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Social Research Methods

Chapter 10: Self-administered
questionnaires

© Alan Bryman, 2016. All rights reserved.

 What is a self-administered
questionnaire?

• Also called a self-completion questionnaire

• No interviewer present
• Respondent writes answers on form
• Returned to researcher or deposited for
collection
• Usually postal questionnaires
• Can be distributed in person or by email

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Comparing self-completion questionnaires
and structured interviews

Self-completion questionnaires tend to:

have fewer open questions

have easier to follow designs

be shorter, to reduce ‘respondent fatigue’

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Self-completion questionnaires have
advantages…..

• Cheaper and quicker to administer (to

widely dispersed populations)

• No interviewer variability

• Convenience for respondents

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 ….but many disadvantages

– Cannot probe or prompt

– Can only ask salient questions
– Few open-ended or complex questions
– Respondent can see the whole questionnaire
before answering (question order effects)
– Cannot ensure that the ‘right’ person answers
– Cannot collect additional data
– Respondent fatigue if too many questions
– Excludes people with limited literacy skills
– Greater risk of missing data
Pages 223 and 224
– Lower response rates
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition
 Tips to improve response rates to
postal questionnaires:
Since response rates are relatively low there is a risk
of sample bias; a rate of 60%+ is needed to be
acceptable (Mangione,1995).
Response rates can be improved by:
– Writing a good covering letter
– Including a stamped addressed envelope
– Issuing reminders
– Using shorter questionnaires
– Give clear instructions
– Using a layout attractive to the respondent
– Use few open-ended questions
Page 225 and 226
– Providing monetary incentives

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Tips on designing a self-completion
questionnaire:

• Use an uncluttered layout

– neither too short and cramped nor too long and
bulky
• Aim for clear presentation
– variety of font sizes, bold print, italics, and
CAPITAL letters can be used
– but be consistent!

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Arrange fixed answers vertically

• Because this makes the questionnaire less

confusing to read
• Because questions can be distinguished from
answers
• Because the respondent is less likely to make
a mistake
• Because the questionnaire is easier to pre-
code
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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Give clear instructions about how to respond

– how to indicate choice of answer:

a tick, a circle, an underline…..?

– if more than one answer can be given:

sometimes you might want the respondent to
select a number of possibilities from a list.

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Keep questions and answers together

• Never spread a question over two

pages

• Locate the answers alongside each

corresponding question, particularly
for questions involving Likert scales

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Formatting a Likert scale

In the next set of questions, you are presented with a statement. You are being
asked to indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with each
statement by indicating whether you: Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), are
Undecided (U), Disagree (D), or Strongly Disagree (SD).
Please indicate your level of agreement by circling the appropriate response.

23. My job is like a hobby to me.

SA A U D SD
24. My job is usually interesting enough to keep me from getting bored.
SA A U D SD
25. It seems that my friends are more interested in their jobs.
SA A U D SD
26. I enjoy my work more than my leisure time. Tips and skills
SA A U D SD Page 228

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Online social surveys

There has been a huge growth in online administration of surveys. They come
in different forms
• Email Surveys
-Embedded – in the body of an email – using x or deleting
alternatives, typing in answers etc. Easy to manage, higher
response rate than attached survey
-Attached – as an email attachment and the email explains it –
again respondents type answers. Possibilities in terms of
appearance
• Web surveys
-Respondents are invited to visit a website where the questionnaire
can be completed. It can be widely embellished in appearance, filter
questions can be used, answers can be programmed to download
into a database eliminating the coding aspect
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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Online social surveys
There has been a huge growth in online administration of surveys. They come
in different forms:

Email Surveys
• Embedded – in the body of an email – using x or deleting alternatives,
typing in answers etc. Easy to manage, higher response rate than attached
survey
• Attached – as an email attachment and the email explains it – again
respondents type answers. Possibilities in terms of appearance
Web surveys
• Respondents are invited to visit a website where the questionnaire can be
completed. It can be widely embellished in appearance, filter questions can
be used, answers can be programmed to download into a database
eliminating the coding
Page 229 - 231

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Using mobile phones for self-
administered questionnaires

• Share characteristics with web surveys.

• Surveys need to be adapted to fit the screen etc
• May result in a lower response rate than using a
computer and fewer words written
• Tablets may be another viable option
• Text methods can be employed

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Mixed mode surveys

• They entail the use of two or more modes of

administering a survey ie. an interview and a self-
administered questionnaire.
• The use of email and particular web surveys has
increased possibilities for mixed mode research
• Researchers need to be aware of possible mode
effects
• Dillman et al. (2014) proposed making question and
response formats and visual appearance as similar
as possible across modes to reduce mode effects
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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 A diary study to examine
gender and time use

Gershuny and Sullivan (2014) studied the ways in which the

experience of domestic time is gendered:

• The diaries recorded the amount of time spent by household

members on particular activities
• The diary method enabled Sullivan to show the differences
between men and women regarding the performance of certain
tasks and the proportion of their time spent on doing tasks
together.

Research in focus 10.2

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 Guidelines for preparing a diary for
quantitative research

• Corti (1993)
– provide clear instructions for respondents
about how to complete diary and how often
– include model of a completed diary entry
– provide checklist of items, events or
behaviours to include in each entry
– show blocks of time in columns

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Evaluating diaries as a form of self-
completion questionnaire
• Advantages
– precise estimates of time
spent on activities (valid,
reliable data)
– shows chronological
order of events
– useful for personal or
sensitive issues
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition
• Disadvantages
– cost of producing
diaries and monitoring
completion
– boredom, fatigue and
attrition
– failure to record details
– selective inclusion of
events
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