internet-based.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-questionnaires/
Questionnaires play an essential role in research. They let us collect data which could reveal hidden information about individuals. However, they have their limitations.
Questions can be self-administered, with participants answering all questions themselves, or researcher-administered, where the research team interviews a sample of respondents by phone, in-person, or online. Self-administered questionnaires tend to have lower response rates than researcher-administered questionnaires, due in part to the impersonal nature of mailed paper surveys and automated telephone menu systems.
Web-based questionnaires offer a number of advantages, including broader reach than traditional phone or mail-based surveys, and the ability to include a global audience. However, they can also present some challenges, such as the difficulty of reaching a demographically representative sample. They can also be affected by factors such as screen dimensions and hardware platforms, operating systems, and browser settings.
When you design a questionnaire it is crucial to consider the research objectives and goals. It is also crucial to consider your audience when creating questions, such as whether they are able to comprehend and respond to the questions in the language you’re using or if they have enough time to complete a lengthy questionnaire.
To ensure that new questionnaires are working as intended, it’s essential to test them prior to use using qualitative methods, such as focus groups, cognitive interviewing or pretesting. Questionnaires are susceptible to “question-order effects” which means that answers to earlier questions can affect the answers to subsequent ones.