Before you jump headfirst into a research project, it’s important to have a clear idea of what your end goal is. This will help you determine the best approach for your project and prevent you from straying down an unnecessary path. In article, you will learn six steps to design a questionnaire and learn how to draft and format it in Microsoft Word.
Conducting research involves asking questions and getting answers. In most cases, these answers take the form of survey questions, or a questionnaire as it’s commonly known.
A questionnaire can be used in almost any type of research because they are an effective way to gather information about people’s opinions, experiences, or beliefs. They are also a great tool when researching topics that involve quantitative data such as age, income levels, and education level. In article, we’ll go over six steps to designing a questionnaire for your next piece of quantitative research.
What is a Questionnaire?
A questionnaire is a form of survey research where information is collected in writing. Questionnaires may be used to elicit information about health, behaviors, experiences, or beliefs, and can be administered in person, by mail, phone, email, online, or through the internet.
When conducting research, the best questionnaires are those that are easy to understand and have a natural flow. At the same time, they need to be specific enough to address your research goals.
When designing a questionnaire, there are several things to keep in mind.
First, you need to decide on the structure of your questionnaire. Will it be a Likert scale or a multiple choice questionnaire?
Second, you need to decide how you want your questions to flow.
Third, you need to decide what questions you want to ask.
Fourth, you need to make sure you have enough space to write in.
Learn More: What is Quantitative research? Types, Pros, and Cons
6 Steps to Get You Started in Designing Questionnaire
Here are the steps that you should follow in order to design questionnaire for research.
1- Identify Your Research Goals and Objectives of Questionnaire
Before you start designing a questionnaire, you need to have a clear idea of what your research goals are.
1. Describe the form of information you hope to gather using your questionnaire.
2. What is the purpose of your study?
3. What is your main objective?
4. What is the goal of the questionnaire?
This will help you determine the best research approach and inform the type of questions you ask.
The best way to define your goals is to write a research objective. This is a one-sentence description of your research project. It should include the topic you’re researching, your research questions, and your research approach.
Now that you have a research objective, you can identify the goals behind your research.
For example, say you want to conduct a research project on food allergies and dietary restrictions.
Your research objectives might be:
- Understand the dietary restrictions of a certain group of people
- Identify how dietary restrictions affect quality of life
- Understand how people find out they have a dietary restrictions
- Learn how people are currently managing their dietary restrictions
Learn More: How to build Research Questions on the basis of Theoretical Model?
2- Determine Your Research Approach
After you’ve determined your research approach, you should identify who you’re going to be your respondents.
There are two ways to go about this.
You can decide, which respondents or group people are best according to your research objectives.
Your research approach will determine which method is best.
This way, you can get more accurate and reliable data.
You should also consider your respondents’ time, language, and technical skills.
For the best results, your respondents should be those who fit your research objectives and have the necessary time, language, and technical skills to complete your questionnaires.
Learn more: Research Methods: Definitions, Types
3- Draft Your Questionnaire
When you start drafting your questions, you should make sure you’re asking relevant and meaningful questions.
You should also make sure your questions are short, clear, and easy to understand.
Your questions should also be relevant to your research objectives according to your study variables. At the same time, they shouldn’t be too general. They should be specific enough to elicit an accurate response, but general enough to apply to a wide range of people.
4- Decide on Question Format
There are different question formats.
- Open-ended questions
- Closed-ended questions
Open ended questions, which accept any response, predominate in exploratory questionnaires.
Comparatively, closed ended questions from quantitative questionnaires typically take the form of multiple-choice or rating-scale questions that have been established by the researcher.
You should also decide on the the medium by which you get your respondents fill questionnaires.
The first is a written questionnaire, and the second is an online questionnaire.
Written questionnaires are printed questionnaires that you can send to your respondents. This is one of the most common methods of distributing questionnaires, but it has its drawbacks as well.
- First, written questionnaires are easy to misinterpret.
- Second, they’re easy to lose or misplace.
- Third, they aren’t flexible.
Online questionnaires, on the other hand, are more easily interpreted, easier to maintain, and far more flexible.
With an online questionnaires, you have the added benefit of being able to track how people are responding to your questionnaire. You can see how many people are participating in your questionnaire, how long they are spending on each question, and how many are dropping out of your questionnaire. Keeping track of all questionnaire which would help in analyzing data and interpreting it.
5- Select a Sample Size
After you’ve drafted your questions and decided on the format of your questionnaire, you need to determine the sample size. The sample size is the number of people you plan on conducting your research means your respondents. Now that you know what your research goals are, you have an idea of the sample size you need.
For example, let’s say you want to conduct a research project on dietary restrictions. You want to find out how dietary restrictions affect people’s quality of life. To do this, you might decide to to responses from 100 people.
Keep in mind that the larger your sample size is, the more accurate your results will be.
On the other hand, the smaller your sample size is, the less accurate your results will be. Ideally, you want to aim for a sample size that is close to 100 people.
This will give you accurate results while keeping your research project manageable.
6- Run a pilot
Here is where the essential process of evaluating and optimizing a pilot begins. Before conducting the main trial, the questionnaire needs to be distributed to a sample of your target population that is typical of that group.
- You can spot problems with readability, understanding, phrasing, and general layout during the pilot stage.
- A crucial item to remember is to statistically analyze your pilot data.
Learn more:
Learn more: Survey vs. Questionnaire: What’s the Difference?
Design a questionnaire in Microsoft word
After developing questionnaire for research, its time for designing and formatting of questionnaire in Microsoft Word.
Designing a a questionnaire which is based on quantitative study that is hypothesis testing is quite easy.
You will learn how to easily design a questionnaire in Microsoft word with proper drafting and formatting of a questionnaire.
So, Let’s get started.
When you design questionnaire format, keep in mind that questionnaires typically have three parts:
- General instructions
- Personal information
- Body
General instruction
This section is called general instruction.
First, you have to write the name of your university, The name of your faculty like the faculty of Management Sciences.
Then write the name of your department like the Department of Technology Management.
Then you have to give the heading of the Questionnaire.
On the right side, you must insert the logo of your university. On the left side, you can insert the logo of your department if any.
Then you have to insert a box.
In the box, you have to write your name and tell about the title of your research.
Like “My name is Maria. I am conducting a survey on “Title of your research thesis/dissertation”. I would be thankful if you fill out the questionnaire. The information you provide will be kept confidential and only be used to complete this research study. Data gathered will be presented in aggregate and no individual respondent or organization will be identified”.
That’s all for the general instruction section.
Personal information
After designing general instructions in the questionnaire, you need to design about personal information section .
This section is called personal information.
Respondent had to provide personal information. Personal information includes the following:
- Ask about the organization’s name
- Name or primary key or ID card number. It must be unique
- Education
- Experience of the current organization
- Total job experience
- Designation
- Gender male or female
- Age group greater than 20. between 20 to 30. between 31 to 40. between 41 to 50. or 51 and above.
That’s all for the personal information section.
Learn more: How to Write a Synopsis for Research?
Body
Now I will tell you about the body part of the questionnaire.
After designing the personal information section in the questionnaire, you need to design about the body of the questionnaire.
This section includes the questions which pitches your research variables like independent variable, dependent variable, moderator and mediator. You have to formulate questions in accordance with your theoretical model of your study.
Lets take this theoretical model as an example. According to this model, we will design our questionnaire.
Listing Independent Variable
Starting from Interpersonal Conflict which is independent variable.
First, we will ask questions about the independent variable. List down all the questions.
For example, the questions may use Strongly Agree, Agree. Participants can circle their responses. Every item should have an obvious place for each response.
Let’s now practically show you.
Let’s suppose my independent variable is Interpersonal conflict. The items (questions) of interpersonal conflict is adapted from research paper. This will help you to study and test the variable.
Likert scale questions assess whether or not a respondent agrees with the statement, as well as the extent to which they agree or disagree. These questions typically offer 5 or 7 responses, with sentiments ranging from items such as “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.”
I’m done with listing items for independent variable.
Listing moderator
According to the model. Second comes the moderator.
Ask questions about the moderator. List down all the questions.
For example, the questions may use Strongly Agree, Agree. Participants can circle their responses. Every item should have an obvious place for each response.
Let’s now practically show you. Let’s suppose my moderator is Withdrawal. The items (questions) of Withdrawal is adapted from research paper. This will help you to study and test the variable.
I’m done with listing items for my first moderator.
Listing mediator
According to the model. Third comes the mediator. Ask questions about the Mediator. List down all the questions.
For example, the questions may use Strongly Agree, Agree. Participants can circle their responses. Every item should have an obvious place for each response.
List all the items for your mediator like I have showed you before.
Listing second moderator
According to the model. After mediator, comes the second moderator if any. Ask questions about the second moderator.
List down all the questions.
For example, the questions may use Strongly Agree, Agree. Participants can circle their responses. Every item should have an obvious place for each response.
List all the items for your second moderator.
Listing dependent variable
According to the model.
5th comes the dependent variable. Ask questions about the dependent variable. List down all the questions.
For example, the questions may use Strongly Agree, Agree. Participants can circle their responses. Every item should have an obvious place for each response.
List all the items for your dependent variable.
So, the body of the questionnaire consists of all the questions ( items) related to your study variables based on theoretical model. Its very important part of the questionnaire because all your research is based on this part of the questionnaire.
Learn More: How to build Research Questions on the basis of Theoretical Model?
So here is the final look of the questionnaire which consists of three pages which contains general instructions, personal information and body. This questionnaire should be distrusted among the respondents or can be shared online via email or other social media sites.
Conclusion
Once you’ve gone through these six steps, you should have a clear idea of what your research project is about and where it’s headed.
This will help you stay on track and prevent you from straying down an unnecessary path. When you’re conducting research, the best approach is to keep things simple.
The simpler your questionnaire is, the more likely people are to respond to it. The best questionnaires are those that are easy to understand and have a natural flow. At the same time, they need to be specific enough to address your research goals and objectives.
I hope after reading this article on how you can design a questionnaire for research on Microsoft Word and what are the 6 Steps to Get You Started in designing your questionnaire.
Other articles
Please read through some of our other articles with examples and explanations if you’d like to learn more about research methodology.
Research
- Resources for PhD Literature Review
- Top 100 Google Scholar Journals
- 16 Reasons for Your Manuscript to Be Rejected by Reviewers
- How to Reach a Wider Audience in Research?
- Journal Publication Ethics for Authors
- Best Websites to Download Thesis and Dissertation
- Do All References in a Reference List Need to Be Cited in Text?
- Respondents To Fill Out a Dissertation Survey
- Stolen Unpublished Work
- Co-author Uses ChatGPT for Acedemic Writing.
- Article Retraction in Academic Publishing
- Write a 10 and 20-Page Research Paper in One Night
- Journal Submission Hacks
- How to Conduct a Research Survey
- Consistency in Ph.D. Research
- Peer Pressure in PhD Research
- Facts About Sci-Hub
- Finding Scopus Indexed Journals
- Scopus Indexed Journal
- Cloned Journals
- Timeline for Writing a Research Paper in a Month
- Why Do Paid Scientific Journal Publications Exist?
- Types of Plagiarism
- How GPTzero Detects ChatGPT-Generated Research Articles?
- Free Open Access Journals
- How to Conduct Community Member Research Interviews
- How Q1 Journals are Calculated?
- AI Detection Tools for ChatGPT-Generated Research Articles
- Sci-Hub Proxy Links Working
Citation Styles
- APA Reference Page
- MLA Citations
- Chicago Style Format
- “et al.” in APA, MLA, and Chicago Style
- Footnote Citation
- Do All References in a Reference List Need to Be Cited in Text?
Comparision
- Basic and Applied Research
- Cross-Sectional vs Longitudinal Studies
- Survey vs Questionnaire
- Open Ended vs Closed Ended Questions
- Experimental and Non-Experimental Research
- Inductive vs Deductive Approach
- Null and Alternative Hypothesis
- Reliability vs Validity
- Population vs Sample
- Conceptual Framework and Theoretical Framework
- Bibliography and Reference
- Stratified vs Cluster Sampling
- Sampling Error vs Sampling Bias
- Internal Validity vs External Validity
- Full-Scale, Laboratory-Scale and Pilot-Scale Studies
- Plagiarism and Paraphrasing
- Research Methodology Vs. Research Method
- Mediator and Moderator
- Type I vs Type II error
- Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
- Microsoft Excel and SPSS
- Parametric and Non-Parametric Test
Comparision
- Independent vs. Dependent Variable
- Research Article and Research Paper
- Proposition and Hypothesis
- Principal Component Analysis and Partial Least Squares
- Academic Research vs Industry Research
- Clinical Research vs Lab Research
- Research Lab and Hospital Lab
- Thesis Statement and Research Question
- Quantitative Researchers vs. Quantitative Traders
- Premise, Hypothesis and Supposition
- Survey Vs Experiment
- Hypothesis and Theory
- Independent vs. Dependent Variable
- APA vs. MLA
- Ghost Authorship vs. Gift Authorship
Research
- Research Methods
- Quantitative Research
- Qualitative Research
- Case Study Research
- Survey Research
- Conclusive Research
- Descriptive Research
- Cross-Sectional Research
- Theoretical Framework
- Conceptual Framework
- Triangulation
- Grounded Theory
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Mixed Method
- Correlational Research
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Stratified Sampling
- Ethnography
- Ghost Authorship
- Secondary Data Collection
- Primary Data Collection
- Ex-Post-Facto
Research
- Table of Contents
- Dissertation Topic
- Synopsis
- Thesis Statement
- Research Proposal
- Research Questions
- Research Problem
- Research Gap
- Types of Research Gaps
- Variables
- Operationalization of Variables
- Literature Review
- Research Hypothesis
- Questionnaire
- Abstract
- Validity
- Reliability
- Measurement of Scale
- Sampling Techniques
- Acknowledgements
- Data Coding
- Research
- Research Methods
- Quantitative Research
- Qualitative Research
- Case Study Research
- Survey Research
- Conclusive Research
- Descriptive Research
- Cross-Sectional Research
- Theoretical Framework
- Conceptual Framework
- Triangulation
- Grounded Theory
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Mixed Method
- Correlational Research
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Stratified Sampling
- Ethnography
- Ghost Authorship
- Secondary Data Collection
- Primary Data Collection
- Ex-Post-Facto
Statistics
- PLS-SEM model
- Principal Components Analysis
- Multivariate Analysis
- Friedman Test
- Chi-Square Test (Χ²)
- T-test
- SPSS
- Effect Size
- Critical Values in Statistics
- Statistical Analysis
- Calculate the Sample Size for Randomized Controlled Trials
- Covariate in Statistics
- Avoid Common Mistakes in Statistics
- Standard Deviation
- Derivatives & Formulas
- Build a PLS-SEM model using AMOS
- Principal Components Analysis using SPSS
- Statistical Tools
- Type I vs Type II error
- Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
- Microsoft Excel and SPSS
- One-tailed and Two-tailed Test
- Parametric and Non-Parametric Test
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