doctoral students in your program (included in multiple categories if appropriate) are currently supported by: Externally funded fellowships: Externally funded traineeships: Externally funded research assistantships: University funded teaching assistantships: University funded research assistantships: University funded tuition waivers, fellowships, or stipends: 13. Averaged over the past three years, what are the average and minimum GRE scores for students accepted into the program? Average Verbal GRE: Minimum Verbal GRE: Average Quantitative GRE: Minimum Quantitative GRE: Do you require GRE subject scores for all students entering the program? ~ Yes ~ No 14. In each of the last three academic years, how many students did you accept into your doctoral program, and how many enrolled? 2000-2001 2001 -2002 2002-2003 Accepted Enrolled 15. What percentage of the doctoral students in your program have individually assigned workspaces for their exclusive use? TAs RAs All students 16. On average, how many courses per term is each graduate teaching assistant in the program expected to teach or assist a faculty member in teaching? With sole responsibility As an Assistant to a faculty member 17. Which of the following apply to your doctoral program? APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D a. The program confers awards to honor graduate students for teaching and/or research. ~ Yes ~1 No b. Awards are given to faculty for mentoring or other activities that promote scholarship of doctoral students. ~ Yes :] No The program provides some form of travel support for doctoral students to attend professional meetings. ~ Yes ~ No d. There is an organized program to help doctoral students improve their teaching skills. ~ Yes n No e. The program provides organized assistance to help doctoral students explore employment opportunities. Yes ~1 No 8. List up to 5 institutions with which your program normally competes for graduate students: Institution # 1 Institution #2- Institution #3 Institution #4 Institution #5 1 9. Does your program collect data about employment outcomes for your graduates? ~ Yes ~ No If yes, do you provide potential applicants with this information? ~ Yes ~ No 20. Please list those interdisciplinary centers in which doctoral students from your program participate (conduct research or teach). ~3

114 Faculty Questionnaire This questionnaire is part of the National Research Council's Pilot Test of the Assessment of Research Doctoral Programs. Your university has volunteered to participate in this pilot test to assist the National Research Council's study of the methodology used to assess doctoral programs. Further information about the methodology study may be found at www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/index.html You have been selected to receive this questionnaire because you are a member of the faculty who participates in the education of doctoral students at your university. This means that you either teach courses to doctoral students or supervise their dissertations. If this is not the case, please indicate that in question 1. The assessment of research doctoral programs is conducted approximately every ten years and consists of a reputational survey of doctoral programs and the collection of data about doctoral faculty and students in f~fty-seven areas of study. This questionnaire provides information that will assist the study in a number of ways: licit will help us construct a pool from which to select raters for the reputational survey; 2)it will provide us enough information about you that we can collect data on grants, citations, and publications from other sources; and Hit will permit a statistical description of the faculty in the graduate program or programs with which you are affiliated. Your answers will be treated as completely confidential by the National Research Council and will only be released as part of a statistical analysis. I. Program Identification a. Do you supervise dissertations, serve on doctoral committees, or teach graduate courses in a doctoral program? ~ Yes ~ No If your answer was "No", you do not need to complete the rest of the questionnaire. b. From the pulldown list, please choose the program of your primary affiliation/appointment tPull Down List of Res-Doc Programs] If you have difficulty locating your program on the list, please refer to the "Taxonomy] list with fields and subfields Please list all programs in which you supervise dissertations, serve on dissertation committees, or teach graduate courses and the average percentage of your time during the past year that you spent in all activities for each program with which you are associated. (Do not list programs where you are an outside reader.) Program Supervise dissertations Teach courses Serve on Percent of time spent in all (YIN) (YIN) dissertation activities for this program committees (YIN) ~ (total= IJ0%) ~ d. For the articles and books that you have published in the past five years, please list what fields you have published in Table 1. If you have a single publication that spans multiple fields, please indicate them and their fields in Table 2. APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D Table 1: Books and articles in a single field published in the past 3 years Field(see Taxonomy) ~ Articles ~ Books 1 1 ~ ' 1 1 1 Table 2: Books and articles in multiple fields published in the past 3 years Field (Enter all that apply) Articles Books II. Current Employment a. Department affiliation: b. Rank: ~ Instructor ~ Assistant Professor ~ Associate Professor ~ FullProfessor ~ Other c. Tenure status: ~ Tenure-track, not tenured Tenured ~ Non-tenure-track d. Year first employed at current institution: tIf employment was not continuous, please list year of most recent appointment at this institution.] Have you received an extramural grant or contract support in the past year? Yes ~ No f. Subfields of current research interest (refer to "Taxonomy] with subfields): Subfield # 1: Subfield #2: Subfield #3: g. Do you consider part of your research to be interdisciplinary? ~ Yes ~ No If so, what is the area of that research? h. Under what names or variants of your name have you published books or articles? III. Prior Experience What was your status prior to your current position? ~ Student ~ Postdoc ~ Faculty. ~ Other: Previous employer: Address: 115

116 IV. Educational Background City Title: Employment Sector: Industry (for profit) National laboratory State or local government Federal government agency International agency 4-year college or university 2-year college K- 12 school Hospital or clinic Foundation or nonprofit Military Other (specify: State/Country Zip Code- a. Highest degree earned: ~ Bachelor's ~ Master's ~ Ph.D. ~ Professional (M.D., J.D., D.V.M., for example) b. Institution that conferred highest degree: c. Field of highest degree: Other: d. Year of highest degree: tPulldown List] To what extent does the field of your current research, teaching, or professional activities differ from the field of your highest degree? ~ Very similar ~ Somewhat similar ~ Very different V. Demographic Information a. Date of birth: b. Gender: c. Citizenship Male Female U.S. Permanent Resident Temporary Visa (mmlddlyy) d. Race/Ethnicity (if U.S. citizen or permanent resident) American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian or Pacific Islander Black White APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D Hispanic (I Mexican American, ~ Puerto Rican, ~ Other) ~ Multiracial VI. Please provide your preferred e-mai! address (where you can be reached if there are questions.) Thank you for your time. ~7

118 Questionnaire for Admitted-to-Candidacy Doctoral Students This questionnaire is part of the National Research Council's Pilot Test of the Assessment of Research Doctoral Programs. Your university has volunteered to participate in this pilot test to assist the National Research Council's study of the methodology used to assess doctoral programs. One innovation we are considering is adding student responses about the educational processes of the program. We believe that students' input is important to improving the quality of the educational experience. Further information about the methodology study may be found at www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/index.htm! You have been selected to receive this questionnaire because you are a student who has completed over half of your doctoral program. If this is not the case, please indicate that in question 1. The assessment of research doctoral programs is conducted approximately every ten years and consists of a reputational survey of doctoral programs and the collection of data about doctoral faculty and students in fifty-four areas of study. This questionnaire will provide information that will assist the study in a number of ways: 1) it will provide a statistical description of students in your program; 2) it will provide information about practices in your program; and 3) it will help future students in the selection of graduate programs. Your answers will be treated as completely confidential by the National Research Council and will only be released as part of a statistical analysis. Individual answers will not be shared with faculty or administrators of your doctoral program except in aggregated form. Institution: Doctoral Program: Educational Program A. Year of enrollment in this doctoral program: B. Year you expect to receive your doctorate: C. Did you (or will you) receive a master's degree before this doctorate? ~ Yes ~ No D. Did you (or will you) receive a master's degree in your doctoral field as part of your training? ~ Yes ~ No Ifyes,didyouwritea master's thesis? ~ Yes ~ No E. During the course of your study for the Ph.D. will you also receive any of the following as part of a joint, concurrent, or combined degree program: Professional doctorate (e.g., MD, DDS, OD, JD)? ~ Yes Professional master's (e.g., MBA, MPA, MPH)? ~ Yes No ~ No F. During the course of your study for the Ph.D. will you also receive a certificate in another field? ~ Yes ~ No APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D G. What were your career goals at the time you entered graduate school? Check all that apply] U.S. Employment: Industry ~ Government ~ Nonprofit ~ University ~ 2-yr. college ~ 4-yr. college Other: Non-U.S. Employment: Industry ~ Government ~ Nonprofit ~ University 2-yr. college ~ 4-yr. college Other: ~ Unknown H. What are your current career plans? tcheck all that apply] U.S. Employment: Industry ~ Government ~ Nonprofit ~ University ~ 2-yr. college ~ 4-yr. college Other: Non-U.S. Employment: Industry ~ Government ~ Nonprofit ~ University 2-yr. college ~ 4-yr. college Other: ~ Unknown I. Of the following sources of support, which have been your primary sources during your doctoral studies? (Check the three largest) I. ~ Personal/family funds 2. ~ Research Assistant (RA) 3. ~ Teaching Assistant (TA) 4. ~ Training grant 5. ~ Fellowship 6. ~ Loans 7. ~ Concurrent employment related to your degree 8. ~ Concurrent employment unrelated to your degree 2. Program Characteristics A. Professional Development I. During your doctoral program have you received (or will you receive) instruction, practice or professional development training in: a. Oral communication and presentation skills: ~ Yes ~ No b. Writing proposals for funding: ~ Yes ~ No c. Preparing articles for publication: ~ Yes ~ No d. Working in collaborative groups: ~ Yes ~ No Conducting independent research/scholarship:~ Yes ~ No f. Project management ~ Yes ~ No g. Research / professional ethics ~ Yes ~ No h. Speaking to nonacademic audiences ~ Yes n No 119 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

120 2. In your doctoral program did you have an opportunity to obtain teaching experience? Check the typets) of teaching experience you have had: a. mentoring a high school student b. mentoring an undergraduate student c. grading papers for undergraduate or graduate courses d. leading discussion sections of undergraduate or graduate courses e. leading laboratory sections of undergraduate or graduate courses f. lecturing in undergraduate or graduate courses g. tutoring undergraduates If you have had teaching experience, please answer the following, h. ~ received formal instruction in leaching. ~ Yes ~ No i. {received formal supervision end evaluation. ~ Yes ~ No j. ~ had opportunities to teach in a variety of academic environments. ~ Yes ~ No B. Program Environment 1. Does your program provide an annual or more frequent assessment of your progress? 2. Do you receive timely feedback on your research! 1 - - - - - _ Yes ~ No ~ Yes ~ No 3. Do you have access to career advice covering a variety of employment sectors? Yes ~ No ~ Yes ~ No a. If yes, are you encouraged to use it? 4. Do you have one or more faculty members at your institution that you consider mentors (i.e., individuals from whom you seek advice about your education, career development, and other matters of concern to you as a graduate student)? ~ Yes ~ No 5. How would you rate the quality of teaching by faculty in your program? ~ Excellent ~ Good ~ Fair ~ Poor 6. How would you rate the quality of your research experience? Excellent ~ Good ~ Fair ~ Poor 7. How would YOU rate the curriculum of your Ph.D. program? ~ Excellent ~ Good S. How would you rate the overall quality of your program _ ~ O ~ Fair ~ Poor ~ , , ~ ~ Excellent ~ Good ' ' ~ ~ ~ Lair ~ Poor 9. How would YOU rate the intellectual liveliness of your pro cram? ~ Excellent ~ Good 10. Considering the overall intellectual environment of your university, how much do you fee! you have benei ited from it? ~ A lot ~ Some APPENDIX D , — - - ~ o n Fair n Poor ~ A little ~ Not at all

APPENDIX D C. Infrastructure I. Does your program give you access to: a. Your own personal work space b. Computer facilities Yes ~ No ~ Yes ~ No c. Other research facilities; if so, describe: 2. Does your program provide adequate space for interaction among students? C] Yes O No 3. Are the library resources available to you adequate to support your research and education? ~ Yes C] No D. Research productivity I. How many research presentations (including poster presentations) have you made at research conferences a. on your campus? b. at national or regional meetings? 2. How many research publications have you authored or co-authored during your cloctoral studies (include pieces accepted for publication but not yet published)? a. Refereed articles b. Book chapters c. Reviews d. Books or edited volumes 3. Background information A. Date of birth: (mm/~/yy) B. Gender: ~ Male n Female C. Citizenship U.S. Permanent Resident Temporary Visa D. Race/Ethnicity (if U.S. citizen) American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian or Pacific Islander Black White Hispanic Mexican American, ~ Puerto Rican, ~ Other) ~ Multiracial E. Dependent care responsibilities: 1. Number of children living with you: Age 6 or under Over age 6 3. Parents or other dependents ~ Yes ~ No 121

122 APPENDIX D G. Marital Status: Do you have a spouse or partner who lives with you? ~ Yes ~ No F. Level of Parents' Education: Mother Father High school diploma or less Some college/Bachelor's degree Advanced degree

APPENDIX D Five-Seven Years Post-Ph.D Questionnaire This questionnaire is part of the National Research Council's Pilot Test of the Assessment of Research Doctoral Programs. Your university has volunteered to participate in this pilot test to assist the National Research Council's study of the methodology used to assess doctoral programs. One innovation that we are considering is to add student responses to questions about the educational process of the program. Further information about the methodology study may be found at www7.nationalacademies. org/resdoc/index.html You have been selected to receive this questionnaire because you are a student who has received a Ph.D. from this program five to seven years ago. If this is not the case, please indicate that in question 1. ~ 4, , I, The assessment of research doctoral programs is conducted approximately every ten years and consists of a reputational survey of doctoral programs and the collection of data about doctoral faculty and students in fifty-four areas of study. This questionnaire provides information that will assist the study in a number of ways: 1) it will help us learn whether a high enough percentage of students respond so that we can add student observations to the larger study; 2) it will provide us enough information about practices in your program that we can compare the practices of graduate programs in your field at different universities; and 3) it will permit a statistical description of the f~rst-year students in the graduate program. Your answers will be treated as completely confidential by the National Research Council and will only be released as part of a statistical analysis. Individual answers will not be shared with faculty or administrators of your former doctoral program except in aggregated form. Educational Program a. Name of the program where you received your Ph.D. degree: b. Year of enrollment in the above Ph.D. program: c. Year you received your Ph.D.: d. Did you receive a master's degree at this institution before this Ph.D.? ~ Yes ~ No e. Were you enrolled as a full-time student throughout your Ph.D. program? ~ Yes ~ No f. Did you attend graduate school prior to enrollment in the above Ph.D. program? ~ Yes ~ No If so, what degrees or certificates, if any, do you hold? ~ Certificate ~ Master's ~ Doctoral ~ Professional g. What was your career goal when you completed your Ph.D.? U.S. Employment: Industry ~ Government ~ Nonprofit ~ University 2-yr. college ~ 4-yr. college Other: 123

124 Non-U.S. Employment: Industry ~ Government ~ Nonprofit ~ University 2-yr. college ~ 4-yr. college Other: ~ Unknown h. Have your career goals changed since you received your Ph.D.? ~ Yes ~ No i. During your Ph.D. program, were you supported by funds from outside the institution? ~ Yes ~ No (Check all that apply) Type: ~ Fellowship ~ Training Grant ~ Research Grant ~ Your employer ~ Other(Specify: ! J. Did you receive institutional support? ~ Yes ~ No (Check all that apply) Type: ~ Teaching Assistantship ~ Research Assistantship ~ Fellowship ~ Tuition scholarship or waiver only ~ Loan ~ None ~ Other(Specify: ! 2. Employment and Career Status a. First employer or place of postdoctoral study after Ph.D. completion: Name: Address: City State/Country Zip Code- Title: b. Employment Sector: Industry (for profit) National laboratory State or local government Federal government agency International agency University 4-year college 2-year college K-12 school Hospital or clinic Foundation or nonprofit Military Other (specify) APPENDIX D

APPENDIX D c. If you hold or have held a postdoctoral position or positions, how many , and at what institutions, companies or government agencies were they located? List chronologically starting with the most recent. Position # 1: Position#2: Position # 3: Position#4: Dates: Dates: Dates: Dates: d. Current employer: Name: Address: City State/Country Zip Code- Title: e. Current Employment Sector: Industry (for profit) National laboratory State or local government Federal government agency International agency University 4-year college 2-year college K-12 school Hospital or clinic Foundation or nonprofit Military ~ Other (specify) 3. Ph.D. Program Characteristics a. During your Ph.D. education, in which of the following areas was training PROVIDED, which skills or experiences have you USED since graduation, and which area do you wish you had learned MORE about? (check all that apply) 1) Teaching experiemce 2) Oral communication; presentation skills 3) Writing proposals for funding 4) Manuscript preparation Provided Provided Provided Provided Experience working in collaborative groups ~ Provided 6) Critical analysis 7) Locating and applying information 125 Used ~ More Used ~ More Used ~ More Used ~ More Provided Provided Used ~ More Used ~ More Used ~ More

26 8) Experience working with people of varied educational levels ~ Provided ~ Used ~ More 9) Experience working with people from diverse backgrounds ~ Provided ~ Used ~ More 10) Experience working in teams b. Research Productivity Provided ~ Used ~ More How many books or edited books have you published or are currently accepted for publication? 2) How many articles or book chapters have you published or are currently accepted for publication? 3) How many books or articles have you reviewed for publication? 4) How many reviews, enumerated in 3), have been or will be published? 5) How many refereed papers have you or a coauthor presented at professional conferences? How many awards have you received? (Respond to all categories.) a) For teaching: b) For research: From professional societies: From your institution or employer: 7) How many patents or licenses have you received? 8) How many grants have you received from your employer or institution? 9) How many grants have you received from extramural funding agencies? 4. Background Information a. Date of birth: b. Gender: c. Citizenship APPENDIX D Male Female U.S. Permanent Resident Temporary Visa (mmlddlyy)

APPENDIX D 127 d. Race/Ethnicity (ifU.S. citizen) American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian Pacific Islander Black White Hispanic (~ Mexican American, ~ Multiracial e. Martial Status ~ Married ~ Single f. Number of Children: Age 6 and under Over age 6 g. Level of Parents' Education: Less than high school High school diploma Some college Bachelor's degree Master's degree Professional degree Doctoral degree h. Is English your first language? Mother Yes ~ No Puerto Rican, ~ Other) Father

How should we assess and present information about the quality of research-doctorate programs? In recommending that the 1995 NRC rankings in Assessing the Quality of Research-Doctorate Programs: Continuity and Change be updated as soon as possible, this study presents an improved approach to doctoral program assessment which will be useful to administrators, faculty, and others with an interest in improving the education of Ph.D.s in the United States. It reviews the methodology of the 1995 NRC rankings and recommends changes, including the collection of new data about Ph.D. students, additional data about faculty, and new techniques to present data on the qualitative assessment of doctoral program reputation. It also recommends revision of the taxonomy of fields from that used in the 1995 rankings.

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Research Method

Home » Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Table of Contents

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Definition:

A Questionnaire is a research tool or survey instrument that consists of a set of questions or prompts designed to gather information from individuals or groups of people.

It is a standardized way of collecting data from a large number of people by asking them a series of questions related to a specific topic or research objective. The questions may be open-ended or closed-ended, and the responses can be quantitative or qualitative. Questionnaires are widely used in research, marketing, social sciences, healthcare, and many other fields to collect data and insights from a target population.

History of Questionnaire

The history of questionnaires can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who used questionnaires as a means of assessing public opinion. However, the modern history of questionnaires began in the late 19th century with the rise of social surveys.

The first social survey was conducted in the United States in 1874 by Francis A. Walker, who used a questionnaire to collect data on labor conditions. In the early 20th century, questionnaires became a popular tool for conducting social research, particularly in the fields of sociology and psychology.

One of the most influential figures in the development of the questionnaire was the psychologist Raymond Cattell, who in the 1940s and 1950s developed the personality questionnaire, a standardized instrument for measuring personality traits. Cattell’s work helped establish the questionnaire as a key tool in personality research.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the use of questionnaires expanded into other fields, including market research, public opinion polling, and health surveys. With the rise of computer technology, questionnaires became easier and more cost-effective to administer, leading to their widespread use in research and business settings.

Today, questionnaires are used in a wide range of settings, including academic research, business, healthcare, and government. They continue to evolve as a research tool, with advances in computer technology and data analysis techniques making it easier to collect and analyze data from large numbers of participants.

Types of Questionnaire

Types of Questionnaires are as follows:

Structured Questionnaire

This type of questionnaire has a fixed format with predetermined questions that the respondent must answer. The questions are usually closed-ended, which means that the respondent must select a response from a list of options.

Unstructured Questionnaire

An unstructured questionnaire does not have a fixed format or predetermined questions. Instead, the interviewer or researcher can ask open-ended questions to the respondent and let them provide their own answers.

Open-ended Questionnaire

An open-ended questionnaire allows the respondent to answer the question in their own words, without any pre-determined response options. The questions usually start with phrases like “how,” “why,” or “what,” and encourage the respondent to provide more detailed and personalized answers.

Close-ended Questionnaire

In a closed-ended questionnaire, the respondent is given a set of predetermined response options to choose from. This type of questionnaire is easier to analyze and summarize, but may not provide as much insight into the respondent’s opinions or attitudes.

Mixed Questionnaire

A mixed questionnaire is a combination of open-ended and closed-ended questions. This type of questionnaire allows for more flexibility in terms of the questions that can be asked, and can provide both quantitative and qualitative data.

Pictorial Questionnaire:

In a pictorial questionnaire, instead of using words to ask questions, the questions are presented in the form of pictures, diagrams or images. This can be particularly useful for respondents who have low literacy skills, or for situations where language barriers exist. Pictorial questionnaires can also be useful in cross-cultural research where respondents may come from different language backgrounds.

Types of Questions in Questionnaire

The types of Questions in Questionnaire are as follows:

Multiple Choice Questions

These questions have several options for participants to choose from. They are useful for getting quantitative data and can be used to collect demographic information.

  • a. Red b . Blue c. Green d . Yellow

Rating Scale Questions

These questions ask participants to rate something on a scale (e.g. from 1 to 10). They are useful for measuring attitudes and opinions.

  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?

Open-Ended Questions

These questions allow participants to answer in their own words and provide more in-depth and detailed responses. They are useful for getting qualitative data.

  • What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your community?

Likert Scale Questions

These questions ask participants to rate how much they agree or disagree with a statement. They are useful for measuring attitudes and opinions.

How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

“I enjoy exercising regularly.”

  • a . Strongly Agree
  • c . Neither Agree nor Disagree
  • d . Disagree
  • e . Strongly Disagree

Demographic Questions

These questions ask about the participant’s personal information such as age, gender, ethnicity, education level, etc. They are useful for segmenting the data and analyzing results by demographic groups.

  • What is your age?

Yes/No Questions

These questions only have two options: Yes or No. They are useful for getting simple, straightforward answers to a specific question.

Have you ever traveled outside of your home country?

Ranking Questions

These questions ask participants to rank several items in order of preference or importance. They are useful for measuring priorities or preferences.

Please rank the following factors in order of importance when choosing a restaurant:

  • a. Quality of Food
  • c. Ambiance
  • d. Location

Matrix Questions

These questions present a matrix or grid of options that participants can choose from. They are useful for getting data on multiple variables at once.

Dichotomous Questions

These questions present two options that are opposite or contradictory. They are useful for measuring binary or polarized attitudes.

Do you support the death penalty?

How to Make a Questionnaire

Step-by-Step Guide for Making a Questionnaire:

  • Define your research objectives: Before you start creating questions, you need to define the purpose of your questionnaire and what you hope to achieve from the data you collect.
  • Choose the appropriate question types: Based on your research objectives, choose the appropriate question types to collect the data you need. Refer to the types of questions mentioned earlier for guidance.
  • Develop questions: Develop clear and concise questions that are easy for participants to understand. Avoid leading or biased questions that might influence the responses.
  • Organize questions: Organize questions in a logical and coherent order, starting with demographic questions followed by general questions, and ending with specific or sensitive questions.
  • Pilot the questionnaire : Test your questionnaire on a small group of participants to identify any flaws or issues with the questions or the format.
  • Refine the questionnaire : Based on feedback from the pilot, refine and revise the questionnaire as necessary to ensure that it is valid and reliable.
  • Distribute the questionnaire: Distribute the questionnaire to your target audience using a method that is appropriate for your research objectives, such as online surveys, email, or paper surveys.
  • Collect and analyze data: Collect the completed questionnaires and analyze the data using appropriate statistical methods. Draw conclusions from the data and use them to inform decision-making or further research.
  • Report findings: Present your findings in a clear and concise report, including a summary of the research objectives, methodology, key findings, and recommendations.

Questionnaire Administration Modes

There are several modes of questionnaire administration. The choice of mode depends on the research objectives, sample size, and available resources. Some common modes of administration include:

  • Self-administered paper questionnaires: Participants complete the questionnaire on paper, either in person or by mail. This mode is relatively low cost and easy to administer, but it may result in lower response rates and greater potential for errors in data entry.
  • Online questionnaires: Participants complete the questionnaire on a website or through email. This mode is convenient for both researchers and participants, as it allows for fast and easy data collection. However, it may be subject to issues such as low response rates, lack of internet access, and potential for fraudulent responses.
  • Telephone surveys: Trained interviewers administer the questionnaire over the phone. This mode allows for a large sample size and can result in higher response rates, but it is also more expensive and time-consuming than other modes.
  • Face-to-face interviews : Trained interviewers administer the questionnaire in person. This mode allows for a high degree of control over the survey environment and can result in higher response rates, but it is also more expensive and time-consuming than other modes.
  • Mixed-mode surveys: Researchers use a combination of two or more modes to administer the questionnaire, such as using online questionnaires for initial screening and following up with telephone interviews for more detailed information. This mode can help overcome some of the limitations of individual modes, but it requires careful planning and coordination.

Example of Questionnaire

Title of the Survey: Customer Satisfaction Survey

Introduction:

We appreciate your business and would like to ensure that we are meeting your needs. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey so that we can better understand your experience with our products and services. Your feedback is important to us and will help us improve our offerings.

Instructions:

Please read each question carefully and select the response that best reflects your experience. If you have any additional comments or suggestions, please feel free to include them in the space provided at the end of the survey.

1. How satisfied are you with our product quality?

  • Very satisfied
  • Somewhat satisfied
  • Somewhat dissatisfied
  • Very dissatisfied

2. How satisfied are you with our customer service?

3. How satisfied are you with the price of our products?

4. How likely are you to recommend our products to others?

  • Very likely
  • Somewhat likely
  • Somewhat unlikely
  • Very unlikely

5. How easy was it to find the information you were looking for on our website?

  • Somewhat easy
  • Somewhat difficult
  • Very difficult

6. How satisfied are you with the overall experience of using our products and services?

7. Is there anything that you would like to see us improve upon or change in the future?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion:

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your feedback is valuable to us and will help us improve our products and services. If you have any further comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Applications of Questionnaire

Some common applications of questionnaires include:

  • Research : Questionnaires are commonly used in research to gather information from participants about their attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and experiences. This information can then be analyzed and used to draw conclusions and make inferences.
  • Healthcare : In healthcare, questionnaires can be used to gather information about patients’ medical history, symptoms, and lifestyle habits. This information can help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat medical conditions more effectively.
  • Marketing : Questionnaires are commonly used in marketing to gather information about consumers’ preferences, buying habits, and opinions on products and services. This information can help businesses develop and market products more effectively.
  • Human Resources: Questionnaires are used in human resources to gather information from job applicants, employees, and managers about job satisfaction, performance, and workplace culture. This information can help organizations improve their hiring practices, employee retention, and organizational culture.
  • Education : Questionnaires are used in education to gather information from students, teachers, and parents about their perceptions of the educational experience. This information can help educators identify areas for improvement and develop more effective teaching strategies.

Purpose of Questionnaire

Some common purposes of questionnaires include:

  • To collect information on attitudes, opinions, and beliefs: Questionnaires can be used to gather information on people’s attitudes, opinions, and beliefs on a particular topic. For example, a questionnaire can be used to gather information on people’s opinions about a particular political issue.
  • To collect demographic information: Questionnaires can be used to collect demographic information such as age, gender, income, education level, and occupation. This information can be used to analyze trends and patterns in the data.
  • To measure behaviors or experiences: Questionnaires can be used to gather information on behaviors or experiences such as health-related behaviors or experiences, job satisfaction, or customer satisfaction.
  • To evaluate programs or interventions: Questionnaires can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of programs or interventions by gathering information on participants’ experiences, opinions, and behaviors.
  • To gather information for research: Questionnaires can be used to gather data for research purposes on a variety of topics.

When to use Questionnaire

Here are some situations when questionnaires might be used:

  • When you want to collect data from a large number of people: Questionnaires are useful when you want to collect data from a large number of people. They can be distributed to a wide audience and can be completed at the respondent’s convenience.
  • When you want to collect data on specific topics: Questionnaires are useful when you want to collect data on specific topics or research questions. They can be designed to ask specific questions and can be used to gather quantitative data that can be analyzed statistically.
  • When you want to compare responses across groups: Questionnaires are useful when you want to compare responses across different groups of people. For example, you might want to compare responses from men and women, or from people of different ages or educational backgrounds.
  • When you want to collect data anonymously: Questionnaires can be useful when you want to collect data anonymously. Respondents can complete the questionnaire without fear of judgment or repercussions, which can lead to more honest and accurate responses.
  • When you want to save time and resources: Questionnaires can be more efficient and cost-effective than other methods of data collection such as interviews or focus groups. They can be completed quickly and easily, and can be analyzed using software to save time and resources.

Characteristics of Questionnaire

Here are some of the characteristics of questionnaires:

  • Standardization : Questionnaires are standardized tools that ask the same questions in the same order to all respondents. This ensures that all respondents are answering the same questions and that the responses can be compared and analyzed.
  • Objectivity : Questionnaires are designed to be objective, meaning that they do not contain leading questions or bias that could influence the respondent’s answers.
  • Predefined responses: Questionnaires typically provide predefined response options for the respondents to choose from, which helps to standardize the responses and make them easier to analyze.
  • Quantitative data: Questionnaires are designed to collect quantitative data, meaning that they provide numerical or categorical data that can be analyzed using statistical methods.
  • Convenience : Questionnaires are convenient for both the researcher and the respondents. They can be distributed and completed at the respondent’s convenience and can be easily administered to a large number of people.
  • Anonymity : Questionnaires can be anonymous, which can encourage respondents to answer more honestly and provide more accurate data.
  • Reliability : Questionnaires are designed to be reliable, meaning that they produce consistent results when administered multiple times to the same group of people.
  • Validity : Questionnaires are designed to be valid, meaning that they measure what they are intended to measure and are not influenced by other factors.

Advantage of Questionnaire

Some Advantage of Questionnaire are as follows:

  • Standardization: Questionnaires allow researchers to ask the same questions to all participants in a standardized manner. This helps ensure consistency in the data collected and eliminates potential bias that might arise if questions were asked differently to different participants.
  • Efficiency: Questionnaires can be administered to a large number of people at once, making them an efficient way to collect data from a large sample.
  • Anonymity: Participants can remain anonymous when completing a questionnaire, which may make them more likely to answer honestly and openly.
  • Cost-effective: Questionnaires can be relatively inexpensive to administer compared to other research methods, such as interviews or focus groups.
  • Objectivity: Because questionnaires are typically designed to collect quantitative data, they can be analyzed objectively without the influence of the researcher’s subjective interpretation.
  • Flexibility: Questionnaires can be adapted to a wide range of research questions and can be used in various settings, including online surveys, mail surveys, or in-person interviews.

Limitations of Questionnaire

Limitations of Questionnaire are as follows:

  • Limited depth: Questionnaires are typically designed to collect quantitative data, which may not provide a complete understanding of the topic being studied. Questionnaires may miss important details and nuances that could be captured through other research methods, such as interviews or observations.
  • R esponse bias: Participants may not always answer questions truthfully or accurately, either because they do not remember or because they want to present themselves in a particular way. This can lead to response bias, which can affect the validity and reliability of the data collected.
  • Limited flexibility: While questionnaires can be adapted to a wide range of research questions, they may not be suitable for all types of research. For example, they may not be appropriate for studying complex phenomena or for exploring participants’ experiences and perceptions in-depth.
  • Limited context: Questionnaires typically do not provide a rich contextual understanding of the topic being studied. They may not capture the broader social, cultural, or historical factors that may influence participants’ responses.
  • Limited control : Researchers may not have control over how participants complete the questionnaire, which can lead to variations in response quality or consistency.

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Designing and validating a research questionnaire - Part 1

Priya ranganathan.

Department of Anaesthesiology, Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Carlo Caduff

1 Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom

Questionnaires are often used as part of research studies to collect data from participants. However, the information obtained through a questionnaire is dependent on how it has been designed, used, and validated. In this article, we look at the types of research questionnaires, their applications and limitations, and how a new questionnaire is developed.

INTRODUCTION

In research studies, questionnaires are commonly used as data collection tools, either as the only source of information or in combination with other techniques in mixed-method studies. However, the quality and accuracy of data collected using a questionnaire depend on how it is designed, used, and validated. In this two-part series, we discuss how to design (part 1) and how to use and validate (part 2) a research questionnaire. It is important to emphasize that questionnaires seek to gather information from other people and therefore entail a social relationship between those who are doing the research and those who are being researched. This social relationship comes with an obligation to learn from others , an obligation that goes beyond the purely instrumental rationality of gathering data. In that sense, we underscore that any research method is not simply a tool but a situation, a relationship, a negotiation, and an encounter. This points to both ethical questions (what is the relationship between the researcher and the researched?) and epistemological ones (what are the conditions under which we can know something?).

At the start of any kind of research project, it is crucial to select the right methodological approach. What is the research question, what is the research object, and what can a questionnaire realistically achieve? Not every research question and not every research object are suitable to the questionnaire as a method. Questionnaires can only provide certain kinds of empirical evidence and it is thus important to be aware of the limitations that are inherent in any kind of methodology.

WHAT IS A RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE?

A research questionnaire can be defined as a data collection tool consisting of a series of questions or items that are used to collect information from respondents and thus learn about their knowledge, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior and informed by a positivist philosophy of the natural sciences that consider methods mainly as a set of rules for the production of knowledge; questionnaires are frequently used instrumentally as a standardized and standardizing tool to ask a set of questions to participants. Outside of such a positivist philosophy, questionnaires can be seen as an encounter between the researcher and the researched, where knowledge is not simply gathered but negotiated through a distinct form of communication that is the questionnaire.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF QUESTIONNAIRES

A questionnaire may not always be the most appropriate way of engaging with research participants and generating knowledge that is needed for a research study. Questionnaires have advantages that have made them very popular, especially in quantitative studies driven by a positivist philosophy: they are a low-cost method for the rapid collection of large amounts of data, even from a wide sample. They are practical, can be standardized, and allow comparison between groups and locations. However, it is important to remember that a questionnaire only captures the information that the method itself (as the structured relationship between the researcher and the researched) allows for and that the respondents are willing to provide. For example, a questionnaire on diet captures what the respondents say they eat and not what they are eating. The problem of social desirability emerges precisely because the research process itself involves a social relationship. This means that respondents may often provide socially acceptable and idealized answers, particularly in relation to sensitive questions, for example, alcohol consumption, drug use, and sexual practices. Questionnaires are most useful for studies investigating knowledge, beliefs, values, self-understandings, and self-perceptions that reflect broader social, cultural, and political norms that may well diverge from actual practices.

TYPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRES

Research questionnaires may be classified in several ways:

Depending on mode of administration

Research questionnaires may be self-administered (by the research participant) or researcher administered. Self-administered (also known as self-reported or self-completed) questionnaires are designed to be completed by respondents without assistance from a researcher. Self-reported questionnaires may be administered to participants directly during hospital or clinic visits, mailed through the post or E-mail, or accessed through websites. This technique allows respondents to answer at their own pace and simplifies research costs and logistics. The anonymity offered by self-reporting may facilitate more accurate answers. However, the disadvantages are that there may be misinterpretations of questions and low response rates. Significantly, relevant context information is missing to make sense of the answers provided. Researcher-reported (or interviewer-reported) questionnaires may be administered face-to-face or through remote techniques such as telephone or videoconference and are associated with higher response rates. They allow the researcher to have a better understanding of how the data are collected and how answers are negotiated, but are more resource intensive and require more training from the researchers.

The choice between self-administered and researcher-administered questionnaires depends on various factors such as the characteristics of the target audience (e.g., literacy and comprehension level and ability to use technology), costs involved, and the need for confidentiality/privacy.

Depending on the format of the questions

Research questionnaires can have structured or semi-structured formats. Semi-structured questionnaires allow respondents to answer more freely and on their terms, with no restrictions on their responses. They allow for unusual or surprising responses and are useful to explore and discover a range of answers to determine common themes. Typically, the analysis of responses to open-ended questions is more complex and requires coding and analysis. In contrast, structured questionnaires provide a predefined set of responses for the participant to choose from. The use of standard items makes the questionnaire easier to complete and allows quick aggregation, quantification, and analysis of the data. However, structured questionnaires can be restrictive if the scope of responses is limited and may miss potential answers. They also may suggest answers that respondents may not have considered before. Respondents may be forced to fit their answers into the predetermined format and may not be able to express personal views and say what they really want to say or think. In general, this type of questionnaire can turn the research process into a mechanical, anonymous survey with little incentive for participants to feel engaged, understood, and taken seriously.

STRUCTURED QUESTIONS: FORMATS

Some examples of close-ended questions include:

e.g., Please indicate your marital status:

  • Prefer not to say.

e.g., Describe your areas of work (circle or tick all that apply):

  • Clinical service
  • Administration
  • Strongly agree
  • Strongly disagree.
  • Numerical scales: Please rate your current pain on a scale of 1–10 where 1 is no pain and 10 is the worst imaginable pain
  • Symbolic scales: For example, the Wong-Baker FACES scale to rate pain in older children
  • Ranking: Rank the following cities as per the quality of public health care, where 1 is the best and 5 is the worst.

A matrix questionnaire consists of a series of rows with items to be answered with a series of columns providing the same answer options. This is an efficient way of getting the respondent to provide answers to multiple questions. The EORTC QLQ-C30 is an example of a matrix questionnaire.[ 1 ]

For a more detailed review of the types of research questions, readers are referred to a paper by Boynton and Greenhalgh.[ 2 ]

USING PRE-EXISTING QUESTIONNAIRES VERSUS DEVELOPING A NEW QUESTIONNAIRE

Before developing a questionnaire for a research study, a researcher can check whether there are any preexisting-validated questionnaires that might be adapted and used for the study. The use of validated questionnaires saves time and resources needed to design a new questionnaire and allows comparability between studies.

However, certain aspects need to be kept in mind: is the population/context/purpose for which the original questionnaire was designed similar to the new study? Is cross-cultural adaptation required? Are there any permission needed to use the questionnaire? In many situations, the development of a new questionnaire may be more appropriate given that any research project entails both methodological and epistemological questions: what is the object of knowledge and what are the conditions under which it can be known? It is important to understand that the standardizing nature of questionnaires contributes to the standardization of objects of knowledge. Thus, the seeming similarity in the object of study across diverse locations may be an artifact of the method. Whatever method one uses, it will always operate as the ground on which the object of study is known.

DESIGNING A NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

Once the researcher has decided to design a new questionnaire, several steps should be considered:

Gathering content

It creates a conceptual framework to identify all relevant areas for which the questionnaire will be used to collect information. This may require a scoping review of the published literature, appraising other questionnaires on similar topics, or the use of focus groups to identify common themes.

Create a list of questions

Questions need to be carefully formulated with attention to language and wording to avoid ambiguity and misinterpretation. Table 1 lists a few examples of poorlyworded questions that could have been phrased in a more appropriate manner. Other important aspects to be noted are:

Examples of poorly phrased questions in a research questionnaire

  • Provide a brief introduction to the research study along with instructions on how to complete the questionnaire
  • Allow respondents to indicate levels of intensity in their replies, so that they are not forced into “yes” or “no” answers where intensity of feeling may be more appropriate
  • Collect specific and detailed data wherever possible – this can be coded into categories. For example, age can be captured in years and later classified as <18 years, 18–45 years, 46 years, and above. The reverse is not possible
  • Avoid technical terms, slang, and abbreviations. Tailor the reading level to the expected education level of respondents
  • The format of the questionnaire should be attractive with different sections for various subtopics. The font should be large and easy to read, especially if the questionnaire is targeted at the elderly
  • Question sequence: questions should be arranged from general to specific, from easy to difficult, from facts to opinions, and sensitive topics should be introduced later in the questionnaire.[ 3 ] Usually, demographic details are captured initially followed by questions on other aspects
  • Use contingency questions: these are questions which need to be answered only by a subgroup of the respondents who provide a particular answer to a previous question. This ensures that participants only respond to relevant sections of the questionnaire, for example, Do you smoke? If yes, then how long have you been smoking? If not, then please go to the next section.

TESTING A QUESTIONNAIRE

A questionnaire needs to be valid and reliable, and therefore, any new questionnaire needs to be pilot tested in a small sample of respondents who are representative of the larger population. In addition to validity and reliability, pilot testing provides information on the time taken to complete the questionnaire and whether any questions are confusing or misleading and need to be rephrased. Validity indicates that the questionnaire measures what it claims to measure – this means taking into consideration the limitations that come with any questionnaire-based study. Reliability means that the questionnaire yields consistent responses when administered repeatedly even by different researchers, and any variations in the results are due to actual differences between participants and not because of problems with the interpretation of the questions or their responses. In the next article in this series, we will discuss methods to determine the reliability and validity of a questionnaire.

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28 Questionnaire Examples, Questions, & Templates to Survey Your Clients

Swetha Amaresan

Published: May 15, 2023

The adage "the customer is always right" has received some pushback in recent years, but when it comes to conducting surveys , the phrase is worth a deeper look. In the past, representatives were tasked with solving client problems as they happened. Now, they have to be proactive by solving problems before they come up.

Person fills out a questionnaire surrounded by question mark scrabble tiles

Salesforce found that 63% of customers expect companies to anticipate their needs before they ask for help. But how can a customer service team recognize these customer needs in advance and effectively solve them on a day-to-day basis?

→ Free Download: 5 Customer Survey Templates [Access Now]

A customer questionnaire is a tried-and-true method for collecting survey data to inform your customer service strategy . By hearing directly from the customer, you'll capture first-hand data about how well your service team meets their needs. In this article, you'll get free questionnaire templates and best practices on how to administer them for the most honest responses.

Table of Contents:

Questionnaire Definition

Survey vs. questionnaire, questionnaire templates.

  • Questionnaire Examples

Questionnaire Design

Survey question examples.

  • Examples of Good Survey Questions

How to Make a Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research tool used to conduct surveys. It includes specific questions with the goal to understand a topic from the respondents' point of view. Questionnaires typically have closed-ended, open-ended, short-form, and long-form questions.

The questions should always stay as unbiased as possible. For instance, it's unwise to ask for feedback on a specific product or service that’s still in the ideation phase. To complete the questionnaire, the customer would have to imagine how they might experience the product or service rather than sharing their opinion about their actual experience with it.

Ask broad questions about the kinds of qualities and features your customers enjoy in your products or services and incorporate that feedback into new offerings your team is developing.

What makes a good questionnaire?

Define the goal, make it short and simple, use a mix of question types, proofread carefully, keep it consistent.

A good questionnaire should find what you need versus what you want. It should be valuable and give you a chance to understand the respondent’s point of view.

Make the purpose of your questionnaire clear. While it's tempting to ask a range of questions simultaneously, you'll get more valuable results if you stay specific to a set topic.

According to HubSpot research , 47% of those surveyed say their top reason for abandoning a survey is the time it takes to complete.

So, questionnaires should be concise and easy to finish. If you're looking for a respondent’s experience with your business, focus on the most important questions.

sample questionnaire for research paper

5 Free Customer Satisfaction Survey Templates

Easily measure customer satisfaction and begin to improve your customer experience.

  • Net Promoter Score
  • Customer Effort Score

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

5 Customer Survey Templates

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Your questionnaire should include a combination of question types, like open-ended, long-form, or short-ended questions.

Open-ended questions give users a chance to share their own answers. But closed-ended questions are more efficient and easy to quantify, with specific answer choices.

If you're not sure which question types are best, read here for more survey question examples .

While it's important to check spelling and grammar, there are two other things you'll want to check for a great questionnaire.

First, edit for clarity. Jargon, technical terms, and brand-specific language can be confusing for respondents. Next, check for leading questions. These questions can produce biased results that will be less useful to your team.

Consistency makes it easier for respondents to quickly complete your questionnaire. This is because it makes the questions less confusing. It can also reduce bias.

Being consistent is also helpful for analyzing questionnaire data because it makes it easier to compare results. With this in mind, keep response scales, question types, and formatting consistent.

In-Depth Interviews vs. Questionnaire

Questionnaires can be a more feasible and efficient research method than in-depth interviews. They are a lot cheaper to conduct. That’s because in-depth interviews can require you to compensate the interviewees for their time and give accommodations and travel reimbursement.

Questionnaires also save time for both parties. Customers can quickly complete them on their own time, and employees of your company don't have to spend time conducting the interviews. They can capture a larger audience than in-depth interviews, making them much more cost-effective.

It would be impossible for a large company to interview tens of thousands of customers in person. The same company could potentially get feedback from its entire customer base using an online questionnaire.

When considering your current products and services (as well as ideas for new products and services), it's essential to get the feedback of existing and potential customers. They are the ones who have a say in purchasing decisions.

A questionnaire is a tool that’s used to conduct a survey. A survey is the process of gathering, sampling, analyzing, and interpreting data from a group of people.

The confusion between these terms most likely stems from the fact that questionnaires and data analysis were treated as very separate processes before the Internet became popular. Questionnaires used to be completed on paper, and data analysis occurred later as a separate process. Nowadays, these processes are typically combined since online survey tools allow questionnaire responses to be analyzed and aggregated all in one step.

But questionnaires can still be used for reasons other than data analysis. Job applications and medical history forms are examples of questionnaires that have no intention of being statistically analyzed. The key difference between questionnaires and surveys is that they can exist together or separately.

Below are some of the best free questionnaire templates you can download to gather data that informs your next product or service offering.

What makes a good survey question?

Have a goal in mind, draft clear and distinct answers and questions, ask one question at a time, check for bias and sensitivity, include follow-up questions.

To make a good survey question, you have to choose the right type of questions to use. Include concise, clear, and appropriate questions with answer choices that won’t confuse the respondent and will clearly offer data on their experience.

Good survey questions can give a business good data to examine. Here are some more tips to follow as you draft your survey questions.

To make a good survey, consider what you are trying to learn from it. Understanding why you need to do a survey will help you create clear and concise questions that you need to ask to meet your goal. The more your questions focus on one or two objectives, the better your data will be.

You have a goal in mind for your survey. Now you have to write the questions and answers depending on the form you’re using.

For instance, if you’re using ranks or multiple-choice in your survey, be clear. Here are examples of good and poor multiple-choice answers:

Poor Survey Question and Answer Example

California:

  • Contains the tallest mountain in the United States.
  • Has an eagle on its state flag.
  • Is the second-largest state in terms of area.
  • Was the location of the Gold Rush of 1849.

Good Survey Question and Answer Example

What is the main reason so many people moved to California in 1849?

  • California's land was fertile, plentiful, and inexpensive.
  • The discovery of gold in central California.
  • The East was preparing for a civil war.
  • They wanted to establish religious settlements.

In the poor example, the question may confuse the respondent because it's not clear what is being asked or how the answers relate to the question. The survey didn’t fully explain the question, and the options are also confusing.

In the good example above, the question and answer choices are clear and easy to understand.

Always make sure answers and questions are clear and distinct to create a good experience for the respondent. This will offer your team the best outcomes from your survey.

It's surprisingly easy to combine multiple questions into one. They even have a name — they’re called "double-barreled" questions. But a good survey asks one question at a time.

For example, a survey question could read, "What is your favorite sneaker and clothing apparel brand?" This is bad because you’re asking two questions at once.

By asking two questions simultaneously, you may confuse your respondents and get unclear answers. Instead, each question should focus on getting specific pieces of information.

For example, ask, "What is your favorite sneaker brand?" then, "What is your favorite clothing apparel brand?" By separating the questions, you allow your respondents to give separate and precise answers.

Biased questions can lead a respondent toward a specific response. They can also be vague or unclear. Sensitive questions such as age, religion, or marital status can be helpful for demographics. These questions can also be uncomfortable for people to answer.

There are a few ways to create a positive experience with your survey questions.

First, think about question placement. Sensitive questions that appear in context with other survey questions can help people understand why you are asking. This can make them feel more comfortable responding.

Next, check your survey for leading questions, assumptions, and double-barreled questions. You want to make sure that your survey is neutral and free of bias.

Asking more than one survey question about an area of interest can make a survey easier to understand and complete. It also helps you collect more in-depth insights from your respondents.

1. Free HubSpot Questionnaire Template

HubSpot offers a variety of free customer surveys and questionnaire templates to analyze and measure customer experience. Choose from five templates: net promoter score, customer satisfaction, customer effort, open-ended questions, and long-form customer surveys.

2. Client Questionnaire Template

It's a good idea to gauge your clients' experiences with your business to uncover opportunities to improve your offerings. That will, in turn, better suit their lifestyles. You don't have to wait for an entire year to pass before polling your customer base about their experience either. A simple client questionnaire, like the one below, can be administered as a micro survey several times throughout the year. These types of quick survey questions work well to retarget your existing customers through social media polls and paid interactive ads.

1. How much time do you spend using [product or service]?

  • Less than a minute
  • About 1 - 2 minutes
  • Between 2 and 5 minutes
  • More than 5 minutes

2. In the last month, what has been your biggest pain point?

  • Finding enough time for important tasks
  • Delegating work
  • Having enough to do

3. What's your biggest priority right now?

  • Finding a faster way to work
  • Problem-solving
  • Staff development

send-now-hubspot-sales-bar

3. Website Questionnaire Template

Whether you just launched a brand new website or you're gathering data points to inform a redesign, you'll find customer feedback to be essential in both processes. A website questionnaire template will come in handy to collect this information using an unbiased method.

1. How many times have you visited [website] in the past month?

  • More than once

2. What is the primary reason for your visit to [website]?

  • To make a purchase
  • To find more information before making a purchase in-store
  • To contact customer service

3. Are you able to find what you're looking for on the website homepage?

4. Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire Template

If you've never surveyed your customers and are looking for a template to get started, this one includes some basic customer satisfaction questions. These will apply to just about any customer your business serves.

1. How likely are you to recommend us to family, friends, or colleagues?

  • Extremely unlikely
  • Somewhat unlikely
  • Somewhat likely
  • Extremely likely

2. How satisfied were you with your experience?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

3. Rank the following items in terms of their priority to your purchasing process.

  • Helpful staff
  • Quality of product
  • Price of product
  • Ease of purchase
  • Proximity of store
  • Online accessibility
  • Current need
  • Appearance of product

4. Who did you purchase these products for?

  • Family member
  • On behalf of a business

5. Please rate our staff on the following terms:

  • Friendly __ __ __ __ __ Hostile
  • Helpful __ __ __ __ __ Useless
  • Knowledgeable __ __ __ __ __ Inexperienced
  • Professional __ __ __ __ __ Inappropriate

6. Would you purchase from our company again?

7. How can we improve your experience for the future?

________________________________.

5. Customer Effort Score Questionnaire Template

The following template gives an example of a brief customer effort score (CES) questionnaire. This free template works well for new customers to measure their initial reaction to your business.

1. What was the ease of your experience with our company?

  • Extremely difficult
  • Somewhat difficult
  • Somewhat easy
  • Extremely easy

2. The company did everything it could to make my process as easy as possible.

  • Strongly disagree
  • Somewhat disagree
  • Somewhat agree
  • Strongly agree

3. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being "extremely quickly" and 10 being "extremely slowly"), how fast were you able to solve your problem?

4. How much effort did you have to put forth while working with our company?

  • Much more than expected
  • Somewhat more than expected
  • As much as expected
  • Somewhat less than expected
  • Much less than expected

6. Demographic Questionnaire Template

Here's a template for surveying customers to learn more about their demographic background. You could substantiate the analysis of this questionnaire by corroborating the data with other information from your web analytics, internal customer data, and industry data.

1. How would you describe your employment status?

  • Employed full-time
  • Employed part-time
  • Freelance/contract employee
  • Self-employed

2. How many employees work at your company?

3. How would you classify your role?

  • Individual Contributor

4. How would you classify your industry?

  • Technology/software
  • Hospitality/dining
  • Entertainment

Below, we have curated a list of questionnaire examples that do a great job of gathering valuable qualitative and quantitative data.

4 Questionnaire Examples

1. customer satisfaction questions.

patient satisfaction survey

Survey question examples: Multiple choice

Image Source

Rating Scale

Rating scale questions offer a scale of numbers and ask respondents to rate topics based on the sentiments assigned to that scale. This is effective when assessing customer satisfaction.

Rating scale survey question examples : "Rate your level of satisfaction with the customer service you received today on a scale of 1-10."

Survey question examples: Rating Scale

Yes or no survey questions are a type of dichotomous question. These are questions that only offer two possible responses. They’re useful because they’re quick to answer and can help with customer segmentation.

Yes or no survey questions example : "Have you ever used HubSpot before?"

Likert Scale

Likert scale questions assess whether a respondent agrees with the statement, as well as the extent to which they agree or disagree.

These questions typically offer five or seven responses, with sentiments ranging from items such as "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." Check out this post to learn more about the Likert scale .

Likert scale survey question examples : “How satisfied are you with the service from [brand]?”

Survey question examples: Likert Scale

Open-ended questions ask a broader question or offer a chance to elaborate on a response to a close-ended question. They're accompanied by a text box that leaves room for respondents to write freely. This is particularly important when asking customers to expand on an experience or recommendation.

Open-ended survey question examples : "What are your personal goals for using HubSpot? Please describe."

Survey question examples: Open-Ended

Matrix Table

A matrix table is usually a group of multiple-choice questions grouped in a table. Choices for these survey questions are usually organized in a scale. This makes it easier to understand the relationships between different survey responses.

Matrix table survey question examples : "Rate your level of agreement with the following statements about HubSpot on a scale of 1-5."

Survey question examples: Matrix table

Rank Order Scaling

These questions ask respondents to rank a set of terms by order of preference or importance. This is useful for understanding customer priorities.

Rank order scaling examples : "Rank the following factors in order of importance when choosing a new job."

Survey question examples: Rank order scaling

Semantic Differential Scale

This scale features pairs of opposite adjectives that respondents use for rating, usually for a feature or experience. This type of question makes it easier to understand customer attitudes and beliefs.

Semantic differential scale question examples : "Rate your overall impression of this brand as friendly vs. unfriendly, innovative vs. traditional, and boring vs. exciting."

Survey question examples: Semantic differential scale

Side-By-Side Matrix

This matrix table format includes two sets of questions horizontally for easy comparison. This format can help with customer gap analysis.

Side-by-side matrix question examples : "Rate your level of satisfaction with HubSpot's customer support compared to its ease of use."

Survey question examples: Side-by-side matrix

Stapel Scale

The Stapel rating scale offers a single adjective or idea for rating. It uses a numerical scale with a zero point in the middle. This survey question type helps with in-depth analysis.

Stapel scale survey question examples : "Rate your overall experience with this product as +5 (excellent) to -5 (terrible)."

Survey question examples: Stapel scale

Constant Sum Survey Questions

In this question format, people distribute points to different choices based on the perceived importance of each point. This kind of question is often used in market research and can help your team better understand customer choices .

Constant sum survey question examples : "What is your budget for the following marketing expenses: Paid campaigns, Events, Freelancers, Agencies, Research."

Survey question examples: Constant sum

Image Choice

This survey question type shows several images. Then, it asks the respondent to choose the image that best matches their response to the question. These questions are useful for understanding your customers’ design preferences.

Image choice survey questions example : "Which of these three images best represents your brand voice?"

Survey question examples: Image chooser

Choice Model

This survey question offers a hypothetical scenario, then the respondent must choose from the presented options. It's a useful type of question when you are refining a product or strategy.

Choice model survey questions example : "Which of these three deals would be most appealing to you?"

Click Map Questions

Click map questions offer an image click on specific areas of the image in response to a question. This question uses data visualization to learn about customer preferences for design and user experience.

Click map question examples : "Click on the section of the website where you would expect to find pricing information."

Survey question examples: Choice model

Data Upload

This survey question example asks the respondent to upload a file or document in response to a question. This type of survey question can help your team collect data and context that might be tough to collect otherwise.

Data upload question examples : "Please upload a screenshot of the error you encountered during your purchase."

Survey question examples: Data Upload

Benchmarkable Questions

This question type asks a respondent to compare their answers to a group or benchmark. These questions can be useful if you're trying to compare buyer personas or other customer groups.

Benchmarkable survey questions example : "Compare your company's marketing budget to other companies in your industry."

Good Survey Questions

  • What is your favorite product?
  • Why did you purchase this product?
  • How satisfied are you with [product]?
  • Would you recommend [product] to a friend?
  • Would you recommend [company name] to a friend?
  • If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?
  • Which other options were you considering before [product or company name]?
  • Did [product] help you accomplish your goal?
  • How would you feel if we did not offer this product, feature, or service?
  • What would you miss the most if you couldn't use your favorite product from us?
  • What is one word that best describes your experience using our product?
  • What's the primary reason for canceling your account?
  • How satisfied are you with our customer support?
  • Did we answer all of your questions and concerns?
  • How can we be more helpful?
  • What additional features would you like to see in this product?
  • Are we meeting your expectations?
  • How satisfied are you with your experience?

1. "What is your favorite product?"

This question is a great starter for your survey. Most companies want to know what their most popular products are, and this question cuts right to the point.

It's important to note that this question gives you the customer's perspective, not empirical evidence. You should compare the results to your inventory to see if your customers' answers match your actual sales. You may be surprised to find your customers' "favorite" product isn't the highest-selling one.

2. "Why did you purchase this product?"

Once you know their favorite product, you need to understand why they like it so much. The qualitative data will help your marketing and sales teams attract and engage customers. They'll know which features to advertise most and can seek out new leads similar to your existing customers.

3. "How satisfied are you with [product]?"

When you have a product that isn't selling, you can ask this question to see why customers are unhappy with it. If the reviews are poor, you'll know that the product needs reworking, and you can send it back to product management for improvement. Or, if these results are positive, they may have something to do with your marketing or sales techniques. You can then gather more info during the questionnaire and restrategize your campaigns based on your findings.

4. "Would you recommend [product] to a friend?"

This is a classic survey question used with most NPS® surveys. It asks the customer if they would recommend your product to one of their peers. This is extremely important because most people trust customer referrals more than traditional advertising. So, if your customers are willing to recommend your products, you'll have an easier time acquiring new leads.

5. "Would you recommend [company name] to a friend?"

Similar to the question above, this one asks the customer to consider your business as a whole and not just your product. This gives you insight into your brand's reputation and shows how customers feel about your company's actions. Even if you have an excellent product, your brand's reputation may be the cause of customer churn . Your marketing team should pay close attention to this question to see how they can improve the customer experience .

6. "If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?"

This is a good question to ask your most loyal customers or ones that have recently churned. For loyal customers, you want to keep adding value to their experience. Asking how your product can improve helps your development team find flaws and increases your chances of retaining a valuable customer segment.

For customers that have recently churned, this question gives insight into how you can retain future users that are unhappy with your product or service. By giving these customers a space to voice their criticisms, you can either reach out and offer solutions or relay feedback for consideration.

7. "Which other options were you considering before [product or company name]?"

If you're operating in a competitive industry, customers will have more than one choice when considering your brand. And if you sell variations of your product or produce new models periodically, customers may prefer one version over another.

For this question, you should offer answers to choose from in a multiple-selection format. This will limit the types of responses you'll receive and help you get the exact information you need.

8. "Did [product] help you accomplish your goal?"

The purpose of any product or service is to help customers reach a goal. So, you should be direct and ask them if your company steered them toward success. After all, customer success is an excellent retention tool. If customers are succeeding with your product, they're more likely to stay loyal to your brand.

9. "How would you feel if we did not offer this product, feature, or service?"

Thinking about discontinuing a product? This question can help you decide whether or not a specific product, service, or feature will be missed if you were to remove it.

Even if you know that a product or service isn't worth offering, it's important to ask this question anyway because there may be a certain aspect of the product that your customers like. They'll be delighted if you can integrate that feature into a new product or service.

10. "If you couldn't use your favorite product from us, what would you miss the most about it?"

This question pairs well with the one above because it frames the customer's favorite product from a different point of view. Instead of describing why they love a particular product, the customer can explain what they'd be missing if they didn't have it at all. This type of question uncovers "fear of loss," which can be a very different motivating factor than "hope for gain."

11. "What word best describes your experience using our product?"

Your marketing team will love this question. A single word or a short phrase can easily sum up your customers’ emotions when they experience your company, product, or brand. Those emotions can be translated into relatable marketing campaigns that use your customers’ exact language.

If the responses reveal negative emotions, it's likely that your entire customer service team can relate to that pain point. Rather than calling it "a bug in the system," you can describe the problem as a "frustrating roadblock" to keep their experience at the forefront of the solution.

12. "What's the primary reason for canceling your account?"

Finding out why customers are unhappy with your product or service is key to decreasing your churn rate . If you don't understand why people leave your brand, it's hard to make effective changes to prevent future turnover. Or worse, you might alter your product or service in a way that increases your churn rate, causing you to lose customers who were once loyal supporters.

13. "How satisfied are you with our customer support?"

It's worth asking customers how happy they are with your support or service team. After all, an excellent product doesn't always guarantee that customers will stay loyal to your brand. Research shows that one in six customers will leave a brand they love after just one poor service experience.

14. "Did we answer all of your questions and concerns?"

This is a good question to ask after a service experience. It shows how thorough your support team is and whether they're prioritizing speed too much over quality. If customers still have questions and concerns after a service interaction, your support team is focusing too much on closing tickets and not enough on meeting customer needs .

15. "How can we be more helpful?"

Sometimes it's easier to be direct and simply ask customers what else you can do to help them. This shows a genuine interest in your buyers' goals which helps your brand foster meaningful relationships with its customer base. The more you can show that you sincerely care about your customers' problems, the more they'll open up to you and be honest about how you can help them.

16. What additional features would you like to see in this product?

With this question, your team can get inspiration for the company's next product launch. Think of the responses as a wish list from your customers. You can discover what features are most valuable to them and whether they already exist within a competitor's product.

Incorporating every feature suggestion is nearly impossible, but it's a convenient way to build a backlog of ideas that can inspire future product releases.

17. "Are we meeting your expectations?"

This is a really important question to ask because customers won't always tell you when they're unhappy with your service. Not every customer will ask to speak with a manager when they're unhappy with your business. In fact, most will quietly move on to a competitor rather than broadcast their unhappiness to your company. To prevent this type of customer churn, you need to be proactive and ask customers if your brand is meeting their expectations.

18. "How satisfied are you with your experience?"

This question asks the customer to summarize their experience with your business. It gives you a snapshot of how the customer is feeling in that moment and their perception of your brand. Asking this question at the right stage in the customer's journey can tell you a lot about what your company is doing well and where you can stand to improve.

Next, let's dig into some tips for creating your own questionnaire.

Start with templates as a foundation. Know your question types. Keep it brief when possible. Choose a simple visual design. Use a clear research process. Create questions with straightforward, unbiased language. Make sure every question is important. Ask one question at a time. Order your questions logically. Consider your target audience. Test your questionnaire.

1. Use questionnaire templates.

Rather than build a questionnaire from scratch, consider using questionnaire templates to get started. HubSpot's collection of customer-facing questionnaire templates can help you quickly build and send a questionnaire to your clients and analyze the results right on Google Drive.

net promoter score questionnaire templates

Vrnda LeValley , customer training manager at HubSpot, recommends starting with an alignment question like, "Does this class meet your expectations?" because it gives more context to any positive or negative scores that follow. She continues, "If it didn't meet expectations, then there will potentially be negative responses across the board (as well as the reverse)."

3. Keep it brief, when possible.

Most questionnaires don't need to be longer than a page. For routine customer satisfaction surveys, it's unnecessary to ask 50 slightly varied questions about a customer's experience when those questions could be combined into 10 solid questions.

The shorter your questionnaire is, the more likely a customer will complete it. Plus a shorter questionnaire means less data for your team to collect and analyze. Based on the feedback, it will be a lot easier for you to get the information you need to make the necessary changes in your organization and products.

4. Choose a simple visual design.

There's no need to make your questionnaire a stunning work of art. As long as it's clear and concise, it will be attractive to customers. When asking questions that are important to furthering your company, it's best to keep things simple. Select a font that’s common and easy to read, like Helvetica or Arial. Use a text size that customers of all abilities can navigate.

A questionnaire is most effective when all the questions are visible on a single screen. The layout is important. If a questionnaire is even remotely difficult to navigate, your response rate could suffer. Make sure that buttons and checkboxes are easy to click and that questions are visible on both computer and mobile screens.

5. Use a clear research process.

Before planning questions for your questionnaire, you'll need to have a definite direction for it. A questionnaire is only effective if the results answer an overarching research question. After all, the research process is an important part of the survey, and a questionnaire is a tool that's used within the process.

In your research process, you should first come up with a research question. What are you trying to find out? What's the point of this questionnaire? Keep this in mind throughout the process.

After coming up with a research question, it's a good idea to have a hypothesis. What do you predict the results will be for your questionnaire? This can be structured in a simple "If … then …" format. A structured experiment — yes, your questionnaire is a type of experiment — will confirm that you're only collecting and analyzing data necessary to answer your research question. Then, you can move forward with your survey .

6. Create questions with straightforward, unbiased language.

When crafting your questions, it's important to structure them to get the point across. You don't want any confusion for your customers because this may influence their answers. Instead, use clear language. Don't use unnecessary jargon, and use simple terms in favor of longer-winded ones.

You may risk the reliability of your data if you try to combine two questions. Rather than asking, "How was your experience shopping with us, and would you recommend us to others?" separate it into two separate questions. Customers will be clear on your question and choose a response most appropriate for each one.

You should always keep the language in your questions unbiased. You never want to sway customers one way or another because this will cause your data to be skewed. Instead of asking, "Some might say that we create the best software products in the world. Would you agree or disagree?" it may be better to ask, "How would you rate our software products on a scale of 1 to 10?" This removes any bias and confirms that all the responses are valid.

7. Ask only the most important questions.

When creating your questionnaire, keep in mind that time is one of the most valuable commodities for customers. Most aren't going to sit through a 50-question survey, especially when they're being asked about products or services they didn't use. Even if they do complete it, most of these will be half-hearted responses from fatigued customers who simply want to be finished with it.

If your questionnaire has five or 55 questions, make sure each has a specific purpose. Individually, they should be aimed at collecting certain pieces of information that reveal new insights into different aspects of your business. If your questions are irrelevant or seem out of place, your customers will be easily derailed by the survey. And, once the customer has lost interest, it'll be difficult to regain their focus.

8. Ask one question at a time.

Since every question has a purpose, ask them one at a time. This lets the customer focus and encourages them to share a thoughtful response. This is particularly important for open-ended questions where customers need to describe an experience or opinion.

By grouping questions together, you risk overwhelming busy customers who don't have time for a long survey. They may think you're asking them too much, or they might see your questionnaire as a daunting task. You want your survey to appear as painless as possible. Keeping your questions separated will make it more user-friendly.

9. Order your questions logically.

A good questionnaire is like a good book. The beginning questions should lay the framework, the middle ones should cut to the core issues, and the final questions should tie up all loose ends. This flow keeps customers engaged throughout the entire survey.

When creating your questionnaire, start with the most basic questions about demographics. You can use this information to segment your customer base and create different buyer personas.

Next, add in your product and services questions. These are the ones that offer insights into common customer roadblocks and where you can improve your business's offerings. Questions like these guide your product development and marketing teams looking for new ways to enhance the customer experience.

Finally, you should conclude your questionnaire with open-ended questions to understand the customer journey. These questions let customers voice their opinions and point out specific experiences they've had with your brand.

10. Consider your target audience.

Whenever you collect customer feedback, you need to keep in mind the goals and needs of your target audience. After all, the participants in this questionnaire are your active customers. Your questions should be geared toward the interests and experiences they've already had with your company.

You can even create multiple surveys that target different buyer personas. For example, if you have a subscription-based pricing model, you can personalize your questionnaire for each type of subscription your company offers.

11. Test your questionnaire.

Once your questionnaire is complete, it's important to test it. If you don't, you may end up asking the wrong questions and collecting irrelevant or inaccurate information. Start by giving your employees the questionnaire to test, then send it to small groups of customers and analyze the results. If you're gathering the data you're looking for, then you should release the questionnaire to all of your customers.

How Questionnaires Can Benefit Your Customer Service Strategy

Whether you have one customer or 1000 customers, their opinions matter when it comes to the success of your business. Their satisfaction with your offerings can reveal how well or how poorly your customer service strategy and business are meeting their needs. A questionnaire is one of the most powerful, cost-effective tools to uncover what your customers think about your business. When analyzed properly, it can inform your product and service launches.

Use the free questionnaire templates, examples, and best practices in this guide to conduct your next customer feedback survey.

Now that you know the slight difference between a survey and a questionnaire, it’s time to put it into practice with your products or services. Remember, a good survey and questionnaire always start with a purpose. But, a great survey and questionnaire give data that you can use to help companies increase the way customers respond to their products or services because of the questions.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Writing a Questionnaire Survey Research Paper – Example Format: Tips and Guidelines

Writing a Questionnaire Survey Research Paper – Example Format: Tips and Guidelines

When it comes to conducting a questionnaire survey research, one must start with careful planning and preparation. It is essential to establish clear objectives, define the target population, and select appropriate methods for collecting data. In this article, we will provide you with tips and guidelines on how to write and structure a questionnaire survey research paper.

Firstly, it is important to give clear instructions at the start of your questionnaire. Participants should know exactly what is expected of them and how to answer the questions. Similarly, ensure that the items in your questionnaire are ordered in a logical and coherent manner. This not only makes it easier for respondents to answer but also helps in analyzing the data effectively.

In some cases, you may need to switch languages or include translation options in your questionnaire to reach a wider audience. This is particularly important when working with multicultural populations or conducting international research. Make sure to address these issues and explain how you dealt with language barriers or cultural differences.

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The next step is to present the results of your survey. This can be done through graphs, tables, or descriptive paragraphs. Analyze the data and highlight the key findings of your research. Interpret the results and discuss their implications. It is important to relate your findings back to the research objectives and discuss any limitations or weaknesses in your study.

Writing a Questionnaire Survey Research Paper

Designing the questionnaire.

The first step in conducting a questionnaire survey research paper is designing the questionnaire. It is important to construct questions that will provide valuable information for the research topic. There are two types of questions that can be used: closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions typically have a set of predetermined answers , while open-ended questions allow participants to provide their own answers. It is also important to consider the order of the questions and the overall structure of the questionnaire.

Selecting the Participants

Once the questionnaire has been designed, the next step is selecting the participants. The participants should be representative of the population you are studying. For example, if you are conducting a survey on the attitudes of lesbians towards the market, your sample should include lesbians from different backgrounds and regions. It is important to ensure that the participants understand the purpose of the survey and feel comfortable answering the questions.

In addition to selecting the participants, it is also important to consider ethical issues related to the research. Researchers should obtain informed consent from the participants and ensure their privacy and confidentiality. Any personal information collected should be stored securely and used only for research purposes.

Formatting the Questionnaire

The formatting of the questionnaire is also an important aspect of conducting a questionnaire survey research paper. The questionnaire should be easy to read and understand. The questions should be clear and concise, and the response options should be well-defined. It is also important to include any instructions or explanations that are necessary for the participants to answer the questions correctly.

In terms of style, the questionnaire should be consistent with the earlier literature and theories in the field. It is also important to use proper referencing and cite any relevant examples or research findings. Formatting the questionnaire in a professional manner will help ensure that the research is viewed as credible and reliable.

Analyzing the Results

Once the questionnaire has been distributed and the participants have provided their answers, the next step is analyzing the results. This involves examining the data and identifying any patterns or themes. The data can be analyzed using statistical techniques or qualitative methods, depending on the type of research question. The results should be presented in a clear and organized manner, using tables, charts, or graphs to illustrate the findings.

Example Format: Tips and Guidelines

1. title and abstract.

The title should clearly indicate the purpose of the research and the topic being studied. The abstract should provide a brief summary of the research objectives, methodology, and key findings.

3. Methodology

Explain the methods used to collect data, including the sample size and selection criteria, questionnaire design, and administration approach. Provide details on the population targeted and the location of the study.

4. Sample and Participants

Describe the characteristics of the sample population, such as age, gender, education level, and occupation. Discuss the recruitment process and any incentives offered to encourage participation.

5. Data Collection

Explain how the questionnaires were distributed and collected. Discuss any language or cultural considerations that may have influenced the responses. Include information on how data was tracked and recorded.

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6. Analysis and Findings

Present the findings of the survey in a clear and organized manner. Use tables, graphs, or charts to illustrate the data. Include explanations and interpretations of the findings, categorizing the responses into relevant themes.

8. References

Include a list of all sources referenced in the research paper. Follow a consistent citation style, such as APA or MLA.

By following these tips and guidelines, you can ensure that your questionnaire survey research paper is well-structured, easy to read, and informative. Remember to proofread your paper before submission to check for any spelling or grammar errors. Good luck!

Survey Research Definition

The main purpose of survey research is to measure opinions, attitudes, behaviors, or characteristics of a population. It allows researchers to gather data on a large scale and analyze trends or patterns within the collected information.

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Surveys are designed to be highly structured, with a defined set of questions that can be asked to participants. The questions are usually written in a concise and easy-to-understand format, aimed at minimizing biases and ensuring that respondents can provide informed answers.

The design of a survey can vary depending on the research objectives and target audience. Researchers need to consider factors such as the length of the survey, the type of questions asked (e.g., closed-ended, open-ended), and the method of recruitment for participants. Furthermore, careful attention should be paid to the phrasing and ordering of questions to avoid confusion or bias in the responses.

Surveys can be conducted through various means, including paper questionnaires, online surveys, or phone interviews. Online surveys have become increasingly popular due to their ease of distribution, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to reach a large audience across different geographical locations and languages.

Survey research is widely used in many fields, such as marketing, social sciences, healthcare, and cybersecurity. It allows researchers to gather data on a large scale, making it easier to track trends or variations within a population. The data collected from surveys can be analyzed using statistical techniques to derive meaningful insights and inform decision-making processes.

In summary, survey research is a valuable method for gathering data and measuring attitudes, behaviors, or characteristics of a population. It provides a structured approach to collecting information, which can be analyzed to extract valuable insights and trends.

Example 1: Likert Scale

This example demonstrates the use of a Likert scale, which is a commonly used approach for measuring attitudes or opinions. Respondents are asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with a statement using a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree.

Example 2: Open-ended Question

This example demonstrates the use of an open-ended question, which allows respondents to provide a written response rather than selecting from predefined options. This can be useful for collecting detailed feedback or opinions.

What improvements would you suggest for our product?

Example 3: Demographic Question

This example demonstrates a demographic question, which helps gather information about the characteristics of the respondents.

What is your age?

d) 45 or older

These examples only scratch the surface of the different types of questions you can use in your questionnaire. Depending on the objectives of your research and the target population, you may decide to use a combination of different question types and approaches to gather the necessary data.

In the next section, we will continue with some useful tips and guidelines to help you design an effective questionnaire for your survey research paper.

The methods section of a questionnaire survey research paper provides a detailed explanation of the process and methodology used to collect data. It includes information on formatting the questionnaire, sampling techniques, and data collection procedures.

Formatting the questionnaire is an essential step in ensuring that respondents can understand and answer the questions accurately. The researcher should use clear and concise language, avoid jargon or technical terms, and provide instructions that are easy to follow. It is also important to check the consistency and order of the questions to prevent any confusion or bias in the responses.

Sampling techniques involve selecting a suitable sample from the target population. This can be done through random sampling, where each member of the population has an equal chance of being included, or stratified sampling, where the population is divided into different groups or categories. The researcher should consider the size of the sample, the level of representativeness required, and the potential bias that may arise.

Data collection procedures can vary depending on the research objectives and the resources available. Surveys can be administered through paper-and-pencil questionnaires, online surveys, or telephone interviews. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and the researcher should choose the most effective and appropriate method for their study.

When collecting data, it is important to track the responses and ensure that all questionnaires are accounted for. This can be done by assigning unique identification numbers or codes to each participant, which can facilitate data entry and analysis. It is also essential to follow ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from the participants.

In summary, the methods section of a questionnaire survey research paper outlines the procedures and techniques involved in collecting data. It discusses the formatting of the questionnaire, the sampling methods used, and the data collection procedures. By following these guidelines, researchers can obtain reliable and valid data to answer their research questions.

What is a questionnaire survey research paper?

A questionnaire survey research paper is a type of academic paper that involves using a questionnaire as a research instrument to collect data from respondents. The paper presents the background, methodology, results, and discussions related to the survey conducted.

What is the format of a questionnaire survey research paper?

The format of a questionnaire survey research paper typically follows the standard structure of an academic paper, which includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis and results, discussions, and conclusion. Additionally, it may also include an appendix for the questionnaire itself.

How should I structure the introduction of a questionnaire survey research paper?

The introduction of a questionnaire survey research paper should provide the background and context of the study, state the research objectives and hypothesis, and explain the significance of the research. It should also include a brief overview of the methodology and the organization of the paper.

What are some tips for designing a questionnaire for a survey research paper?

When designing a questionnaire for a survey research paper, it is important to ensure that the questions are clear, concise, and unbiased. The questionnaire should also include a mix of different question types, such as multiple choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions, to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. It should also be pilot tested and revised based on feedback before being administered to the actual respondents.

What should be included in the discussion section of a questionnaire survey research paper?

The discussion section of a questionnaire survey research paper should interpret the findings of the survey and relate them to the research objectives and hypothesis. It should discuss the implications of the results, compare them with previous studies, and identify any limitations or areas for further research. Additionally, the discussion should also highlight the practical applications and recommendations based on the findings.

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COMMENTS

  1. Questionnaire Design

    Published on July 15, 2021 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on June 22, 2023. A questionnaire is a list of questions or items used to gather data from respondents about their attitudes, experiences, or opinions. Questionnaires can be used to collect quantitative and/or qualitative information.

  2. (PDF) Questionnaires and Surveys

    Research questions How do the intercultural competence, English language proficiency, the social and academic demands of their sojourn. Sub-themes also emerged from analysis relating to each of...

  3. Research Questionnaire Examples

    1. Market Research Questionnaire Template Example Details File Format MS Word Google Docs Apple Pages PDF Size: 38 KB Download 2. Market Research Questionnaire Example unomaha.edu Details File Format PDF Size: 94 KB Download 3. Research Questionnaire Example nap.edu Details File Format PDF Size: 44KB Download 4. Sample Market Research Questionnaire

  4. 20+ SAMPLE Research Questionnaires Templates in PDF

    What Is a Research Questionnaire? Types of Research Questionnaires How to Make an Effective Research Questionnaire Research Questionnaire vs. Research Survey The Dos and Don'ts of a Research Questionnaire 20+ Sample Research Questionnaires Templates Market Research Questionnaire Template download now Veterans Health Care Survey Questionnaire

  5. PDF Question and Questionnaire Design

    In this chapter, we first offer recommendations about optimal questionnaire design based on conventional wisdom (focusing mainly on the words used in questions), and then make further recommendations based on a review of the methodological research (focusing mainly on the structural features of questions).

  6. 10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

    10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023. The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper, thesis or dissertation. It's important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

  7. Designing a Questionnaire for a Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide

    This paper aims to review the main steps to design a questionnaire introducing the process that starts with defining the information required for a study, then continues with the identification...

  8. Survey Research

    Step 1: Define the population and sample Step 2: Decide on the type of survey Step 3: Design the survey questions Step 4: Distribute the survey and collect responses Step 5: Analyze the survey results Step 6: Write up the survey results Other interesting articles Frequently asked questions about surveys What are surveys used for?

  9. Hands-on guide to questionnaire research: Selecting, designing, and

    No single method has been so abused. 1 Questionnaires offer an objective means of collecting information about people's knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour. 2, 3 Do our patients like our opening hours? What do teenagers think of a local antidrugs campaign and has it changed their attitudes?

  10. Designing a Questionnaire for a Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide

    writing questions and building the construct of the questionnaire. It also develops the demand to pre-test the questionnaire and finalizing the questionnaire to conduct the survey. Keywords: Questionnaire, Academic Survey, Questionnaire Design, Research Methodology I. INTRODUCTION A questionnaire, as heart of the survey is based on a set of

  11. Writing Survey Questions

    Measuring change over time Many surveyors want to track changes over time in people's attitudes, opinions and behaviors. To measure change, questions are asked at two or more points in time. A cross-sectional design surveys different people in the same population at multiple points in time.

  12. Free Research Paper Template (Word Doc & PDF)

    If you're preparing to write an academic research paper, our free research paper template is the perfect starting point. In the template, we cover every section step by step, with clear, straightforward explanations and examples. The template's structure is based on the tried and trusted best-practice format for formal academic research papers.

  13. 21 Questionnaire Templates: Examples and Samples

    A questionnaire is defined a market research instrument that consists of questions or prompts to elicit and collect responses from a sample of respondents.

  14. 17+ Free Questionnaire Templates & Examples

    17+ Free Questionnaire Templates & Examples A questionnaire template is a pre-constructed tool consisting of systematically arranged questions intended to elicit specific responses from individuals.

  15. Practical Guidelines to Develop and Evaluate a Questionnaire

    Web-based or paper-based . Broadly, paper and electronic format are the two modes of administering a questionnaire to the participants. Both techniques have advantages and disadvantages. The response rate is a significant issue in self-administered scales.

  16. Appendix D: Sample Questionnaires

    118 Questionnaire for Admitted-to-Candidacy Doctoral Students This questionnaire is part of the National Research Council's Pilot Test of the Assessment of Research Doctoral Programs. Your university has volunteered to participate in this pilot test to assist the National Research Council's study of the methodology used to assess doctoral programs.

  17. How to Make a Questionnaire (Examples & Templates)

    A questionnaire is a research tool that contains a series of questions used to gain information from respondents about their opinions, experiences, and behaviors. Questionnaires may elicit quantitative or qualitative data and be delivered online, by phone, on paper, or in person. First developed by Sir Francis Galton, a British anthropologist ...

  18. Questionnaire

    There are several modes of questionnaire administration. The choice of mode depends on the research objectives, sample size, and available resources. Some common modes of administration include: Self-administered paper questionnaires: Participants complete the questionnaire on paper, either in person or by mail. This mode is relatively low cost ...

  19. Designing and validating a research questionnaire

    Research questionnaires may be self-administered (by the research participant) or researcher administered. ... For a more detailed review of the types of research questions, readers are referred to a paper by Boynton and Greenhalgh. ... any new questionnaire needs to be pilot tested in a small sample of respondents who are representative of the ...

  20. 150+ Free Questionnaire Examples & Sample Survey Templates

    Questionnaire examples and sample templates Get started Do you want to write a survey questionnaire, but need a little guidance on the right questions to use? Well you're in the right place!

  21. 30+ Questionnaire Templates (Word) ᐅ TemplateLab

    A questionnaire is a powerful tool that provides the important function of eliciting the feelings, beliefs, perceptions, or attitudes of a group of individuals. In other words, to collect valuable and previously unknown data. The questionnaire is most frequently a very concise, preplanned set of questions designed to yield specific information ...

  22. The Design and Use of Questionnaires in Educational Research: A New

    Andrew G D Holmes University of Hull Abstract Final-year undergraduate and master's students often collect data for a research project through a questionnaire. However, novice researchers may...

  23. 28 Questionnaire Examples, Questions, & Templates to Survey Your Clients

    Examples of Good Survey Questions How to Make a Questionnaire Questionnaire Definition A questionnaire is a research tool used to conduct surveys. It includes specific questions with the goal to understand a topic from the respondents' point of view. Questionnaires typically have closed-ended, open-ended, short-form, and long-form questions.

  24. Writing a Questionnaire Survey Research Paper

    Indent the first line of each paragraph. Use headings/subheadings to organize the different sections of the paper. See also Mastering the Art of Using Adverb of Care. By following these tips and guidelines, you can ensure that your questionnaire survey research paper is well-structured, easy to read, and informative.