What is a questionnaire? Definition, examples and uses
Utilise questionnaires to conduct market research and help scale your business.
- The purpose of questionnaires in research is to systematically collect data for analysis and conclusions
- Surveys can be descriptive, analytical or exploratory, with each of these serving different research purposes.
- Questionnaires are used within surveys to collect data from respondents, making them a component of the broader survey process.
Questionnaires are an effective research tool for efficiently collecting data. They play a crucial role in market research, employee satisfaction assessments and feedback gathering, offering a versatile method for obtaining detailed information from respondents.
This article explores different types of questionnaires, their benefits and the differences between questionnaires and surveys, as well as giving some relevant examples.
What is a questionnaire?
A questionnaire is a research tool that gathers quantitative or qualitative information from respondents via a series of questions or prompts. It often comprises both open-ended and closed-ended questions to diversify the information gathered.
Businesses use questionnaires in various scenarios ranging from employee satisfaction to lead product development. Keep reading to learn about surveys vs. questionnaires and when to use each type of questionnaire.
Are questionnaires and surveys the same thing?
Questionnaires and surveys are different. There are objective differences between the research tools, which we will explore later in this article.
Types of questionnaires
There are three primary types of questionnaires: structured, unstructured and semi-structured. The different types of questionnaires serve their own purposes and are designed with distinct goals in mind.
Structured questionnaires
The purpose of a structured questionnaire is to gather quantitative data or information that can be measured and expressed numerically.
Businesses use structured questionnaires to systematically collect valuable data to inform decision making. For instance, a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) questionnaire can be used to measure and improve the customer satisfaction of your products, services or customer service.
A structured questionnaire has the following attributes:
- Predefined questions. The questions are predetermined and formatted in a structured questionnaire before it is sent. This ensures that respondents have a standardised experience.
- Quantifiable responses. The questionnaire is designed to produce quantifiable results that can be analysed and considered to inform business decision making.
- Closed-ended questions. Closed-ended questions are a trademark of structured questionnaires. Respondents choose answers based on predefined options such as rating scales (e.g. 1 to 5), Likert scales (e.g. strongly agree to strongly disagree) or multiple choice, etc. The responses to closed-ended questions are easier to quantify than those to open-ended questions.
- Consistent layout. Structured questionnaires have a uniform format, ensuring that all respondents receive the same questions in the same order with identical response options. This approach ensures consistency and higher reliability of the results.
Unstructured questionnaires
Unstructured questionnaires are used to collect qualitative data or non-numerical information. This type of questionnaire relies on open-ended questions. Responses are not predetermined as they are for structured questionnaires.
Businesses use unstructured questionnaires to collect nuanced information from customers, employees or target markets. This information could include details about a customer’s experiences with a brand or descriptions of an employee’s roadblocks.
For example, a business may send an unstructured questionnaire to employees to gather feedback about workplace culture. This questionnaire may seek to understand employees’ perceptions of team collaboration, leadership commitment and overall morale.
The following characteristics are common in unstructured questionnaires:
- Open-ended questions. Unstructured questionnaires collect responses using open-ended questions. Respondents can give answers without any confines.
- In-depth responses. Open-ended questions in unstructured questionnaires elicit detailed feedback that can be used to address customer and employee pain points.
- Flexibility. Flexibility is also a common theme in this type of questionnaire. Without a predefined set of answers, the format of unstructured questionnaires can vary widely.
- More complexity. With less standardisation in unstructured questionnaires comes higher levels of complexity and nuance in responses. This can be a benefit or a challenge, as analysing open-ended responses can be more complex than quantifying data.
Semi-structured questionnaires
Semi-structured questionnaires combine elements of structured and unstructured questionnaires to balance standardisation and flexibility.
Businesses may use a semi-structured questionnaire for exploratory research. This format allows businesses to glean quantitative and qualitative data that can improve decision making.
Semi-structured questionnaires generally have the following characteristics:
- Qualitative and quantitative data. The results include qualitative and quantitative data. This can give researchers a more balanced view of their audience and allow for more in-depth observations.
- Consistency and depth. The mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions balances consistency and depth. Researchers can provide a consistent format with set questions and more in-depth responses with open-ended ones.
- Guided format. A semi-structured questionnaire ensures that goals are met by providing predefined questions that guide the conversation. This ensures that all key topics are addressed consistently across respondents.
Why use a questionnaire?
Teams can use questionnaires strategically to conduct business research, whether they are conducting product development research or gathering employee feedback.
Questionnaires offer several benefits to you and your team, including:
- Cost effectiveness. Sending online questionnaires is a cost-conscious way to conduct research. Other research methods, such as focus groups, incur expenses that questionnaires do not, e.g. travel expenses. This is a major benefit to consider when thinking about how to gather feedback for your business.
- Time efficiency. Creating questionnaires is also time efficient. SurveyMonkey makes creating professional questionnaires a breeze thanks to our questionnaire templates.
- Scalability. If you’re looking to gather data from diverse consumers, questionnaires are scalable. Research questionnaires can be distributed to many people without much additional effort.
- Data variety. You can gather a wide range of data by using questionnaires. For instance, you can use semi-structured questionnaires to gather quantitative and qualitative data. This allows you to collect significant data from your target audience to analyse and use in decision-making processes.
- Anonymity. Questionnaires can be anonymous. This allows for more candid and accurate respondent feedback.
What is a questionnaire in research?
A questionnaire is a research tool that is used to collect feedback from a specific group of people. It consists of various questions about a topic that researchers wish to evaluate. The data is collected and analysed to draw conclusions backed by research.
Questionnaires are fundamental to conducting market research. Market research provides insight into target customers, including sentiments, behaviours, preferences and more. It drives business growth through data analysis and helps answer questions such as:
- How does my brand compare to the competition?
- Which demographics are most likely to buy my product or service?
- How big is the market opportunity for my product or service?
Sending questionnaires as a part of your market research project is a cost-effective action and can yield significant results in a short period.
Examples of questionnaires in research
Some examples of questionnaires in a research context include:
- Gathering customer demographic data. The purpose of a customer demographic questionnaire is to collect information about a sample group to inform your understanding of a specific population. Customer demographic data, such as occupation, age, income level and education level, etc., can be highly beneficial in terms of creating buyer personas and personalising the customer journey.
- Collecting consumer preferences. Consumers’ preferences and opinions about competitors can inform your marketing strategy and product development. Questionnaires give your team a better understanding of what your target customers value in products and brands that they love. This information can be used to adjust your strategy, ranging from advertising to your website’s user experience (UX).
- Measuring customer satisfaction. To be a successful business, you must monitor your customers’ satisfaction levels. Use questionnaires at different customer touchpoints to evaluate and measure customer satisfaction. This ensures that your company provides value to customers and helps to protect brand reputation.
- Evaluating employee experience. Employees are vital to any business; keeping them motivated and productive is essential for growth. Employee experience (EX) questionnaires measure employee satisfaction and morale to find areas for improvement. Employee feedback helps create initiatives that drive productivity and boost efficiency.
Use questionnaires to inform your decision-making process. Check out our 150+ questionnaire templates.
Benefits of using questionnaires in research
Research questionnaires are widely used in market research for several reasons. Their benefits make them integral to many companies’ market research processes. These benefits include:
- Easy scalability. Questionnaires can be easily distributed to broad audiences to collect large amounts of data. This scalability enables researchers to gather customer feedback in various geographic locations to obtain a more diverse sample. The value of this lies in streamlining data collection without additional effort.
- Efficiency. As mentioned previously, questionnaires are an efficient means of conducting research. They can be created in minutes and sent online, creating a seamless process for researchers. Data can be collected in real time to inform a company’s research.
- Less researcher bias. Questionnaires leave little room for researcher bias as opposed to in-person or virtual focus groups or interviews. Respondents answer the questions independently and are not influenced by the researcher as they might be in a focus group or interview. The removal of researcher bias makes questionnaire results more reliable and trustworthy.
- Standardisation. Standardisation also plays a role in the reliability of questionnaire results. Since many questionnaires are more rigid in structure and standardised across respondents, the results are typically reliable. Each respondent is asked the same questions in the same order, creating consistency and reliability in the data.
What is a survey questionnaire?
A survey questionnaire collects data about respondents’ opinions, behaviours or characteristics. Survey questionnaires often include questions designed to elicit detailed responses that are relevant to a particular survey’s objectives. A survey questionnaire is purpose driven, meaning it was designed to address a specific objective or question.
What are the similarities and differences between a survey and a questionnaire?
The terms ‘surveys’ and ‘questionnaires’ are often used interchangeably. However, they are actually two distinct research tools. We will now address the similarities and differences between surveys and questionnaires.
Similarities between surveys and questionnaires
Surveys and questionnaires are frequently seen as the same thing. This is understandable because they do share some characteristics. The similarities between surveys and questions include the following:
- Question based. The most significant commonality between these research tools is that they are question based. Surveys and questionnaires use questions to gather respondents’ information, making it easy to assume they are terms for the same process.
- Used to collect data. Another similarity is that they are both used as means to collect data. Surveys and questionnaires gather information from a target audience to inform their research.
- Analysis. Researchers then analyse the information and data received from surveys and questionnaires. The data that is collected is analysed in a similar way for both surveys and questionnaires.
- Research applications. Lastly, the research applications often overlap with surveys and questionnaires. These two research tools can be used in market research, to gather employee feedback and customer opinions, or in academic studies.
Differences between surveys and questionnaires
Although they seem similar, surveys and questionnaires have a few differences that distinguish one from the other.
Questionnaires are specific sets of questions that are designed to collect data from respondents. They are typically used as tools within broader surveys.
Conversely, surveys refer to the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting data, which may involve questionnaires and other methods such as interviews or observations.
The scope of questionnaires is limited to the questions asked, while surveys encompass the entire research methodology and data analysis.
In essence, questionnaires are a component of the survey process. Surveys provide a comprehensive approach to gathering and understanding information about a topic.
Launch a questionnaire with SurveyMonkey
Interested in collecting data from an online questionnaire or survey? SurveyMonkey makes it easy. We offer the tools to send out professional surveys and questionnaires in order to conduct market research or collect feedback.
Sign up today and get started by checking out our survey templates.
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