HOW TO DESIGN A QUESTIONNAIRE

A questionnaire is one of the data collection tool that a researcher can use to collect data from users.  It is composed of series of questions and the main purpose is for gathering information from the respondents.

As one of the data collection tool the researcher when doing a project/proposal they must attach a questionnaire to show how they have gathered information on a given case study.

Here am going to discuss on how one can create a questionnaire for researcher who are working on system development project/proposal.

There are two types of questionnaire that can be merged together to create one questionnaire.

Open ended questionnaire– this is a type of questionnaire that requires an answer with more depth and a lengthier response. It is normally represented as a question then followed by a blank line. This type of questionnaire is useful to gather more information about a given situation or a problem.

Closed ended questionnaire– This type of questionnaire is used when the researcher will give options to the respondents to answer on the questions asked.

Before writing a questionnaire on your document you will have to identify whether you are creating a questionnaire for a project or a proposal.

Guideline of creating a questionnaire for proposal.

During the proposal phase the researcher is conducting a study on the current manual process that is taking place on the case study mentioned.

The following are things to consider when designing a questionnaire for a proposal.

• Use an open ended questionnaire for a proposal since you will need more information from the respondent.
• Ask a minimum of 5-10 questions addressing on the current manual process.

Sample questionnaire

I will use the same case study as in the proposal, that is mvita clinic where by they are using a manual process for patient registration and card system. My target user is the receptionist since he/she is the one using the current system.

Guideline for creating a questionnaire for a project

During this phase the researcher has already developed a system to automate the current manual process. This questionnaire is specifically used to conduct user acceptance testing.

The following are things to consider when designing a questionnaire for a project.

1. Breakdown the questionnaire into sections.
2. Each section should ask questions on different areas.

Sections of the questionnaire

SECTION A: PERSONAL DETAILS – here the researcher can ask details such as the name, gender, age, e.t.c not more than 5 questions

SECTION B: FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS – here you can ask questions on all the features and functionalities that you were able to develop so that you can get feedback on. They can include registration module, login, security, search, booking, notifications e.t.c

SECTION C: USER INTERFACE – here the researcher can ask on the design of the system, the questions asked may include user friendliness, design, language, navigation e.t.c

SECTION D: PLATFORM – here the researcher can ask on platforms to know which other platforms the users may want in the future. Whether web based application, desktop application or mobile application.