“the questions you ask your respondents are important and should be well thought out.” (SurveyMonkey, n.d.)
I realised that I already had “half-hearted” questions prepared for my audience while I was getting ready to structure the questions, I would ask my participants in the conversational questionnaire (consultation #2). But I had other questions ready, mostly for myself, questions that might be equally as significant. Before formulating the queries, I would put to the professionals in the field, I had to find the answers to the five fundamental questions that I asked myself: how, why, who, when, and what (SurveyMonkey, n.d.).
1. How:How do I want to ask, my questions?
I had already made up my mind to use MS Teams online to ask my queries during a discussion. I believe this to be the best method for gathering data for my results because it doesn’t add to my or the participants’ workload and we already have an established connection through this means of communication.
2. Why: Why do I want to ask, my questions?
I had to choose what I wanted to know and concentrate on my research question. I therefore had to set specific goals to prevent measuring nebulous objectives such as contentment. These goals would not only provide me with a clear idea of the professional input, but they would also be beneficial for my data analysis and result-feeding. (SurveyMonkey, n.d.). Therefore, my primary goal in asking these questions was to try to understand how the training could influence the professional’s interactions with students and how the training could impact their function in the industry.
3. Who: Who do you want to ask?
Respondents or participants should be a sample of the relevant population. Although obvious this is an important point, as this will determine the findings (SurveyMonkey, n.d.). Conquering that the pool of participants should be appropriate to the topic issue, for their responses to make sense and not bias the conclusions.
4. When:When do you want to ask?
I must schedule the conversational questionnaire with professionals in the field so that they are free to answer and offer insightful input without feeling rushed or distracted by other commitments. All of my participants are employed by the industry, so they all have roles and responsibilities. Adding to their burden or taking up more of their time (as well as the training session) would cause them to provide hurried and inadequate responses. To record my findings, I have thoughts about the PERMA model and the ideal time to perform consultation #2. This then helps me to determine how many questions I will ask throughout the discussion, since if I don’t take these things into account, my results can be skewed unfavorably.
5. What:What do you want to ask?
On establishing the objectives and sample population, there still may be an unclear direction in what should be asked, but there’s not just one right answer (SurveyMonkey, n.d.). It was easy for me to realise my question designs and the aspects I needed to take into consideration after thinking through the questions that I posed and answered, for myself. Thus making my decisions about the way to go.
For me to convey the questions throughout the conversation without appearing demanding, they must, first and foremost, be clear-cut, basic, and brief. This would additionally ensure that the professional could comprehend the requests made of them, which would have an impact on the data analysis.
“Why cross-referencing is important, according to Eco: Cross-referencing avoids unnecessary repetition; and demonstrates the cohesion of the work as a whole.” (Chey, 2019)
To address a possible lack of comprehension of my queries, I might make sure they are well-structured and collect input from peers by cross-referencing them. See Ethics Forms V1 before feedback, from my peers and tutor and V2 post feedback, from my peers and tutor.
“A good questionnaire should be valid, reliable, clear, succinct and interesting.” (Jenn, 2006).
After giving the task some thought, I saw how crucial the design was because it needed to work with my approach and be consistent with how I communicate with the industry. I needed to consider a conceptual framework to carefully assess each topic for its applicability and clarity as well as the analysis I planned to do.
References:
SurveyMonkey. (n.d.). 5 questions to ask for a successful survey. [online] Available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/video-tutorial-5-questions/ [Accessed 16 Jan. 2024].
Jenn, N.C. (2006). Designing A Questionnaire. Malaysian Family Physician : the Official Journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, [online] 1(1), pp.32–35. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4797036/#:~:text=A%20good%20questionnaire%20should%20be%20valid%2C%20reliable%2C%20clear%2C%20succinct
Chey, E. (2019). Cross-Referencing: A Definitive Gide. [online] ClearVoice. Available at: https://www.clearvoice.com/resources/cross-referencing/#:~:text=of%20our%20work – [Accessed 16 Jan. 2024].