Questioning as a method of research - psychological, sociological, marketing and many others

Questioning as a method of research (psychological, marketing or sociological) plays an important role in the life and development of modern society. It is with his help that specialists in different spheres manage to conduct various studies, to act clearly on the plan and achieve high (and accurate) results. Everything becomes possible with a clear structure and rules for any questioning - the "question-answer" system.

The main advantages of this method - the ability to obtain information from a large number of respondents - a questionnaire survey as a research method does not limit the number of participants, as well as ensuring a high level of mass study. Another positive aspect is anonymity, since the overwhelming majority of polls are aimed at recording the answers, and not on the person of the respondent. However, it should be clarified that all this does not apply to the questionnaire when applying for a job, where there are several different rules.

Questioning as a research method allows for a short time to get the maximum possible amount of information about a product, to get the opinion of the society on some issues and in other such cases. As it is clear from the name of the method itself, it is based on the main means, which fixes all the data of the questionnaire, that is, the questionnaire. If you seek help from an explanatory dictionary, you can get such definition of the given word: the questionnaire is a set of questions (necessarily interrelated), for each of which the respondent (respondent) should give a clear answer. Questions in questionnaires may require answers that are exact (mathematical) or express a specific opinion (sociological and psychological). On the basis of these answers, specialists make appropriate conclusions on the problem of interest to them.

In the modern world for the analysis of opinions of different groups of people the questionnaire is most often used as a method of sociological research, therefore professionals of this field work as well as experienced psychologists to create appropriate questionnaires, the task of which is the competent preparation of questions for the respondent. There are several rules by which the so-called "questionnaire" must match. First, it is necessary to correlate the purpose of the study with the total number and content of questions in the questionnaire. Secondly, in order to be able to analyze the results of the questionnaire survey of different focus groups, questions should always be placed at the beginning of the questionnaire to clarify the personal data of the interviewee - the name (in a small number of cases), age, gender and social status. Thirdly, questioning as a research method should not be overloaded with vague or insignificant questions, the charter from which the respondent will not be able to fully respond to the most important ones.

Among other things, the questions in the questionnaire should be clear and logical, follow in a logical sequence, and also gradually increase the interest of the respondent (in the case of a marketing survey). At the end of the questionnaire, it is worth asking the most difficult questions, the answer to which you will have to think about. An important condition for a quality survey is the accuracy of the wording of questions, which does not allow for double interpretation or ambiguity. It is impossible at the creation of a questionnaire to allow questions from several verbose sentences, with the use of professional terms. In addition, if the questionnaire as a research method is not sociological, it should not address questions about memories, personal preferences, or the social environment in which the interviewee resides.

Finally it should be noted: if you create a questionnaire for any type of surveys yourself, do not forget to check before the questionnaire. It is possible to ask questions to people who are not interested in it, in order to assess whether the wording is sound and whether it is easy to give an answer. If the "pilot" test is successful - you can proceed with the study.