Questioning is one of the basic technical means, when carrying out any social or socio-psychological research. Also, this is one of the most common types of interview, in which the communication between the researcher and the respondent occurs through the text of the questionnaire.
Types of questionnaires
There are several classifications, according to which it is customary to distribute the survey.
By the number of respondents
- Individual survey - one person is interviewed.
- Group questioning - several people are interviewed.
- Auditor questioning is a kind of questionnaire organized in such a way that the completion of questionnaires is handled by a group of people gathered in one room in accordance with the rules of procedure.
- Mass questioning - participation takes from hundreds to several thousand people.
By type of contact with respondents
- Full-time - the survey is conducted with the participation of a researcher.
- Absentee - there is no interviewer.
- Sending of questionnaires by mail.
- Publication of questionnaires in the press.
- Internet survey.
- Handing and collecting questionnaires by place of residence, work, etc.
- Online survey.
This method has both positive and negative sides. The advantages include the speed of obtaining results and relatively small material costs. The disadvantages of the questionnaire are that the information received is very subjective and is not considered reliable.
Questioning in psychology is used to obtain some information. The contact of the psychologist with the interviewee is minimized. This allows us to say that the personality of the interviewer did not in any way affect the results obtained during the psychological questioning.
An example of using the method of questioning in psychology, can serve as a survey of F. Galton, who investigated the influence of the environment and heredity on the level of intelligence. Respondents in the survey were attended by more than a hundred famous British scientists.
The purpose of the questionnaire
Before the interviewing specialist, the task initially is to determine the purpose of the questionnaire, which is formulated individually in each specific case.
- Evaluation of the employees of the company conducted innovations in its management.
- Interrogation of employees about a particular issue, with a view to further adjusting the methods of the management robots.
- Interrogation of people with the purpose to learn their relation to this or that social phenomenon, etc.
After the purpose of the questionnaire is determined, the questionnaire itself is drawn up and the circle of respondents is determined. It can be both company employees, and passers-by on the street, people of old age, young mothers, etc.
Particular attention is paid to the size of the questionnaire. According to experts in the standard questionnaire should be no more than 15 and not less than 5 questions. At the beginning of the questionnaire, you must take questions that do not require special mental effort. In the middle of the questionnaire is to put the most difficult questions and in the end they again must be replaced by the easier ones.
With the help of social questionnaires, one can easily obtain a high level of mass character of the conducted research. It is carried out in most cases in situations where it is necessary to obtain data from a large number of people within a short period of time.
A special difference between this method and other existing ones can be considered anonymity. Anonymous questioning gives a lot more truthful and open statements. But there is also a reverse side of the medal for this type of written survey, because of the lack of necessity to indicate their data, the respondents very often give hasty and ill-considered answers.