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A Beginners Guide to Postal Questionnaires

A Beginners Guide to Postal Questionnaires. A postal questionnaire is just a questionnaire which is sent to respondents, completed by them and returned…. through the post. This means that the researcher is not present as the questionnaire is being answered by the respondent.

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A Beginners Guide to Postal Questionnaires

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  1. A Beginners Guide to Postal Questionnaires

  2. A postal questionnaire is just a questionnaire which is sent to respondents, completed by them and returned…. through the post.

  3. This means that the researcher is not present as the questionnaire is being answered by the respondent.

  4. The postal questionnaire has the same advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires……. Can you remember them?

  5. ….plus a few more which arise because of the way it is delivered – through the post. and it’s not just that letters can get lost…….

  6. So, Why use a postal questionnaire?

  7. Postal questionnaires are a good method to use if researchers need to contact a group (a population) which is spread across a large area

  8. …or people who may want to remain anonymous in order to give information about a sensitive subject

  9. Because of these advantages, postal questionnaires are used a lot in medical research…. British Medical Journal

  10. Researchers write papers like this….. • BMJ 2002; 324 : 1183 doi: 10.1136/bmj.324.7347.1183 (Published 18 May 2002) • Paper • Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires: systematic review • Phil Edwards, senior research fellow phil.edwards@lshtm.ac.uk)a, Ian Roberts, professor of epidemiology and public healtha, Mike Clarke, associate director (research)c, Carolyn DiGuiseppi, associate professor of preventive medicine and biometricsd, Sarah Pratap, research fellowb, • Reinhard Wentz, information specialistb, Irene Kwan, research fellowb

  11. …or like this J Epidemiol Community Health 2000;54:940–941 What are the characteristics of general practitioners who routinely do not return postal questionnaires: a cross sectionalstudy Nigel Stocks, David Gunnell

  12. or like this……. Author: GRAHAM Candida R.; BANERJEE Sube; GILL Randeep S.; Title: Using postal questionnaires to identify carer depression prior to initial patient contact. Reference: Psychiatric Bulletin, 33(5), May 2009, pp.169-171.

  13. …and all sorts of organisations – businesses, government departments, councils, public services like schools, the police, the fire brigade – all of these may find postal questionnaires a useful way of gathering data.

  14. What’s so good about postal questionnaires?

  15. Postal Questionnaires: • are relatively cheap and quick • avoid interviewer bias • can be good to use when investigating • sensitive issues – respondents don’t feel • embarrassed

  16. …and • respondents can reply anonymously • PQs provide results which can be easily • quantified and tabulated • PQs are high in reliability

  17. …on the other hand the perfect research method has not yet been invented

  18. Disadvantages • PQs usually have poor response rates • the results can be biased – due to selective response-those who respond are untypical • as no researcher is present to explain the questions or prompt, no clarification is possible

  19. and one final disadvantage…. PQs – as we saw above have many of the same problems as questionnaires -as a positivist method, they lack validity

  20. But researchers sometimes try to fix these problems – especially the problem of low-response rates

  21. Researchers concerned about low response rate can take • Several steps to boost response • Keep the questionnaire brief • Make the design attractive and easy to follow • Provide a pre-paid envelope for easy reply • Send out reminders • Include a polite letter at the start • Stress the anonymity of the responses • Pay respondents or offer a cash prize (lottery)

  22. But these solutions do not always work. Payment is a particularly tricky issue: Research in the BMJ in 2002 has claimed that payment can lead to doubling of response rate Roberts et al in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2000, also found payment helps

  23. However ethics committees – in medical settings and universities are often disapproving of offering financial incentives to respondents It is seen as pressurising respondents

  24. Conclusions

  25. Researchers have to be pragmatic • PQs have their uses • Like many methods they can perhaps • be best used as part of a multi-method • strategy = triangulation

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