how to prepare a questionnaire for dissertation

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How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Questionnaire?

Published by Alvin Nicolas at August 7th, 2024 , Revised On August 7, 2024

Do you know the first questionnaire was developed in 1838? It was designed to collect responses from individuals to understand their behaviour towards various stimuli. Since then, scientists have been using questionnaires to collect statistical data. The invention of the questionnaire gave birth to subjects like Sociology and Statistics .

Nowadays, sociology or psychology students also collect statistical data and information using questionnaires to understand individuals’ behaviour. Excellent questionnaires help produce high-quality research results.

This blog comprehensively discusses what a thesis or dissertation questionnaire is and the steps involved in writing one. Learn how to write a questionnaire and optimise your research process .

What is a Thesis or Dissertation Questionnaire?

A questionnaire is a set of specific questions that are particularly designed to assess the preferences, intentions, experiences, opinions, and behaviour of the individuals. In a thesis or dissertation, students use questionnaires to collect qualitative or quantitative data relevant to their subjects.

However, using questionnaires to collect data and information is a very tiresome and hectic task because researchers have to wait for the respondents to answer all the questions.

Importance of Thesis & Dissertation Questionnaire

Imagine you want to ask one or two questions from an individual. You can easily ask him/her those questions. What would you do when you have to record their thorough response to multiple questions? In that case, the questionnaire is the best option for collecting individual responses.

A thesis or dissertation questionnaire does not specify precisely whether it is used for simple research or a survey. In the case of a survey, there would always be a questionnaire. Here are the reasons why a thesis or dissertation questionnaire is important during the research process:

• Questionnaires help researchers collect data in an organised and systematic manner.
• With questionnaires, data can be efficiently analysed and quick conclusions can be drawn.
• There are no extensive costs involved in to design research questionnaires. It is a cost-effective method to collect data.
• Researchers can ask multiple questions to record the response about a specific topic thoroughly.

Several formalities are involved in collecting data through a questionnaire. One basic consideration is the dissertation questionnaire consent form.

Dissertation Questionnaire Consent Form

The questionnaire consent form is the document the participants sign to indicate their consent to participate in the research process. It is crucial to ask for their consent because data and information are used for research purposes. Also, inform them about the topic so they can decide efficiently.

The questionnaire consent form is usually presented on the first page of the thesis or dissertation questionnaire. It contains the participant’s personal and contact information.

Online Dissertation Questionnaire

As you know, in this digital age, everything is shifting to digital platforms. There was a time when researchers had to wait for the individuals to fill out the questionnaire paper. No doubt, it was a tiresome task. Now, researchers send the thesis or dissertation questionnaires to digital platforms such as email, inbox, and social media.

Online dissertation questionnaire tools such as Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, and SurveyPlanet have made data analysis and collection much more convenient and reliable.

Components of an Excellent Dissertation Questionnaire

These are the components of an excellent thesis or dissertation questionnaire:

It has a Structured Design

The best property of a good dissertation questionnaire is its structured design. When questions and their categories are efficiently structured in a questionnaire, it provides an eye-catching look. This helps the participants to fill out the questionnaire more proficiently.

It Contains Unique and Exploratory Questions

An outstanding questionnaire always has unique and well-researched questions rather than overly used typical ones. Every question can provide a sufficient response. It contains exploratory questions to explore even minor information about the participants thoroughly.

It has Likert Scales

Likert scales are a measurement method in research to assess attitudes, opinions, and perceptions. They are widely used in the questionnaires to generate responses accurately. When a questionnaire has Likert scales, it makes it easy for the researchers to derive results from that.

It has Consistency of Questions

Another sign of an excellent question is its consistency. It contains perfectly categorised questions that make sense to the participants from start to end. Every question follows an appropriate question systematically.

Difference Between Questionnaire and Survey

Steps Involved in Writing a Dissertation Questionnaire

Writing a thesis or dissertation questionnaire requires different methods. These methods can be modified accordingly to make your questionnaire relevant to your research objectives. However, the essential steps involved in writing a dissertation questionnaire are given as follows:

Step 1: Establish Your Research Objectives To Ese Your Research Process

The first step in writing a thesis or dissertation question is establishing the research objectives. You have to be clear about your research goals. The research is usually done to fill an already-present gap in the data. It is done to find significant solutions to specific problems. It is crucial to have the goals to solve a problem.

Step 2: Assess the Requirements to Ensure They Are Achievable

It is also important to assess the research requirements. Requirements will help you know what you need and what you don’t need to write your research questionnaire. It is easy to start a research process when all the requirements are easily achievable. Also, the time and money spent on the questionnaire should be considered.

Step 3: Choose the Right Data Collection Method To Derive Authentic Results

There are many data collection methods , such as in-person, telephone, email, direct mail, and online platforms. It is essential to choose the proper data collection method that can be easily used to deliver authentic results. You should also design your questionnaire according to the collection method.

Methodology

Methodology is the collection of particular techniques for collecting and processing data. Create an efficient research methodology to collect data accurately. It will help you optimise and streamline your research process.

Step 4: Develop the Unique and Logical Questions for Data Collection

After selecting an appropriate data collection method, it is time to develop unique questionnaire questions. The questions should be logical and follow a series of numbers. Close-ended questions are used in the writing of dissertation or thesis questionnaires.

Step 5: Set the Perfect Scaling According to Your Questions

Scaling is used to calculate the response of the participants. Researchers should set the perfect scaling according to the nature of the questions. The Likert scale is the most widely used in questionnaires. It allows researchers to generate responses of participants from the right extreme to the left extreme.

Step 6: Creatively Design the Questionnaire to Enhance Its Visual Appeal

The next step is designing the layout of the questionnaire. It is crucial to enhance the visual appeal of the questionnaire. The design and colour of the questionnaire should be selected according to the theme of the topic. Moreover, a graphically appealing questionnaire also enhances the engagement of readers.

Step 7: Analysing & Evaluation the Questionnaire To Remove Discrepancies

The most important step after designing is analysing and evaluating. This step will allow you to fill gaps if there are any. Check the alignment of the questions and scaling. The numbering should be perfect. The colouring and design should also be on point. This step proceeds with the testing.

Step 8: Pretest With a Small Population and Collect Necessary Feedback

After completing the questionnaire, prepare to pretest it with a small population. Check the responses of the participants thoroughly. Be open to feedback and criticism. It will help you consider revisions and alterations and improve your questionnaire.

Step 9: Revise to Make Changes To Enhance the Quality

If there are any changes required in the questionnaire, make them immediately. Revise your questionnaire again and again to illuminate even a minor mistake. Also, take feedback from your peers to further enhance the quality of your questionnaire.

Step 10: Finalising the Questionnaire and Launching it for the Research

When all the required changes and revisions are made, it’s time to finalise the questionnaire. Again, go through all its important obligations and ensure everything is in perfect shape. When everything is done from your side, it’s time to finalise and launch it for the actual research.

Dissertation Questionnaire Examples

Here, we’ll discuss the sample and template of the dissertation questionnaire to understand how it looks. This will significantly help us create our dissertation questionnaire.

Dissertation Questionnaire Template

Here is a template of the dissertation questionnaire:

[Introduction of the Researcher with all the key objectives briefly explained.]

[Questionnaire consent Form]

Dissertation Questionnaire Example

Introduction: Hello. My name is ……….. I am currently studying at………………. and doing my …………………………. I am conducting this research to [agenda of the study].This research will help me to provide solutions to all these problems:

[Problems and solutions]

This questionnaire contains XX questions. It will just take 15 minutes to complete it. All your personal information and responses will be kept anonymous from other participants. There are both open-ended and close-ended questions. Answer them honestly. Thank you.

Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions

• Are you a male or a female?

• Have you completed your bachelor’s degree?

• Did you study your major according to your passion?
• Are you doing a job related to your degree?
• Are you satisfied with your current job?

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a dissertation questionnaire be.

The length of your questionnaire should be according to your objectives. There is no fixed number of questions in a questionnaire. Some questionnaires are basic, some are exploratory, and some are in-depth. However, an ideal questionnaire should be completed in 25 to 30 minutes without losing the participant’s interest. 

How many questions should a dissertation questionnaire have?

It’s entirely up to you to add as many questions as you want. Remember that you should add enough questions to complete your research objectives. Avoid adding excessive questions, as they can be boring for participants.

How to analyse a questionnaire for a dissertation?

These are the necessary tips to analyse a questionnaire for a dissertation: 

• Pile up all the responses 
• Analyse all the questions
• Visualise the collected data
• Interpretation of results

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Home » Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Table of Contents

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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Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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How to Design Effective Research Questionnaires for Robust Findings

As a staple in data collection, questionnaires help uncover robust and reliable findings that can transform industries, shape policies, and revolutionize understanding. Whether you are exploring societal trends or delving into scientific phenomena, the effectiveness of your research questionnaire can make or break your findings.

In this article, we aim to understand the core purpose of questionnaires, exploring how they serve as essential tools for gathering systematic data, both qualitative and quantitative, from diverse respondents. Read on as we explore the key elements that make up a winning questionnaire, the art of framing questions which are both compelling and rigorous, and the careful balance between simplicity and depth.

Table of Contents

The Role of Questionnaires in Research

So, what is a questionnaire? A questionnaire is a structured set of questions designed to collect information, opinions, attitudes, or behaviors from respondents. It is one of the most commonly used data collection methods in research. Moreover, questionnaires can be used in various research fields, including social sciences, market research, healthcare, education, and psychology. Their adaptability makes them suitable for investigating diverse research questions.

Questionnaire and survey  are two terms often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings in the context of research. A survey refers to the broader process of data collection that may involve various methods. A survey can encompass different data collection techniques, such as interviews , focus groups, observations, and yes, questionnaires.

Pros and Cons of Using Questionnaires in Research:

While questionnaires offer numerous advantages in research, they also come with some disadvantages that researchers must be aware of and address appropriately. Careful questionnaire design, validation, and consideration of potential biases can help mitigate these disadvantages and enhance the effectiveness of using questionnaires as a data collection method.

Structured vs Unstructured Questionnaires

Structured questionnaire:.

A structured questionnaire consists of questions with predefined response options. Respondents are presented with a fixed set of choices and are required to select from those options. The questions in a structured questionnaire are designed to elicit specific and quantifiable responses. Structured questionnaires are particularly useful for collecting quantitative data and are often employed in surveys and studies where standardized and comparable data are necessary.

Advantages of Structured Questionnaires:

• Easy to analyze and interpret: The fixed response options facilitate straightforward data analysis and comparison across respondents.
• Efficient for large-scale data collection: Structured questionnaires are time-efficient, allowing researchers to collect data from a large number of respondents.
• Reduces response bias: The predefined response options minimize potential response bias and maintain consistency in data collection.

Limitations of Structured Questionnaires:

• Lack of depth: Structured questionnaires may not capture in-depth insights or nuances as respondents are limited to pre-defined response choices. Hence, they may not reveal the reasons behind respondents’ choices, limiting the understanding of their perspectives.
• Limited flexibility: The fixed response options may not cover all potential responses, therefore, potentially restricting respondents’ answers.

Unstructured Questionnaire:

An unstructured questionnaire consists of questions that allow respondents to provide detailed and unrestricted responses. Unlike structured questionnaires, there are no predefined response options, giving respondents the freedom to express their thoughts in their own words. Furthermore, unstructured questionnaires are valuable for collecting qualitative data and obtaining in-depth insights into respondents’ experiences, opinions, or feelings.

Advantages of Unstructured Questionnaires:

• Rich qualitative data: Unstructured questionnaires yield detailed and comprehensive qualitative data, providing valuable and novel insights into respondents’ perspectives.
• Flexibility in responses: Respondents have the freedom to express themselves in their own words. Hence, allowing for a wide range of responses.

Limitations of Unstructured Questionnaires:

• Time-consuming analysis: Analyzing open-ended responses can be time-consuming, since, each response requires careful reading and interpretation.
• Subjectivity in interpretation: The analysis of open-ended responses may be subjective, as researchers interpret and categorize responses based on their judgment.
• May require smaller sample size: Due to the depth of responses, researchers may need a smaller sample size for comprehensive analysis, making generalizations more challenging.

Types of Questions in a Questionnaire

In a questionnaire, researchers typically use the following most common types of questions to gather a variety of information from respondents:

1. Open-Ended Questions:

These questions allow respondents to provide detailed and unrestricted responses in their own words. Open-ended questions are valuable for gathering qualitative data and in-depth insights.

Example: What suggestions do you have for improving our product?

2. Multiple-Choice Questions

Respondents choose one answer from a list of provided options. This type of question is suitable for gathering categorical data or preferences.

Example: Which of the following social media/academic networking platforms do you use to promote your research?

• ResearchGate
• Academia.edu

3. Dichotomous Questions

Respondents choose between two options, typically “yes” or “no”, “true” or “false”, or “agree” or “disagree”.

Example: Have you ever published in open access journals before?

4. Scaling Questions

These questions, also known as rating scale questions, use a predefined scale that allows respondents to rate or rank their level of agreement, satisfaction, importance, or other subjective assessments. These scales help researchers quantify subjective data and make comparisons across respondents.

There are several types of scaling techniques used in scaling questions:

i. Likert Scale:

The Likert scale is one of the most common scaling techniques. It presents respondents with a series of statements and asks them to rate their level of agreement or disagreement using a range of options, typically from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.For example: Please indicate your level of agreement with the statement: “The content presented in the webinar was relevant and aligned with the advertised topic.”

• Strongly Agree
• Strongly Disagree

ii. Semantic Differential Scale:

The semantic differential scale measures respondents’ perceptions or attitudes towards an item using opposite adjectives or bipolar words. Respondents rate the item on a scale between the two opposites. For example:

• Easy —— Difficult
• Satisfied —— Unsatisfied
• Very likely —— Very unlikely

iii. Numerical Rating Scale:

This scale requires respondents to provide a numerical rating on a predefined scale. It can be a simple 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 scale, where higher numbers indicate higher agreement, satisfaction, or importance.

iv. Ranking Questions:

Respondents rank items in order of preference or importance. Ranking questions help identify preferences or priorities.

Example: Please rank the following features of our app in order of importance (1 = Most Important, 5 = Least Important):

• User Interface
• Functionality
• Customer Support

By using a mix of question types, researchers can gather both quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive understanding of the research topic and enabling meaningful analysis and interpretation of the results. The choice of question types depends on the research objectives , the desired depth of information, and the data analysis requirements.

Methods of Administering Questionnaires

There are several methods for administering questionnaires, and the choice of method depends on factors such as the target population, research objectives , convenience, and resources available. Here are some common methods of administering questionnaires:

Each method has its advantages and limitations. Online surveys offer convenience and a large reach, but they may be limited to individuals with internet access. Face-to-face interviews allow for in-depth responses but can be time-consuming and costly. Telephone surveys have broad reach but may be limited by declining response rates. Researchers should choose the method that best suits their research objectives, target population, and available resources to ensure successful data collection.

How to Design a Questionnaire

Designing a good questionnaire is crucial for gathering accurate and meaningful data that aligns with your research objectives. Here are essential steps and tips to create a well-designed questionnaire:

1. Define Your Research Objectives : Clearly outline the purpose and specific information you aim to gather through the questionnaire.

2. Identify Your Target Audience : Understand respondents’ characteristics and tailor the questionnaire accordingly.

3. Develop the Questions :

• Write Clear and Concise Questions
• Avoid Leading or Biasing Questions
• Sequence Questions Logically
• Group Related Questions
• Include Demographic Questions

4. Provide Well-defined Response Options : Offer exhaustive response choices for closed-ended questions.

5. Consider Skip Logic and Branching : Customize the questionnaire based on previous answers.

6. Pilot Test the Questionnaire : Identify and address issues through a pilot study .

7. Seek Expert Feedback : Validate the questionnaire with subject matter experts.

8. Obtain Ethical Approval : Comply with ethical guidelines , obtain consent, and ensure confidentiality before administering the questionnaire.

9. Administer the Questionnaire : Choose the right mode and provide clear instructions.

10. Test the Survey Platform : Ensure compatibility and usability for online surveys.

By following these steps and paying attention to questionnaire design principles, you can create a well-structured and effective questionnaire that gathers reliable data and helps you achieve your research objectives.

Characteristics of a Good Questionnaire

A good questionnaire possesses several essential elements that contribute to its effectiveness. Furthermore, these characteristics ensure that the questionnaire is well-designed, easy to understand, and capable of providing valuable insights. Here are some key characteristics of a good questionnaire:

1. Clarity and Simplicity : Questions should be clear, concise, and unambiguous. Avoid using complex language or technical terms that may confuse respondents. Simple and straightforward questions ensure that respondents interpret them consistently.

2. Relevance and Focus : Each question should directly relate to the research objectives and contribute to answering the research questions. Consequently, avoid including extraneous or irrelevant questions that could lead to data clutter.

3. Mix of Question Types : Utilize a mix of question types, including open-ended, Likert scale, and multiple-choice questions. This variety allows for both qualitative and quantitative data collections .

4. Validity and Reliability : Ensure the questionnaire measures what it intends to measure (validity) and produces consistent results upon repeated administration (reliability). Validation should be conducted through expert review and previous research.

5. Appropriate Length : Keep the questionnaire’s length appropriate and manageable to avoid respondent fatigue or dropouts. Long questionnaires may result in incomplete or rushed responses.

6. Clear Instructions : Include clear instructions at the beginning of the questionnaire to guide respondents on how to complete it. Explain any technical terms, formats, or concepts if necessary.

7. User-Friendly Format : Design the questionnaire to be visually appealing and user-friendly. Use consistent formatting, adequate spacing, and a logical page layout.

8. Data Validation and Cleaning : Incorporate validation checks to ensure data accuracy and reliability. Consider mechanisms to detect and correct inconsistent or missing responses during data cleaning.

By incorporating these characteristics, researchers can create a questionnaire that maximizes data quality, minimizes response bias, and provides valuable insights for their research.

In the pursuit of advancing research and gaining meaningful insights, investing time and effort into designing effective questionnaires is a crucial step. A well-designed questionnaire is more than a mere set of questions; it is a masterpiece of precision and ingenuity. Each question plays a vital role in shaping the narrative of our research, guiding us through the labyrinth of data to meaningful conclusions. Indeed, a well-designed questionnaire serves as a powerful tool for unlocking valuable insights and generating robust findings that impact society positively.

Have you ever designed a research questionnaire? Reflect on your experience and share your insights with researchers globally through Enago Academy’s Open Blogging Platform . Join our diverse community of 1000K+ researchers and authors to exchange ideas, strategies, and best practices, and together, let’s shape the future of data collection and maximize the impact of questionnaires in the ever-evolving landscape of research.

Frequently Asked Questions

A research questionnaire is a structured tool used to gather data from participants in a systematic manner. It consists of a series of carefully crafted questions designed to collect specific information related to a research study.

Questionnaires play a pivotal role in both quantitative and qualitative research, enabling researchers to collect insights, opinions, attitudes, or behaviors from respondents. This aids in hypothesis testing, understanding, and informed decision-making, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and facilitating comparisons.

Questionnaires are a versatile tool employed in various research designs to gather data efficiently and comprehensively. They find extensive use in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, making them a fundamental component of research across disciplines. Some research designs that commonly utilize questionnaires include: a) Cross-Sectional Studies b) Longitudinal Studies c) Descriptive Research d) Correlational Studies e) Causal-Comparative Studies f) Experimental Research g) Survey Research h) Case Studies i) Exploratory Research

A survey is a comprehensive data collection method that can include various techniques like interviews and observations. A questionnaire is a specific set of structured questions within a survey designed to gather standardized responses. While a survey is a broader approach, a questionnaire is a focused tool for collecting specific data.

The choice of questionnaire type depends on the research objectives, the type of data required, and the preferences of respondents. Some common types include: • Structured Questionnaires: These questionnaires consist of predefined, closed-ended questions with fixed response options. They are easy to analyze and suitable for quantitative research. • Semi-Structured Questionnaires: These questionnaires combine closed-ended questions with open-ended ones. They offer more flexibility for respondents to provide detailed explanations. • Unstructured Questionnaires: These questionnaires contain open-ended questions only, allowing respondents to express their thoughts and opinions freely. They are commonly used in qualitative research.

Following these steps ensures effective questionnaire administration for reliable data collection: • Choose a Method: Decide on online, face-to-face, mail, or phone administration. • Online Surveys: Use platforms like SurveyMonkey • Pilot Test: Test on a small group before full deployment • Clear Instructions: Provide concise guidelines • Follow-Up: Send reminders if needed

Thank you, Riya. This is quite helpful. As discussed, response bias is one of the disadvantages in the use of questionnaires. One way to help limit this can be to use scenario based questions. These type of questions may help the respondents to be more reflective and active in the process.

Thank you, Dear Riya. This is quite helpful.

Great insights there Doc

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Best practice in questionnaire design

The following guide to developing questionnaire items and organising the questionnaire is based on best practice (Gehlbach & Brinkworth, 2011; Gehlbach & Artino Jr., 2018). These best practices have been tested across over 40 years of research (Krosnick & Presser, 2010; Schwarz, 1999).

Best practice for creating items

Word items as questions rather than statements and avoid 'agree-disagree' response options.

Agree-disagree response options may introduce acquiescence bias, which is the tendency to agree with an item regardless of its content (Wright, 1975). Asking respondents to rate their level of agreement to different statements can be cognitively demanding, which increases respondent error and reduces respondent effort (Fowler, 2009). Instead, use verbally labelled response options that reinforce the underlying topic (e.g., the responses for “How happy are you?” would be not at all happy, slightly happy, somewhat happy, quite happy, extremely happy). Empirical evidence demonstrates that agree-disagree response options diminish item quality (Saris, Revilla, Krosnick, Schaeffer, & Shaeffer, 2010), and are among the “worst ways to present items” (Gehlbach & Artino Jr., 2018, p. 361).

Use verbal labels for each response option

Use verbal labels for each response option, rather than labelling only the end points of the response options or labelling with both numbers and verbal labels. This helps to focus the attention of the respondent and reduce measurement error (Artino, Jr. & Gehlbach, 2012).

Ask about one idea at a time

Ask about one idea at a time rather than using double-barrelled items, which ask about two or more ideas in the same question (e.g., instead of asking, “How happy and engaged are you?” ask two questions, one about happiness and one about engagement). If you use double-barrelled items, you risk students responding to only one part of that item (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2014)

Phrase questions with positive language

Phrase questions with positive language rather than using reverse scored or negative language, which students tend to have trouble understanding. Negative words are more difficult to process cognitively, which leads these items to take longer to answer and leads to misresponses (Swain, Weathers, & Niedrich, 2008).

Use at least five response options per scale

Use at least five response options per scale to capture a wider range of perceptions. Research indicates that the “sweet spot” of the number of response anchors is about five (Weng, 2004; Nielsen, Makransky, Vang, & Danmeyer, 2017). A five-item scale that assesses a representative cross-section of a student’s experience should improve measurement (Gehlbach & Artino Jr., 2018).

Maintain equal spacing between repsonse options. Use additional space to visually separate non-substansive response options

Maintain equal spacing between response options, and use additional space to visually separate non-substantive response options. This will reinforce the notion that conceptually, there is equal distance between each response option, which yields less biased responses. Moreover, this will help align the visual midpoint with the conceptual midpoint, reducing measurement error (Artino, Jr. & Gehlbach, 2012). This is especially important if you are administering your questionnaire on paper. Electronic questionnaire administrators such as Qualtrics will space response options equally, and you will have to be aware to add an extra space to separate non-substantive response options (e.g., ‘N/A’). To see some examples, check out the resources for evaluating self-efficacy and take a look at this visual guide ).

Best practice for organising the whole questionnaire

This guidance has been summarised from Gehlbach and Artino (2018).

Ask the more important items earlier in the questionnaire

This will increase the likelihood that respondents will answer these questions whilst they are focused and have energy.

Ensure each item applies to each respondent

Make sure that item content applies to each respondent and is worded accessibly, or you risk alienating respondents to whom the item does not apply (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2014).

Use scales rather than single items

Scales bolster accuracy, with each question addressing a representative cross-section of the experience.

Maintain a consistent visual layout of the questionnaire

This helps maintain clarity for the respondent, who can then complete the questionnaire more efficiently.

Place sensitive items (e.g. demographic questions) later in the questionnaire

Respondents will feel more comfortable sharing this information later on in the questionnaire.

Artino, Jr., A. R., & Gehlbach, H. (2012). AM Last Page: Avoiding Four Visual-Design Pitfalls in Survey Development. Academic Medicine, 87 (10), 1452. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hunter_Gehlbach/publication/231210670_AM_Last_Page_Avoiding_Four_Visual-Design_Pitfalls_in_Survey_Development/links/5a835de6aca272d6501eb6a3/AM-Last-Page-Avoiding-Four-Visual-Design-Pitfalls-in-Survey-Development.pdf

Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2014). Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method (4th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Gehlbach, H., & Artino Jr., A. R. (2018). The survey checklist (manifesto). Academic Medicine, 93 (3), 360-366. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/fulltext/2018/03000/The_Survey_Checklist__Manifesto_.18.aspx#pdf-link

Gehlbach, H., & Brinkworth, M. E. (2011). Measure twice, cut down error: A process for enhancing the validity of survey scales. Review of General Psychology, 15 (4), 380-387. Retrieved from https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8138346/Gehlbach%20-%20Measure%20twice%208-31-11.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Krosnick, J. A., & Presser, S. (2010). Question and questionnaire design. In P. V. Marsden, & J. D. Wright (Eds.), Handbook of Survey Research. Bingley, England: Emerald Group Publishing.

Nielsen, T., Makransky, G., Vang, M. L., & Danmeyer, J. (2017). How specific is specific self-efficacy? A construct validity study using Raschmeasurement models. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 53 , 87-97.

Saris, W. E., Revilla, M., Krosnick, J. A., Schaeffer, E. M., & Shaeffer, E. M. (2010). Comparing questions with agree/disagree response options to questions with item-specific response options. Survey Research Methods, 4 , 61-79.

Schwarz, N. (1999). Self-reports: how the questions shape the answers. American Psychology, 54 , 93-105.

Swain, S. D., Weathers, D., & Niedrich, R. W. (2008). Assessing three sources of misreponse to reversed Likert items. Journal of Marketing Research, 45 , 116-131.

Weng, L. -J. (2004). Impact of the number of response categories and anchor labels on coefficient alpha and test-retest reliability. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64 , 956-972. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0013164404268674

Wright, J. D. (1975). Does acquiescence bias the 'Index of Political Efficacy?'. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 39 (2), 219-226.

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Find out how to use a dissertation questionnaire for your masters.

Prof Martyn Denscombe, author of " The Good Research Guide, 6th edition ", gives expert advice on using a questionnaire survey for your postgraduate dissertation.

Questionnaire surveys are a well-established way of collecting data. They work with relatively small-scale research projects so design and deliver research questionnaires quickly and cheaply. When it comes to conducting research for a master’s dissertation, questionnaire surveys feature prominently as the method of choice.

Using the post for bulky and lengthy surveys is normal. Sometimes questionnaires go by hand. The popularity of questionnaire surveys is principally due to the benefits of using online web-based questionnaires. There are two main aspects to this.

Designing questionnaires

First, the software for producing and delivering web questionnaires. Simple to use features such as drop-down menus and tick-box answers, is user-friendly and inexpensive.

Second, online surveys make it possible to contact people across the globe without travelling anywhere. Given the time and resource constraints faced when producing a dissertation, makes online surveys all the more enticing. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is great for contacting people to participate in the survey.

In the context of a master’s dissertation, however, the quality of the survey data is a vital issue. The grade for the dissertation will depend on being able to defend the use of the data from the survey. This is the basis for advanced, master’s level academic enquiry.

Pro's and con's

It is not good enough to simply rely on getting 100 or so people to complete your questionnaire. Be aware of the pros and cons of questionnaire surveys. You need to justify the value of the data you have collected in the face of probing questions, such as:

• Who are the respondents and how they were selected?
• How representative are the respondents of the whole group being studied?
• What response rate was achieved by the survey?
• Are the questions suitable in relation to the topic and the particular respondents?
• What likelihood is there that respondents gave honest answers to the questions?

This is where The Good Research Guide, 6th edition becomes so valuable.

It identifies the key points that need to be addressed in order to conduct a competent questionnaire survey. It gets right to the heart of the matter, with plenty of practical guidance on how to deal with issues.

In a straightforward style, using plain language, this bestselling book covers a range of alternative strategies and methods for conducting small-scale social research projects and outlines some of the main ways in which the data can be analysed.

Read Prof Martyn Denscombe's advice on using a Case Study for your postgraduate dissertation.

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How to Design a Questionnaire

Bryn Farnsworth

In this guide on how to design a questionnaire, we take you through what a good questionnaire is, how to perfect your design and questions, as well as how best to implement the questionnaire in your research. At the end of the guide, readers will have a thorough understanding of how to design a questionnaire, as well as have the opportunity to download our experimental design guide for free for future reference when building studies and experiments.

Table of Contents

If you want to find out something about a person, you’d usually just ask them. If you want to ask a few questions for a group of people, maybe you’d get together as a group. If you want to do research on the answers, you’d give them a questionnaire.

Questionnaires are a crucial part of research. There are many other tools that are used to find out about how people think, feel, and act, but the act of asking remains central to finding out what people explicitly think.

While questionnaires have likely been used for hundreds of years [1], the first recorded instance arose from the result of the work of Adolphe Quetelet , a French polymath, in 1835. He was interested in applying the same rigorous methodologies applied to natural science as to the humanities. By recording – through questionnaires (well, technically surveys) – the physical characteristics of soldiers, he essentially invented the field of sociology. This all goes to say: questionnaires can be powerful things.

Despite the lengthy and illustrious history of questionnaires, they are still not used necessarily in the right way. There remain various ways to carry out such work, and many pitfalls abound.

Below, we will define what a questionnaire actually is (including what separates it from surveys), and provide a guide to making one in the best possible way.

What are questionnaires?

Questionnaires are a set of written questions designed to gather standardized information about the opinions, preferences, experiences, intentions, and behavior of individuals, and can be devised for the purposes of a scientific study. Traditionally, they have been said to contrast with surveys in the sense that they do not collect mass data for further analysis, however the terms are largely used interchangeably these days (and many research studies also use them together).

While questionnaires provide a comparatively cheap, prompt, and efficient means of obtaining large amounts of information, questionnaire design is a multistage process that requires attention to a number of aspects at the same time to gather the information you seek. Why exactly is that?

Depending on the kind of information you aim to acquire, questions need to be asked in varying degrees of detail and in specific ways.

Given the same topic, it’s rather likely that different researchers will come up with different questionnaires that vary widely in their choice of questions, a line of questioning, use of open-ended questions, and length.

Question everything – what makes a good questionnaire?

Basically, well-designed questionnaires are highly structured to allow the same types of information to be collected from a large number of respondents in the same way and for data to be analyzed quantitatively .

Open and Closed Questionnaire Formats

Among others, the design of your questionnaire will depend on whether you choose an open format to collect exploratory information or a closed format to acquire quantitative data.

Advantages of open format:

• Allows to explore the range of possible topics arising from your research question
• Supports the understanding and generation of hypotheses on a topic

Advantages of closed format (multiple choice):

• Easy and quick to complete
• Ensures all respondents receive same stimuli
• Easy to record and analyze results quantitatively

Now how should you go about it? Planning and preparation are key. Although questionnaire design can seem simple at the surface, there are several components you want to make sure you get right. Before you know how to exactly phrase your questions, you need to define the goals and aims of your research, understand who you’ll be talking to, and design everything accordingly. Below, we go through exactly how to do this.

Six steps to good questionnaire design

#1: identify your research aims and the goal of your questionnaire.

What kind of information do you want to gather with your questionnaire? What is your main objective?

Ideally, there are already existing questionnaires that have been validated by published research that you can use (or maybe just to borrow a couple of ideas from). This can occur frequently within psychological research, as there is a broad range of research being carried out in a variety of different fields.

While this can be quite common, it’s not always the case. It might, for example, be rather difficult to find or reuse existing questionnaires for commercial applications. In this case, you might still be able to draw inspiration from pre-existing research, although greater care in the following steps will likely be needed.

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#2: Define your target respondents

Clearly, you can’t test everyone – it’s rather plausible that there have to be certain restrictions with respect to the target audience of your questionnaire. The selection of groups is a key factor for maximizing the robustness of your study.

Another aspect to consider is whether you want to run multiple questionnaire sessions over a longer period of time with a single group ( longitudinal design ), or if you want to present your questionnaire once to two or more groups ( cross-sectional design ).

While the former allows you to analyze how the questionnaire results of the group change over time, the latter delivers insights into differences among groups.

#3: Develop questions

Smart questions are the cornerstone of every questionnaire. To make them work, they have to be phrased in a way that prevents any misunderstandings or ambiguities.

It’s often a lost cause trying to analyze data from a questionnaire where people have mixed things up, selected incorrect answers or haven’t been able to read or understand the questions at all.

It makes a significant difference whether you want to hand a questionnaire to children, adults, or maybe even elderly participants. It’s important to consider the cognitive, attentional, and sensory competencies of your target group – handing out long questionnaires with a huge amount of questions in small letter print and complicated phrasing might be too taxing for many participant groups.

Additionally, remember to avoid jargon or technical language – the text needs to be fully understood by anyone completing the questionnaire.

#4: Choose your question type

There’s a wide variety in how to phrase questions. In explorative questionnaires, you will find mainly open questions, where participants can fill in any answer (this makes sense whenever you try to gain an understanding of the topics associated with your research question).

By contrast, quantitative questionnaires primarily include closed-questions, which have been predefined by the researcher either in form of multiple choice answers or rating scales (such as the Likert scale ).

Here’s one example:

Open question:

“What did you like about the webinar?”

Closed question:

“The webinar was useful.”

[  ] Strongly agree

[  ] Agree

[  ] Cannot decide

[  ] Disagree

[  ] Strongly disagree

As is usually the case, both types of questions have benefits and drawbacks that are worth considering in order to come up with a solid questionnaire design that does the trick for you.

Besides open and closed-format questions, there are several other types of questions that you can use in your questionnaire.

#5:  Design question sequence and overall layout

After optimizing each question separately it is time to improve the overall flow and layout of the questionnaire.

Are there transitions from one question to the next? Are follow-up questions placed correctly? Are skip-rules implemented (if needed) so that participants can skip questions that do not apply to them?

Keep up with the latest in human behavior research and technological developments

#6: Run a pilot

This stage is crucial for evaluation and optimization purposes. Any questionnaire should be handed to a representative sample of your target audience before you go further with it.

During piloting, you can identify issues in readability and understanding, in phrasing and overall arrangement. It could be helpful to discuss the questionnaire with pilot participants to better understand their experience. Also, keep in mind to evaluate your pilot data statistically to make sure that the analytic procedures of interest truly can be applied to the data.

I hope this post helps you set out your questionnaire or survey design. If you’d like to learn more about the fundamentals of experimental design, then download our free guide below.

Free 44-page Experimental Design Guide

For Beginners and Intermediates

• Introduction to experimental methods
• Respondent management with groups and populations
• How to set up stimulus selection and arrangement

[1] Gault, R. (1907). A History of the Questionnaire Method of Research in Psychology. The Pedagogical Seminary , 14(3), 366-383. doi: 10.1080/08919402.1907.10532551

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How to Design and Frame a Questionnaire

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How to Develop a Questionnaire for Research

Last Updated: July 21, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed. . Alexander Ruiz is an Educational Consultant and the Educational Director of Link Educational Institute, a tutoring business based in Claremont, California that provides customizable educational plans, subject and test prep tutoring, and college application consulting. With over a decade and a half of experience in the education industry, Alexander coaches students to increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence while achieving skills and the goal of achieving skills and higher education. He holds a BA in Psychology from Florida International University and an MA in Education from Georgia Southern University. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 593,433 times.

A questionnaire is a technique for collecting data in which a respondent provides answers to a series of questions. [1] X Research source To develop a questionnaire that will collect the data you want takes effort and time. However, by taking a step-by-step approach to questionnaire development, you can come up with an effective means to collect data that will answer your unique research question.

Designing Your Questionnaire

• Come up with a research question. It can be one question or several, but this should be the focal point of your questionnaire.
• Develop one or several hypotheses that you want to test. The questions that you include on your questionnaire should be aimed at systematically testing these hypotheses.

• Dichotomous question: this is a question that will generally be a “yes/no” question, but may also be an “agree/disagree” question. It is the quickest and simplest question to analyze, but is not a highly sensitive measure.
• Open-ended questions: these questions allow the respondent to respond in their own words. They can be useful for gaining insight into the feelings of the respondent, but can be a challenge when it comes to analysis of data. It is recommended to use open-ended questions to address the issue of “why.” [2] X Research source
• Multiple choice questions: these questions consist of three or more mutually-exclusive categories and ask for a single answer or several answers. [3] X Research source Multiple choice questions allow for easy analysis of results, but may not give the respondent the answer they want.
• Rank-order (or ordinal) scale questions: this type of question asks your respondent to rank items or choose items in a particular order from a set. For example, it might ask your respondents to order five things from least to most important. These types of questions forces discrimination among alternatives, but does not address the issue of why the respondent made these discriminations. [4] X Research source
• Rating scale questions: these questions allow the respondent to assess a particular issue based on a given dimension. You can provide a scale that gives an equal number of positive and negative choices, for example, ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” [5] X Research source These questions are very flexible, but also do not answer the question “why.”

• Write questions that are succinct and simple. You should not be writing complex statements or using technical jargon, as it will only confuse your respondents and lead to incorrect responses.
• Ask only one question at a time. This will help avoid confusion
• Asking questions such as these usually require you to anonymize or encrypt the demographic data you collect.
• Determine if you will include an answer such as “I don’t know” or “Not applicable to me.” While these can give your respondents a way of not answering certain questions, providing these options can also lead to missing data, which can be problematic during data analysis.
• Put the most important questions at the beginning of your questionnaire. This can help you gather important data even if you sense that your respondents may be becoming distracted by the end of the questionnaire.

• Only include questions that are directly useful to your research question. [8] X Trustworthy Source Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for leading international efforts to end world hunger and improve nutrition Go to source A questionnaire is not an opportunity to collect all kinds of information about your respondents.
• Avoid asking redundant questions. This will frustrate those who are taking your questionnaire.

• Consider if you want your questionnaire to collect information from both men and women. Some studies will only survey one sex.
• Consider including a range of ages in your target demographic. For example, you can consider young adult to be 18-29 years old, adults to be 30-54 years old, and mature adults to be 55+. Providing the an age range will help you get more respondents than limiting yourself to a specific age.
• Consider what else would make a person a target for your questionnaire. Do they need to drive a car? Do they need to have health insurance? Do they need to have a child under 3? Make sure you are very clear about this before you distribute your questionnaire.

• Consider an anonymous questionnaire. You may not want to ask for names on your questionnaire. This is one step you can take to prevent privacy, however it is often possible to figure out a respondent’s identity using other demographic information (such as age, physical features, or zipcode).
• Consider de-identifying the identity of your respondents. Give each questionnaire (and thus, each respondent) a unique number or word, and only refer to them using that new identifier. Shred any personal information that can be used to determine identity.
• Remember that you do not need to collect much demographic information to be able to identify someone. People may be wary to provide this information, so you may get more respondents by asking less demographic questions (if it is possible for your questionnaire).
• Make sure you destroy all identifying information after your study is complete.

Writing your questionnaire

• My name is Jack Smith and I am one of the creators of this questionnaire. I am part of the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan, where I am focusing in developing cognition in infants.
• I’m Kelly Smith, a 3rd year undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico. This questionnaire is part of my final exam in statistics.
• My name is Steve Johnson, and I’m a marketing analyst for The Best Company. I’ve been working on questionnaire development to determine attitudes surrounding drug use in Canada for several years.

• I am collecting data regarding the attitudes surrounding gun control. This information is being collected for my Anthropology 101 class at the University of Maryland.
• This questionnaire will ask you 15 questions about your eating and exercise habits. We are attempting to make a correlation between healthy eating, frequency of exercise, and incidence of cancer in mature adults.
• This questionnaire will ask you about your recent experiences with international air travel. There will be three sections of questions that will ask you to recount your recent trips and your feelings surrounding these trips, as well as your travel plans for the future. We are looking to understand how a person’s feelings surrounding air travel impact their future plans.

• Beware that if you are collecting information for a university or for publication, you may need to check in with your institution’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) for permission before beginning. Most research universities have a dedicated IRB staff, and their information can usually be found on the school’s website.
• Remember that transparency is best. It is important to be honest about what will happen with the data you collect.
• Include an informed consent for if necessary. Note that you cannot guarantee confidentiality, but you will make all reasonable attempts to ensure that you protect their information. [11] X Research source

• Time yourself taking the survey. Then consider that it will take some people longer than you, and some people less time than you.
• Provide a time range instead of a specific time. For example, it’s better to say that a survey will take between 15 and 30 minutes than to say it will take 15 minutes and have some respondents quit halfway through.
• Use this as a reason to keep your survey concise! You will feel much better asking people to take a 20 minute survey than you will asking them to take a 3 hour one.

• Incentives can attract the wrong kind of respondent. You don’t want to incorporate responses from people who rush through your questionnaire just to get the reward at the end. This is a danger of offering an incentive. [12] X Research source
• Incentives can encourage people to respond to your survey who might not have responded without a reward. This is a situation in which incentives can help you reach your target number of respondents. [13] X Research source
• Consider the strategy used by SurveyMonkey. Instead of directly paying respondents to take their surveys, they offer 50 cents to the charity of their choice when a respondent fills out a survey. They feel that this lessens the chances that a respondent will fill out a questionnaire out of pure self-interest. [14] X Research source
• Consider entering each respondent in to a drawing for a prize if they complete the questionnaire. You can offer a 25$ gift card to a restaurant, or a new iPod, or a ticket to a movie. This makes it less tempting just to respond to your questionnaire for the incentive alone, but still offers the chance of a pleasant reward.

• Always proof read. Check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
• Include a title. This is a good way for your respondents to understand the focus of the survey as quickly as possible.
• Thank your respondents. Thank them for taking the time and effort to complete your survey.

Distributing Your Questionnaire

• Was the questionnaire easy to understand? Were there any questions that confused you?
• Was the questionnaire easy to access? (Especially important if your questionnaire is online).
• Do you feel the questionnaire was worth your time?
• Were you comfortable answering the questions asked?
• Are there any improvements you would make to the questionnaire?

• Use an online site, such as SurveyMonkey.com. This site allows you to write your own questionnaire with their survey builder, and provides additional options such as the option to buy a target audience and use their analytics to analyze your data. [18] X Research source
• Consider using the mail. If you mail your survey, always make sure you include a self-addressed stamped envelope so that the respondent can easily mail their responses back. Make sure that your questionnaire will fit inside a standard business envelope.
• Conduct face-to-face interviews. This can be a good way to ensure that you are reaching your target demographic and can reduce missing information in your questionnaires, as it is more difficult for a respondent to avoid answering a question when you ask it directly.
• Try using the telephone. While this can be a more time-effective way to collect your data, it can be difficult to get people to respond to telephone questionnaires.

• Make your deadline reasonable. Giving respondents up to 2 weeks to answer should be more than sufficient. Anything longer and you risk your respondents forgetting about your questionnaire.
• Consider providing a reminder. A week before the deadline is a good time to provide a gentle reminder about returning the questionnaire. Include a replacement of the questionnaire in case it has been misplaced by your respondent.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.questionpro.com/blog/what-is-a-questionnaire/
• ↑ https://www.hotjar.com/blog/open-ended-questions/
• ↑ https://www.questionpro.com/a/showArticle.do?articleID=survey-questions
• ↑ https://surveysparrow.com/blog/ranking-questions-examples/
• ↑ https://www.lumoa.me/blog/rating-scale/
• ↑ http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Soc_survey.shtml
• ↑ http://www.fao.org/docrep/W3241E/w3241e05.htm
• ↑ http://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/questionaires.htm
• ↑ https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/survey-rewards/
• ↑ http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/how-to-develop-a-questionnaire
• ↑ https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/take-a-tour/?ut_source=header

About This Article

To develop a questionnaire for research, identify the main objective of your research to act as the focal point for the questionnaire. Then, choose the type of questions that you want to include, and come up with succinct, straightforward questions to gather the information that you need to answer your questions. Keep your questionnaire as short as possible, and identify a target demographic who you would like to answer the questions. Remember to make the questionnaires as anonymous as possible to protect the integrity of the person answering the questions! For tips on writing out your questions and distributing the questionnaire, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Harvard University Program on Survey Research

• How to Frame and Explain the Survey Data Used in a Thesis

Surveys are a special research tool with strengths, weaknesses, and a language all of their own. There are many different steps to designing and conducting a survey, and survey researchers have specific ways of describing what they do.

This handout, based on an annual workshop offered by the Program on Survey Research at Harvard, is geared toward undergraduate honors thesis writers using survey data.

PSR Resources

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• Overview of Cognitive Testing and Questionnaire Evaluation
• Questionnaire Design Tip Sheet
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• Introduction to Surveys for Honors Thesis Writers
• PSR Introduction to the Survey Process
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• General Survey Reference
• Institutional Review Boards
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• Professional Organizations
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Your postgraduate student guide to using a research questionnaire for your dissertation

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Frequently asked questions.

There are a few key steps in creating a dissertation for use in your thesis. Firstly, you should think about the topic you are studying and who you need to respond to your questionnaire. You then need to think about how you can deliver the questions, this can be in the form of in-person interviews or emails. You can begin to formulate your questions and format.

Visit the Studying for a PhD section for more information and advice.

Prof Martyn Denscombe, author of “ The Good Research Guide, 6th edition ”, gives expert advice on using a questionnaire survey for your postgraduate dissertation.

Questionnaire surveys are a well-established way of collecting data. They can be used with relatively small-scale research projects, and research questionnaires can be designed and delivered quite quickly and cheaply. It is not surprising, therefore, that when it comes to conducting research for a master’s dissertation, questionnaire surveys feature prominently as the research method of choice.

Occasionally such thesis surveys will be sent out by post, and sometimes the questionnaires will be distributed by hand. But the popularity of questionnaire surveys in the context of master’s dissertations is principally due to the benefits of using online web-based questionnaires. There are two main aspects to this.

First, the software for producing and delivering web questionnaires, with their features such as drop-down menus and tick-box answers, is user-friendly and inexpensive.

Second, online surveys make it possible to contact people across the globe without travelling anywhere which, given the time and resource constraints faced when producing a dissertation, makes online surveys all the more enticing. (And, for the more adventurous students, there are also developing possibilities for the use of social media such as Facebook and SMS texts for contacting people to participate in the survey.)

In the context of a master’s dissertation, however, the quality of the survey data is a vital issue. The grade for the dissertation will depend on being able to defend the use of the data from the survey as the basis for advanced, master’s level academic enquiry. Which means it is not good enough to simply rely on getting 100 or so people to complete your questionnaire. Students are expected to be aware of the pros and cons of questionnaire surveys and to be able to justify the value of the data they have collected in the face of probing questions such as:

• Who are the respondents and how they were selected?
• How representative are the respondents of the whole group being studied?
• What response rate was achieved by the survey?
• Are the questions suitable in relation to the topic and the particular respondents?
• What likelihood is there that respondents gave honest answers to the questions?

This is where The Good Research Guide, 6th edition becomes so valuable.

It not only identifies the key points that need to be addressed in order to conduct a competent questionnaire survey, it gets right to the heart of the matter with plenty of practical guidance on how to deal with the issues. In a straightforward style, using plain language, this bestselling book covers a range of alternative strategies and methods for conducting small-scale social research projects and outlines some of the main ways in which the data can be analysed.

Read Prof Martyn Denscombe’s advice on using a Case Study for your postgraduate dissertation

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Dissertation surveys: Questions, examples, and best practices

Collect data for your dissertation with little effort and great results.

Dissertation surveys are one of the most powerful tools to get valuable insights and data for the culmination of your research. However, it’s one of the most stressful and time-consuming tasks you need to do. You want useful data from a representative sample that you can analyze and present as part of your dissertation. At SurveyPlanet, we’re committed to making it as easy and stress-free as possible to get the most out of your study.

With an intuitive and user-friendly design, our templates and premade questions can be your allies while creating a survey for your dissertation. Explore all the options we offer by simply signing up for an account—and leave the stress behind.

How to write dissertation survey questions

The first thing to do is to figure out which group of people is relevant for your study. When you know that, you’ll also be able to adjust the survey and write questions that will get the best results.

The next step is to write down the goal of your research and define it properly. Online surveys are one of the best and most inexpensive ways to reach respondents and achieve your goal.

Before writing any questions, think about how you’ll analyze the results. You don’t want to write and distribute a survey without keeping how to report your findings in mind. When your thesis questionnaire is out in the real world, it’s too late to conclude that the data you’re collecting might not be any good for assessment. Because of that, you need to create questions with analysis in mind.

You may find our five survey analysis tips for better insights helpful. We recommend reading it before analyzing your results.

Once you understand the parameters of your representative sample, goals, and analysis methodology, then it’s time to think about distribution. Survey distribution may feel like a headache, but you’ll find that many people will gladly participate.

Find communities where your targeted group hangs out and share the link to your survey with them. If you’re not sure how large your research sample should be, gauge it easily with the survey sample size calculator.

Need help with writing survey questions? Read our guide on well-written examples of good survey questions .

Dissertation survey examples

Whatever field you’re studying, we’re sure the following questions will prove useful when crafting your own.

At the beginning of every questionnaire, inform respondents of your topic and provide a consent form. After that, start with questions like:

• Please select your gender:
• What is the highest educational level you’ve completed?
• High school
• Bachelor degree
• Master’s degree
• On a scale of 1-7, how satisfied are you with your current job?
• Please rate the following statements:
• I always wait for people to text me first.
• Strongly Disagree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Strongly agree
• My friends always complain that I never invite them anywhere.
• I prefer spending time alone.
• Rank which personality traits are most important when choosing a partner. Rank 1 - 7, where 1 is the most and 7 is the least important.
• Flexibility
• Independence
• How openly do you share feelings with your partner?
• Almost never
• Almost always
• In the last two weeks, how often did you experience headaches?

Dissertation survey best practices

There are a lot of DOs and DON’Ts you should keep in mind when conducting any survey, especially for your dissertation. To get valuable data from your targeted sample, follow these best practices:

Use the consent form.

The consent form is a must when distributing a research questionnaire. A respondent has to know how you’ll use their answers and that the survey is anonymous.

Avoid leading and double-barreled questions

Leading and double-barreled questions will produce inconclusive results—and you don’t want that. A question such as: “Do you like to watch TV and play video games?” is double-barreled because it has two variables.

On the other hand, leading questions such as “On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate the amazing experience with our customer support?” influence respondents to answer in a certain way, which produces biased results.

Use easy and straightforward language and questions

Don’t use terms and professional jargon that respondents won’t understand. Take into consideration their educational level and demographic traits and use easy-to-understand language when writing questions.

Mix close-ended and open-ended questions

Too many open-ended questions will annoy respondents. Also, analyzing the responses is harder. Use more close-ended questions for the best results and only a few open-ended ones.

Strategically use different types of responses

Likert scale, multiple-choice, and ranking are all types of responses you can use to collect data. But some response types suit some questions better. Make sure to strategically fit questions with response types.

Ensure that data privacy is a priority

Make sure to use an online survey tool that has SSL encryption and secure data processing. You don’t want to risk all your hard work going to waste because of poorly managed data security. Ensure that you only collect data that’s relevant to your dissertation survey and leave out any questions (such as name) that can identify the respondents.

Create dissertation questionnaires with SurveyPlanet

Overall, survey methodology is a great way to find research participants for your research study. You have all the tools required for creating a survey for a dissertation with SurveyPlanet—you only need to sign up . With powerful features like question branching, custom formatting, multiple languages, image choice questions, and easy export you will find everything needed to create, distribute, and analyze a dissertation survey.

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Dissertation Questionnaire

Questionnaire generator.

A dissertation is a document usually a requirement for a doctoral degree especially in the field of philosophy. This long essay discusses a particular subject matter uses questionnaires   and other sources of data and is used to validate its content. The  questionnaire’s importance is evident in the processes of data gathering as it can make the dissertation factual, effective and usable.

Having a well-curated and formatted document to follow when making a dissertation can be very beneficial to an individual who is currently immersed in the data gathering stage of the specific research study. We have gathered downloadable samples and templates of questionnaires so it will be easier for you to curate your own.

Dissertation Timeline Gantt Chart Template

Size: 55 KB

Dissertation Research Gantt Chart Template

Size: 43 KB

Dissertation Project Gantt Chart Template

Size: 41 KB

Dissertation Plan Gantt Chart Template

Size: 51 KB

Dissertation Research Questionnaire

Size: 18 KB

Dissertation Proposal Questionnaire

Size: 131 KB

Sample Dissertation Questionnaire

Size: 10 KB

What Is a Dissertation Questionnaire?

A dissertation questionnaire can be defined as follows:

• It is a document used in the processes of data gathering.
• Questionnaires in PDF used for a dissertation contain questions that can help assess the current condition of the community which is the subject of study within the dissertation.
• It specifies the questions that are needed to be answered to assure that there is a basis in terms of the results that will be presented in a dissertation.

How to Write a Dissertation Questionnaire

Writing an efficient and comprehensive dissertation questionnaire can greatly affect the entire dissertation. You can make one by following these steps:

• Be specific with the kind of dissertation that you are creating and align the purposes of the dissertation questionnaire that you need to make to your study.
• List down the information needed from the community who will provide the answers to your questions.
• Open a software where you can create a questionnaire template. You may also download  survey questionnaire examples   and templates to have a faster time in formatting the document.
• The purpose of the dissertation questionnaire.
• The guidelines and instructions in answering the dissertation questions.
• The name of the person to who will use the questionnaire results to his/her dissertation.
• The institution to whom the dissertation will be passed.
• List down the questions based on your needs.

Undergraduate Dissertation Questionnaire

Size: 12 KB

Project Management Dissertation

Size: 54 KB

Guidelines for Writing a Dissertation Questionnaire

There are no strict rules in writing a dissertation questionnaire. However, there are some tips that can help you to create a dissertation questionnaire that is relevant to the study that you are currently doing. Some guidelines:

• Make sure that you are well aware of the data that is needed in your dissertation so you can properly curate questions that can supply your information needs.
• It will be best to use a dissertation questionnaire format that is organized, easy to understand, and properly structured. This will help the people who will answer the dissertation questionnaire quickly know how they can provide the items that you would like to know.
• Always make sure that your instructions in answering the questions are precise and directly stated.
• You may look at  questionnaires in Word   for comparisons. Doing this will help you assess whether there are still areas of improvement that you may tap with the content and format of the dissertation questionnaire that you have created.

Keeping this guidelines in mind and implementing them accordingly will allow you to create a dissertation questionnaire that is beneficial to the processes that you need to have an outstanding dissertation.

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• Questionnaire Design | Methods, Question Types & Examples

Questionnaire Design | Methods, Question Types & Examples

Published on 6 May 2022 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on 10 October 2022.

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.

Questionnaires are commonly used in market research as well as in the social and health sciences. For example, a company may ask for feedback about a recent customer service experience, or psychology researchers may investigate health risk perceptions using questionnaires.

Table of contents

Questionnaires vs surveys, questionnaire methods, open-ended vs closed-ended questions, question wording, question order, step-by-step guide to design, frequently asked questions about questionnaire design.

A survey is a research method where you collect and analyse data from a group of people. A questionnaire is a specific tool or instrument for collecting the data.

Designing a questionnaire means creating valid and reliable questions that address your research objectives, placing them in a useful order, and selecting an appropriate method for administration.

But designing a questionnaire is only one component of survey research. Survey research also involves defining the population you’re interested in, choosing an appropriate sampling method , administering questionnaires, data cleaning and analysis, and interpretation.

Sampling is important in survey research because you’ll often aim to generalise your results to the population. Gather data from a sample that represents the range of views in the population for externally valid results. There will always be some differences between the population and the sample, but minimising these will help you avoid sampling bias .

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Questionnaires can be self-administered or researcher-administered . Self-administered questionnaires are more common because they are easy to implement and inexpensive, but researcher-administered questionnaires allow deeper insights.

Self-administered questionnaires

Self-administered questionnaires can be delivered online or in paper-and-pen formats, in person or by post. All questions are standardised so that all respondents receive the same questions with identical wording.

Self-administered questionnaires can be:

• Cost-effective
• Easy to administer for small and large groups
• Anonymous and suitable for sensitive topics

But they may also be:

• Unsuitable for people with limited literacy or verbal skills
• Susceptible to a nonreponse bias (most people invited may not complete the questionnaire)
• Biased towards people who volunteer because impersonal survey requests often go ignored

Researcher-administered questionnaires

Researcher-administered questionnaires are interviews that take place by phone, in person, or online between researchers and respondents.

Researcher-administered questionnaires can:

• Help you ensure the respondents are representative of your target audience
• Allow clarifications of ambiguous or unclear questions and answers
• Have high response rates because it’s harder to refuse an interview when personal attention is given to respondents

But researcher-administered questionnaires can be limiting in terms of resources. They are:

• Costly and time-consuming to perform
• More difficult to analyse if you have qualitative responses
• Likely to contain experimenter bias or demand characteristics
• Likely to encourage social desirability bias in responses because of a lack of anonymity

Your questionnaire can include open-ended or closed-ended questions, or a combination of both.

Using closed-ended questions limits your responses, while open-ended questions enable a broad range of answers. You’ll need to balance these considerations with your available time and resources.

Closed-ended questions

Closed-ended, or restricted-choice, questions offer respondents a fixed set of choices to select from. Closed-ended questions are best for collecting data on categorical or quantitative variables.

Categorical variables can be nominal or ordinal. Quantitative variables can be interval or ratio. Understanding the type of variable and level of measurement means you can perform appropriate statistical analyses for generalisable results.

Examples of closed-ended questions for different variables

Nominal variables include categories that can’t be ranked, such as race or ethnicity. This includes binary or dichotomous categories.

It’s best to include categories that cover all possible answers and are mutually exclusive. There should be no overlap between response items.

In binary or dichotomous questions, you’ll give respondents only two options to choose from.

White Black or African American American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Ordinal variables include categories that can be ranked. Consider how wide or narrow a range you’ll include in your response items, and their relevance to your respondents.

Likert-type questions collect ordinal data using rating scales with five or seven points.

When you have four or more Likert-type questions, you can treat the composite data as quantitative data on an interval scale . Intelligence tests, psychological scales, and personality inventories use multiple Likert-type questions to collect interval data.

With interval or ratio data, you can apply strong statistical hypothesis tests to address your research aims.

Pros and cons of closed-ended questions

Well-designed closed-ended questions are easy to understand and can be answered quickly. However, you might still miss important answers that are relevant to respondents. An incomplete set of response items may force some respondents to pick the closest alternative to their true answer. These types of questions may also miss out on valuable detail.

To solve these problems, you can make questions partially closed-ended, and include an open-ended option where respondents can fill in their own answer.

Open-ended questions

Open-ended, or long-form, questions allow respondents to give answers in their own words. Because there are no restrictions on their choices, respondents can answer in ways that researchers may not have otherwise considered. For example, respondents may want to answer ‘multiracial’ for the question on race rather than selecting from a restricted list.

• How do you feel about open science?
• How would you describe your personality?
• In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to productivity in remote work?

Open-ended questions have a few downsides.

They require more time and effort from respondents, which may deter them from completing the questionnaire.

For researchers, understanding and summarising responses to these questions can take a lot of time and resources. You’ll need to develop a systematic coding scheme to categorise answers, and you may also need to involve other researchers in data analysis for high reliability .

Question wording can influence your respondents’ answers, especially if the language is unclear, ambiguous, or biased. Good questions need to be understood by all respondents in the same way ( reliable ) and measure exactly what you’re interested in ( valid ).

Use clear language

You should design questions with your target audience in mind. Consider their familiarity with your questionnaire topics and language and tailor your questions to them.

For readability and clarity, avoid jargon or overly complex language. Don’t use double negatives because they can be harder to understand.

Use balanced framing

Respondents often answer in different ways depending on the question framing. Positive frames are interpreted as more neutral than negative frames and may encourage more socially desirable answers.

Use a mix of both positive and negative frames to avoid bias , and ensure that your question wording is balanced wherever possible.

Unbalanced questions focus on only one side of an argument. Respondents may be less likely to oppose the question if it is framed in a particular direction. It’s best practice to provide a counterargument within the question as well.

Avoid leading questions

Leading questions guide respondents towards answering in specific ways, even if that’s not how they truly feel, by explicitly or implicitly providing them with extra information.

It’s best to keep your questions short and specific to your topic of interest.

• The average daily work commute in the US takes 54.2 minutes and costs $29 per day. Since 2020, working from home has saved many employees time and money. Do you favour flexible work-from-home policies even after it’s safe to return to offices?
• Experts agree that a well-balanced diet provides sufficient vitamins and minerals, and multivitamins and supplements are not necessary or effective. Do you agree or disagree that multivitamins are helpful for balanced nutrition?

Keep your questions focused

Ask about only one idea at a time and avoid double-barrelled questions. Double-barrelled questions ask about more than one item at a time, which can confuse respondents.

This question could be difficult to answer for respondents who feel strongly about the right to clean drinking water but not high-speed internet. They might only answer about the topic they feel passionate about or provide a neutral answer instead – but neither of these options capture their true answers.

Instead, you should ask two separate questions to gauge respondents’ opinions.

Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree

Do you agree or disagree that the government should be responsible for providing high-speed internet to everyone?

You can organise the questions logically, with a clear progression from simple to complex. Alternatively, you can randomise the question order between respondents.

Logical flow

Using a logical flow to your question order means starting with simple questions, such as behavioural or opinion questions, and ending with more complex, sensitive, or controversial questions.

The question order that you use can significantly affect the responses by priming them in specific directions. Question order effects, or context effects, occur when earlier questions influence the responses to later questions, reducing the validity of your questionnaire.

While demographic questions are usually unaffected by order effects, questions about opinions and attitudes are more susceptible to them.

• How knowledgeable are you about Joe Biden’s executive orders in his first 100 days?
• Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Joe Biden is managing the economy?
• Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president?

It’s important to minimise order effects because they can be a source of systematic error or bias in your study.

Randomisation

Randomisation involves presenting individual respondents with the same questionnaire but with different question orders.

When you use randomisation, order effects will be minimised in your dataset. But a randomised order may also make it harder for respondents to process your questionnaire. Some questions may need more cognitive effort, while others are easier to answer, so a random order could require more time or mental capacity for respondents to switch between questions.

Follow this step-by-step guide to design your questionnaire.

Step 1: Define your goals and objectives

The first step of designing a questionnaire is determining your aims.

• What topics or experiences are you studying?
• What specifically do you want to find out?
• Is a self-report questionnaire an appropriate tool for investigating this topic?

Once you’ve specified your research aims, you can operationalise your variables of interest into questionnaire items. Operationalising concepts means turning them from abstract ideas into concrete measurements. Every question needs to address a defined need and have a clear purpose.

Step 2: Use questions that are suitable for your sample

Create appropriate questions by taking the perspective of your respondents. Consider their language proficiency and available time and energy when designing your questionnaire.

• Are the respondents familiar with the language and terms used in your questions?
• Would any of the questions insult, confuse, or embarrass them?
• Do the response items for any closed-ended questions capture all possible answers?
• Are the response items mutually exclusive?
• Do the respondents have time to respond to open-ended questions?

Consider all possible options for responses to closed-ended questions. From a respondent’s perspective, a lack of response options reflecting their point of view or true answer may make them feel alienated or excluded. In turn, they’ll become disengaged or inattentive to the rest of the questionnaire.

Step 3: Decide on your questionnaire length and question order

Once you have your questions, make sure that the length and order of your questions are appropriate for your sample.

If respondents are not being incentivised or compensated, keep your questionnaire short and easy to answer. Otherwise, your sample may be biased with only highly motivated respondents completing the questionnaire.

Decide on your question order based on your aims and resources. Use a logical flow if your respondents have limited time or if you cannot randomise questions. Randomising questions helps you avoid bias, but it can take more complex statistical analysis to interpret your data.

Step 4: Pretest your questionnaire

When you have a complete list of questions, you’ll need to pretest it to make sure what you’re asking is always clear and unambiguous. Pretesting helps you catch any errors or points of confusion before performing your study.

Ask friends, classmates, or members of your target audience to complete your questionnaire using the same method you’ll use for your research. Find out if any questions were particularly difficult to answer or if the directions were unclear or inconsistent, and make changes as necessary.

If you have the resources, running a pilot study will help you test the validity and reliability of your questionnaire. A pilot study is a practice run of the full study, and it includes sampling, data collection , and analysis.

You can find out whether your procedures are unfeasible or susceptible to bias and make changes in time, but you can’t test a hypothesis with this type of study because it’s usually statistically underpowered .

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

Closed-ended, or restricted-choice, questions offer respondents a fixed set of choices to select from. These questions are easier to answer quickly.

Open-ended or long-form questions allow respondents to answer in their own words. Because there are no restrictions on their choices, respondents can answer in ways that researchers may not have otherwise considered.

A Likert scale is a rating scale that quantitatively assesses opinions, attitudes, or behaviours. It is made up of four 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 five or seven possible responses, to capture their degree of agreement.

You can organise the questions logically, with a clear progression from simple to complex, or randomly between respondents. A logical flow helps respondents process the questionnaire easier and quicker, but it may lead to bias. Randomisation can minimise the bias from order effects.

Questionnaires can be self-administered or researcher-administered.

Researcher-administered questionnaires are interviews that take place by phone, in person, or online between researchers and respondents. You can gain deeper insights by clarifying questions for respondents or asking follow-up questions.

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Qualitative Research 101: Interviewing

5 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Undertaking Interviews

By: David Phair (PhD) and Kerryn Warren (PhD) | March 2022

Undertaking interviews is potentially the most important step in the qualitative research process. If you don’t collect useful, useable data in your interviews, you’ll struggle through the rest of your dissertation or thesis.  Having helped numerous students with their research over the years, we’ve noticed some common interviewing mistakes that first-time researchers make. In this post, we’ll discuss five costly interview-related mistakes and outline useful strategies to avoid making these.

Overview: 5 Interviewing Mistakes

• Not having a clear interview strategy /plan
• Not having good interview techniques /skills
• Not securing a suitable location and equipment
• Not having a basic risk management plan
• Not keeping your “ golden thread ” front of mind

1. Not having a clear interview strategy

The first common mistake that we’ll look at is that of starting the interviewing process without having first come up with a clear interview strategy or plan of action. While it’s natural to be keen to get started engaging with your interviewees, a lack of planning can result in a mess of data and inconsistency between interviews.

There are several design choices to decide on and plan for before you start interviewing anyone. Some of the most important questions you need to ask yourself before conducting interviews include:

• What are the guiding research aims and research questions of my study?
• Will I use a structured, semi-structured or unstructured interview approach?
• How will I record the interviews (audio or video)?
• Who will be interviewed and by whom ?
• What ethics and data law considerations do I need to adhere to?
• How will I analyze my data? 

Let’s take a quick look at some of these.

The core objective of the interviewing process is to generate useful data that will help you address your overall research aims. Therefore, your interviews need to be conducted in a way that directly links to your research aims, objectives and research questions (i.e. your “golden thread”). This means that you need to carefully consider the questions you’ll ask to ensure that they align with and feed into your golden thread. If any question doesn’t align with this, you may want to consider scrapping it.

Another important design choice is whether you’ll use an unstructured, semi-structured or structured interview approach . For semi-structured interviews, you will have a list of questions that you plan to ask and these questions will be open-ended in nature. You’ll also allow the discussion to digress from the core question set if something interesting comes up. This means that the type of information generated might differ a fair amount between interviews.

Contrasted to this, a structured approach to interviews is more rigid, where a specific set of closed questions is developed and asked for each interviewee in exactly the same order. Closed questions have a limited set of answers, that are often single-word answers. Therefore, you need to think about what you’re trying to achieve with your research project (i.e. your research aims) and decided on which approach would be best suited in your case.

It is also important to plan ahead with regards to who will be interviewed and how. You need to think about how you will approach the possible interviewees to get their cooperation, who will conduct the interviews, when to conduct the interviews and how to record the interviews. For each of these decisions, it’s also essential to make sure that all ethical considerations and data protection laws are taken into account.

Finally, you should think through how you plan to analyze the data (i.e., your qualitative analysis method) generated by the interviews. Different types of analysis rely on different types of data, so you need to ensure you’re asking the right types of questions and correctly guiding your respondents.

Simply put, you need to have a plan of action regarding the specifics of your interview approach before you start collecting data. If not, you’ll end up drifting in your approach from interview to interview, which will result in inconsistent, unusable data.

2. Not having good interview technique

While you’re generally not expected to become you to be an expert interviewer for a dissertation or thesis, it is important to practice good interview technique and develop basic interviewing skills .

Let’s go through some basics that will help the process along.

Firstly, before the interview , make sure you know your interview questions well and have a clear idea of what you want from the interview. Naturally, the specificity of your questions will depend on whether you’re taking a structured, semi-structured or unstructured approach, but you still need a consistent starting point . Ideally, you should develop an interview guide beforehand (more on this later) that details your core question and links these to the research aims, objectives and research questions.

Before you undertake any interviews, it’s a good idea to do a few mock interviews with friends or family members. This will help you get comfortable with the interviewer role, prepare for potentially unexpected answers and give you a good idea of how long the interview will take to conduct. In the interviewing process, you’re likely to encounter two kinds of challenging interviewees ; the two-word respondent and the respondent who meanders and babbles. Therefore, you should prepare yourself for both and come up with a plan to respond to each in a way that will allow the interview to continue productively.

To begin the formal interview , provide the person you are interviewing with an overview of your research. This will help to calm their nerves (and yours) and contextualize the interaction. Ultimately, you want the interviewee to feel comfortable and be willing to be open and honest with you, so it’s useful to start in a more casual, relaxed fashion and allow them to ask any questions they may have. From there, you can ease them into the rest of the questions.

As the interview progresses , avoid asking leading questions (i.e., questions that assume something about the interviewee or their response). Make sure that you speak clearly and slowly , using plain language and being ready to paraphrase questions if the person you are interviewing misunderstands. Be particularly careful with interviewing English second language speakers to ensure that you’re both on the same page.

Engage with the interviewee by listening to them carefully and acknowledging that you are listening to them by smiling or nodding. Show them that you’re interested in what they’re saying and thank them for their openness as appropriate. This will also encourage your interviewee to respond openly.

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3. Not securing a suitable location and quality equipment

Where you conduct your interviews and the equipment you use to record them both play an important role in how the process unfolds. Therefore, you need to think carefully about each of these variables before you start interviewing.

Poor location: A bad location can result in the quality of your interviews being compromised, interrupted, or cancelled. If you are conducting physical interviews, you’ll need a location that is quiet, safe, and welcoming . It’s very important that your location of choice is not prone to interruptions (the workplace office is generally problematic, for example) and has suitable facilities (such as water, a bathroom, and snacks).

If you are conducting online interviews , you need to consider a few other factors. Importantly, you need to make sure that both you and your respondent have access to a good, stable internet connection and electricity. Always check before the time that both of you know how to use the relevant software and it’s accessible (sometimes meeting platforms are blocked by workplace policies or firewalls). It’s also good to have alternatives in place (such as WhatsApp, Zoom, or Teams) to cater for these types of issues.

Poor equipment: Using poor-quality recording equipment or using equipment incorrectly means that you will have trouble transcribing, coding, and analyzing your interviews. This can be a major issue , as some of your interview data may go completely to waste if not recorded well. So, make sure that you use good-quality recording equipment and that you know how to use it correctly.

To avoid issues, you should always conduct test recordings before every interview to ensure that you can use the relevant equipment properly. It’s also a good idea to spot check each recording afterwards, just to make sure it was recorded as planned. If your equipment uses batteries, be sure to always carry a spare set.

4. Not having a basic risk management plan

Many possible issues can arise during the interview process. Not planning for these issues can mean that you are left with compromised data that might not be useful to you. Therefore, it’s important to map out some sort of risk management plan ahead of time, considering the potential risks, how you’ll minimize their probability and how you’ll manage them if they materialize.

Common potential issues related to the actual interview include cancellations (people pulling out), delays (such as getting stuck in traffic), language and accent differences (especially in the case of poor internet connections), issues with internet connections and power supply. Other issues can also occur in the interview itself. For example, the interviewee could drift off-topic, or you might encounter an interviewee who does not say much at all.

You can prepare for these potential issues by considering possible worst-case scenarios and preparing a response for each scenario. For instance, it is important to plan a backup date just in case your interviewee cannot make it to the first meeting you scheduled with them. It’s also a good idea to factor in a 30-minute gap between your interviews for the instances where someone might be late, or an interview runs overtime for other reasons. Make sure that you also plan backup questions that could be used to bring a respondent back on topic if they start rambling, or questions to encourage those who are saying too little.

In general, it’s best practice to plan to conduct more interviews than you think you need (this is called oversampling ). Doing so will allow you some room for error if there are interviews that don’t go as planned, or if some interviewees withdraw. If you need 10 interviews, it is a good idea to plan for 15. Likely, a few will cancel , delay, or not produce useful data.

5. Not keeping your golden thread front of mind

We touched on this a little earlier, but it is a key point that should be central to your entire research process. You don’t want to end up with pages and pages of data after conducting your interviews and realize that it is not useful to your research aims . Your research aims, objectives and research questions – i.e., your golden thread – should influence every design decision and should guide the interview process at all times. 

A useful way to avoid this mistake is by developing an interview guide before you begin interviewing your respondents. An interview guide is a document that contains all of your questions with notes on how each of the interview questions is linked to the research question(s) of your study. You can also include your research aims and objectives here for a more comprehensive linkage. 

You can easily create an interview guide by drawing up a table with one column containing your core interview questions . Then add another column with your research questions , another with expectations that you may have in light of the relevant literature and another with backup or follow-up questions . As mentioned, you can also bring in your research aims and objectives to help you connect them all together. If you’d like, you can download a copy of our free interview guide here .

Recap: Qualitative Interview Mistakes

In this post, we’ve discussed 5 common costly mistakes that are easy to make in the process of planning and conducting qualitative interviews.

To recap, these include:

If you have any questions about these interviewing mistakes, drop a comment below. Alternatively, if you’re interested in getting 1-on-1 help with your thesis or dissertation , check out our dissertation coaching service or book a free initial consultation with one of our friendly Grad Coaches.

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How to Create the Perfect Thesis Title Page in 2024

• Tags: Academic Writing , APA Style , Chicago Style , Formatting Guidelines , MLA Style

Create the perfect thesis title page with our practical guide! From important elements to include in a title page to formatting guidelines, we’ve covered everything. 

For those who wish to quickly create a title page, we’ve also mentioned popular title page generators. So let’s start by understanding the components of a thesis title page!  

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What to include in a thesis title page? 

A thesis title page contains important details such as the thesis title, author’s name, institution’s name, submission date, department name, and degree program’s name. It’s important to refer to your university’s guidelines about the thesis title page. 

In many cases, the title page for a thesis can also include the following components:

• Student number: Often placed below the author’s name or in the bottom corner.
• Instructor’s name: Usually positioned in the middle or lower third of the page.
• Institution’s logo: Typically at the top of the page, either centered or in a corner.
• Location: If included, usually placed at the bottom of the page.
• Committee members: Names of other faculty serving on the thesis committee.
• Copyright statement: A declaration of the author’s rights to the work.
• Submission statement: A formal statement indicating the thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of degree requirements.
• Disclaimer: If necessary, a statement about the confidentiality or restricted use of the thesis.
• Funding acknowledgment: Mention any grants or scholarships that supported the research.

Now let us see the formatting guidelines for a thesis title page. 

How to format a thesis title page? 

It’s essential to crosscheck the institution’s guidelines for the thesis title page format. There should be consistency and uniformity regarding the formatting of the margins, text alignment, and font size. 

Now let’s understand the basic formatting guidelines for creating a title page according to APA, MLA, and Chicago style guides. 

Guidelines for formatting an APA title page 

The format of an APA title page differs, depending on whether it’s required for a student paper or a professional paper. While a professional paper requires a running head (title mentioned on top of every document page), student papers don’t require it unless it’s specified by the university.

Here are some general guidelines for formatting an APA title page:

• Maintain a 1-inch margin on all sides. 
• Apply double spacing consistently. 
• Include the running head on the left. (for professional papers) 
• Add the page number on the right side. 
• Centrally align your thesis paper’s title. 
• Use fonts like Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, Lucida Sans Unicode, Georgia, and Computer Modern. 

You can read the article “ How to Create an APA Title Page ” to know more. 

Guidelines for creating an MLA title page 

• Write the author’s name first, followed by the instructor’s name, course name, subject name, and title. 
• For a thesis involving multiple authors, list every author’s name on a separate line.
• Centrally align your paper’s title.
• Except for the paper’s title, align all important details to the left. 
• Use italics to format the title of media works, including books, movies, and TV series. 

To know in detail, you can read the article “ How to Create an MLA Title Page ”. 

Guidelines for creating a Chicago-style title page 

• Centrally align the title of your thesis paper. 
• After the title, write details such as the teacher’s name, course name, and date in 3 separate lines. Ensure that they are centrally aligned towards the bottom of the page. 
• Utilize the Times New Roman font (size- 12). 
• If there is a subtitle, end the title with a colon ( : ) and write the subtitle on the next line. 
• Omit the page number from the thesis paper’s title page. 

To know more about creating a title page in Chicago Style, you can read the article “ Chicago Title, Cover Page & Body | Paper Format Guidelines

Now, let’s see a thesis title page example to understand better! 

Thesis title page example 

If you want to see more templates for a thesis title page, we’ve got you covered. Explore the next section to know more! 

Thesis title page templates 

Access the following document to see various thesis title page templates! 

Thesis title page templates

Now, let’s quickly see five pointers to follow while creating a thesis paper title page. 

Bonus section: Important pointers 

Following are 5 important pointers for creating a thesis title page: 

• Use proper capitalization- Capitalize the title correctly and make the first letter capital for any nouns , verbs , adjectives , and adverbs in the title. 
• Avoid unnecessary decorative elements- Stick to a clean professional layout and avoid any unnecessary graphics and borders. 
• Carefully proofread- Double-check the title page for any spelling or grammatical errors . You can also use English corrector tools to do this! 
• Use a template for reference- Many universities provide a sample template. It’s better to refer to the template to ensure the correct thesis title page format. 
• Get feedback- If you’re unsure about any element of a thesis title page, you can consult your instructor or advisor about this. 

You can also use title page generators like Ivy Panda, Writing-Services.org, and Custom-Writing.org to create a title page. However, it’s essential to ensure that you follow your institution’s guidelines. 

This concludes our guide about the title page of a thesis! Once your title page is ready, the next step is to edit your paper. As experts in editing and proofreading services , we’d love to perfect your paper. 

Here are some more useful resources for you: 

• 2024’s Top 10 Thesis Statement Generators (Free Included!)
• The 10 Best Essential Resources for Academic Research
• Academic Writing in 2024: 5 Key Dos & Don’ts + Examples
• Best ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing (100+ Prompts!)
• The Ethics of Academic Research

Frequently Asked Questions

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