Creating and Conducting an Online Questionnaire - Assignment Example

The researcher should be able to visualize all the information that will be present in the study. The most relevant topics should be listed first with the researcher ranking each of the items in various categories depending on the value of the topics that have been raised. The items presented have to be revisited to make sure that the objectives, information, and topics needed are appropriate. The researcher should be in a position to ask the relevant questions. Online questionnaires have to be precise, concise, and clear. The researcher will register a high dropout rate in cases where the questions are too complicated and difficult to understand (Van and Jankowski, 2009).

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The online questionnaire should be made in such a way that it is easier to be understood. Additionally, the researcher should be able to create a series of topics that are not unbiased. Ensure that the information provided by the question is not enough to cause bias. Sometimes disclosing the purpose of the research as well as providing too much information can result in bias. The researcher should be able to utilize open-ended questions, rank order, multiple choices, and dichotomous, scaled, and constant sum questions. The survey can also be split into multiple sections with the length of the survey timed (Conducting Online Surveys, 2008). The online survey can be pretested with twenty or more people and then revised before being sent out to the entire respondent.  There are various things that should be considered when conducting online surveys. Various issues of concern in the preparation of an online questionnaire include the order, the format, question-wording, data collection methods, accuracy of the elicited information, and visual layout behaviors that are to be measured among others (Van and Jankowski, 2009).

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Validity and reliability of online data

Even though all such issues are significant, in the end, the concern of the researcher is to ensure that the online questionnaire created is able to give rise to results that reliable and valid. Other types of validity that can be used to analyze validity include content validity which entails the creation of questions that reflect the idea that is being researched. Content validity allows the researcher to ensure that there is no exclusion of key related subjects. Internal validity on the other hand tries to clarify whether the outcome of the research can be explained by the questions that have been posed (Conducting Online Surveys, 2008). The questions should help to identify the dependent and independent variables. External validity explains the extent to which the consequences of the research can be generalized to the population that is being targeted as well as the survey sample that is being investigated. Reliability on the other hand is associated with the steadfastness of the measurement, which is the probability that the questions utilized in the questionnaire elicit the same information every time it is utilized under the same condition.

 The element is often important in brand tracking studies as well as satisfaction as changes in question structure and wording are likely to cause different responses. Internal consistency is related to reliability which refers to the probability different statements or questions measure the same characteristic (Questionaire: Software survey section, 2012). An application of such an approach can be identified in market segmentation studies which capture construct behavioral and psychographic segments by asking subjects to rate a list of statements through the use of prepared rating scales. Reliability and validity are not always aligned. Reliability is essential but insufficient to establish validity. The researcher can get low validity and high reliability. The result can occur when wrong questions in the online questionnaire are asked consistently.

Conclusion

Despite many benefits that are associated with online questionnaires such as design flexibility, lack of an interviewer, and convenience of the respondent, online questionnaires are also associated with various disadvantages such as lack of cooperation from the internet users. The users of the internet are often constantly getting messages and may easily delete the content of the questionnaires or even fail to look at them. In addition, the target population may have limited access to the internet hence reducing the number of subjects that may have been able to participate in the research (Conducting Online Surveys, 2008).