questions and mark the answers on paper rather than respond verbally to the interviewer. They are in some ways like highly structured interviews. Questionnaires can be distributed to a group of persons at a time who write down their answers to the questions and return to the researcher or can be sent through mail. Generally, two types of questions are used in the questionnaire: open-ended and closed- ended.
With open-ended questions, the respondent is free to write whatever answer s/he considers appropriate. In the closed- ended type, the questions and their probable answers are given and the respondent is required to select the correct answer. Examples of closed-ended questions require responses like: Yes/No, True/False, Multiple choice, or using a rating scale. In case of rating scale, a statement is given and the respondent is asked to give her/his views on a -point (Agree, Undecided, Disagree), or -point (Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, Strongly Disagree) or -point, -point, - point or -point scale.
In some cases, the participants are asked to rank a number of things in a preferential order. The questionnaire is used for collecting background and demographic information, information about past behaviour, attitudes and opinions, knowledge about a particular topic, and expectations and aspirations of the persons. Sometimes a survey is conducted by sending the questionnaire by mail. The main problem of a mailed questionnaire is poor response from the respondents.
for conducting surveys. Each method has its own advantages and limitations. The researcher needs to exercise caution in selecting a particular method. The survey method has several advantages.
First, information can be gathered quickly and efficiently from thousands of persons. Second, since surveys can be conducted quickly, public opinions on new issues can be obtained almost as soon as the issues arise. There are some limitations of a survey too. First, people may give inaccurate information because of memory lapses or they may not want to let the researcher know what they really believe about a particular issue.
Second, people sometimes offer responses they think the researcher wants to hear. Psychological Testing Assessment of individual differences has