Types of Questionnaire

Most of us know the importance of questionnaires in collecting data from a large number of audiences. The format of questionnaire depends entirely on what information is to be extracted from respondents. Questionnaire are of many types but most important among them are as follows

        1. Open ended Question

It is also known as unrestricted questionnaire. Open-ended questions are exploratory in nature. It allows for the respondent to provide any answer they choose without forcing them to select from concrete options. In this type of questionnaire the examinee instead of answering in ‘yes’ ‘no’ writes the full answer. Open format questions or open-ended questions give your audience an opportunity to express their opinions in a free-flowing manner. These questions don't have predetermined set of responses and the respondent is free to answer whatever he/she feels right. The person giving the answer is free to express his views, ideas and thoughts. There is no limitation of words in this type of Questionnaire.By including open format questions in your questionnaire, you can get true, insightful and even unexpected suggestions. Qualitative questions fall under this category.

      For instance

-       What are your views on terroristic environment prevailing in Pakistan?

-       The impact of direct method of instruction in Pakistan school system. Discuss

    Examples:

    Here are some examples of open-ended questions:

    How the mobile phone technology is affecting the relation bonds?

    What were the most important wars fought in the history of the United States?

·         What are you planning to buy today at the supermarket?

·         How exactly did the fight between the two of you start?

·         What is your favorite memory from childhood?

·         How will you help the company if you are hired to work for us?

·         What do you plan to do immediately following graduation from college?

·         What types of decorations do you plan to have for your friend's birthday party?

·         What was your high school experience like?

·         How did you and your best friend meet?

·         What sites do you expect to see on your vacation?

·         How do you go about booking tickets for a flight?

·         What were the major effects of World War II for the United States?

Although open-ended questions require lengthier responses than do close-ended questions, open-ended questions are not always more complicated. For example, asking "What are you planning to buy today at the supermarket?" may simply require the respondent to read off of a list.Open-ended questions require a response with more depth and a lengthier response. Open-ended questions are also helpful in finding out more about a person or a situation, whether it's during an interview, at a party, or when getting to know a new friend

   2. Closed ended question

     Questions, where respondents are restricted to choose among any of the given multiple choice answers or ‘yes’ ‘no’ are known as closed format or closed-ended questions. There is no fixed limit as to how many multiple choices should be given; the number can be even or odd. In this way givig answer is feasible, time saving and easy in administering as it avoids subjective whims.

One of the main advantages of including closed format questions in your questionnaire design is the ease at performing preliminary analysis. These questions are ideal for calculating statistical data and percentages, as the answers set is known.

Close-ended questions can be answered in only one word or very short phrase. Closed-ended questions come in a multitude of forms, but are defined by their need to have explicit options for a respondent to select from. There are a wide variety of closed-ended question types for survey creators to choose from, including: Multiple choice, semantic differential, drop down, check boxes, ranking, and many more. Each question type does not allow the respondent to provide unique or unanticipated answers, but rather, they have to choose from a list of pre-selected options.

EXAMPLES

Here are examples of close-ended questions in these types of situations:

·         Would you like vanilla ice cream?

·         Have you ever met Joe before?

·         Where did you go to college?

·         What is your best quality?

·         Are you happy?

·         Do you enjoy your car?

·         Does your brother have the same interests as you?

·         Do you have a pet?

·         Do you like animals?

·         When is your birthday?

·         Do you like rain?