As you are creating your research for your Ph.D., you are soon going to start your data collecting process using your survey questionnaire but you are not sure about which survey questionnaire you should use. Should you go for a Custom one or go for a standardized one?
Now you are on the blog, you want to find out which road of the questionnaire you should take. Whether you should create your own or go with an existing questionnaire.
Let’s decipher it by answering these two questions:-
-When should you create and use a custom survey questionnaire?
-When should you use a standardized survey questionnaire?
But, remember your objective and purpose first, you want data that is relevant to your subject and will help you to prove your theory before taking the highway.
Let’s decipher the clauses, shall we!
-When should you create and use a custom survey questionnaire?
Everything’s better when it’s customized, whether it’s a cake or a questionnaire. A customized questionnaire is a personalized questionnaire that you are creating, showcasing your brand and the purpose of your research.
It is going to get exactly what you are looking for.
Here, are some benefits of a customized questionnaire:-
-It is created, keeping your perspective in context, hence will give you specified information.
-Versatile and relevant answers to your questions, which will help you to provide versatility in your research.
-The relatability of the questionnaire can lead to getting more responses.
But, you are still thinking, when should I design and use one?
Listen, you should design and create a custom questionnaire when you are looking to showcase your brand or your research. You want your respondent’s opinion and their point of view on your subject. The important thing to remember here is that you are doing this to get a look in the minds of people who are answering your questionnaire and the specific details that are going to prove your theory.
It is the same as creating a playlist for a friend. You want them to feel that your questionnaire represents their mood and your narrative.
If you are not taking the customized questionnaire road, there is another road for you. The road of a standardized questionnaire :
A standardized questionnaire refers to a fixed set of questions to get a generic response from a section of people, which represents the population. It’s like the workout playlist on your music app, fixed and rigid.
Now, you are like why should I use a standardized questionnaire?
Here’s why
-It is effective in getting a generalized response from the masses who are representing the population.
-It is easier for the respondents, as the questions are usually very direct and close-ended.
-Most of the scales used in the standardized questionnaire are usually considered reliable in getting precise data.
Now, you know the what and why of a standardized questionnaire, let’s talk about the when.
WHEN YOU SHOULD USE A STANDARDIZED QUESTIONNAIRE?
You should use a standardized questionnaire when:-
– You are looking to get collective answers from your respondents.
-You want the respondents to be exact on what you are asking, keeping them glued to your script.
– You don’t want the respondents’ personal views and opinions to affect their answer.
Here are few questions that still comes into play regarding both standardized and customized questionnaires like:-
- How should you check the validity and reliability of a custom questionnaire?
- Can you change a standardized questionnaire?
Let’s further decipher these questions:-
1- How should you check the validity and reliability of a custom questionnaire?
- Validity testing is done to check whether the data collected is giving us the input that we require or not. The main goal here is to make sure that the questions are useful in addressing the exact problem and to get accurate data.
There are generally six ways to check the validity of your custom questionnaire:-
-Face Validity- Face validity refers to the look on the face of the respondents. If the respondents agree to the fact that the questionnaire is a good questionnaire to measure what it is supposed to measure, then it is a justified custom questionnaire.
-Content Validity- It refers to the fact that the questionnaire accumulates all the factors involved in the topic. This is subjected to gaining more accurate information.
-Construct Validity-It is used to calculate the rate at which the test is going to measure what it is intended to measure. This can be done by comparing the results of the given questionnaires with some existing questionnaires, and then check the similarities in the results to determine whether the questionnaire is detecting what it is purposed to detect.
-Faith Validity – It refers to the faith that the researcher has on the custom questionnaire to get the answers that they are aspiring. It is based on instincts and no statistical process is involved here. As Ariana Grande says “I got faith in you.”, your faith in your questionnaire is also an attribute to test the validity of your custom questionnaire.
-Consequential Validity-It refers to the positive or negative impact that the questionnaire is creating among the respondents. What is the impact your questionnaire has on your respondent determines the credibility of your questionnaire.
-Criterion-related validity- It refers to the prediction that your questionnaire is making in relation to another factor. If your questionnaire is testing out the eating habits of individuals, it can also predict how the eating habits are affecting their work life.
Now, as we have cleared how to check the validity of the customized questionnaire, here is how to check the reliability of it.
Reliability refers to the consistency in your collected data. The consistency in the answers will suggest the fact that the questions are stimulating similar emotions in the respondents.
The methods to check the reliability of your custom questionnaire are:-
- Cronbach’s Alpha- The Cronbach’s alpha is an effective method. In simple words, it is helpful to determine whether the multiple -choices based questions using the Likert scale are consistent in evaluating the answers or not.
- Equivalence- It refers to the similarities between two or more custom questionnaires, which are conducted at the same time on either a similar group or a different group of respondents. The larger the extent of similarities is there, the chances of relatability are also high.
- Stability test- It is a pretty simple and effective method to test reliability. All you have to do is repeat the same test twice with a similar group of correspondence. If there is consistency in the results, both times, then your custom questionnaire is stable and reliable.
Now, another very popular question is can you change a standardized questionnaire?
Even though standardized questionnaires are meant to match the prospect that you are measuring, it is a good idea to go through the questionnaire to check that all your concerned areas are covered. It is generally considered a good idea to customize your standardized questionnaire, keeping it still reliable and valid. This will make the questionnaire more accurate to measure the data.
So, can you change a standardized questionnaire?
Yes you can change a standardized questionnaire to
-Measure exactly what you are measuring- A standardized questionnaire may not measure everything you want to measure. Add or subtract items to make them precise.
-Make sure that the changes are required, not because you don’t like something in it.
-Test the new changes with the group of respondents to make sure that there is still consistency in the answers. Compare with the original one to calculate the consistency.
Here is the what, why, and most importantly when to use which questionnaire. Hope this clarifies your doubts about the standardized and custom questionnaire. Finally, you can choose the right questionnaire for your Ph.D. research.
