What Is the Purpose of a Questionnaire?
A questionnaire is made for the purpose of understanding the experiences, beliefs, perceptions and feelings of a given group of people. Questionnaires may be used in a variety of fields including business, science and social studies. Questionnaires create a more accurate picture regarding the way people view certain things in the community by collection of specific data.
Understanding experiences: certain questions are deliberately designed to get unbiased accounts of people’s experiences with regard to specific issues that may include the use of a product or service.
Gauging feelings: some questions can easily help those conducting studies to gauge the feelings or mood of the population. In political circles, questionnaires are used to gauge the mood of the people with regard to certain political candidates or policies.
Beliefs: in order to discover whether a community is, for example, largely Christian or Muslim, conducting a survey using a questionnaire may be effective. Such research may help businesses or organizations ascertain which programs or products to sell in order to receive better results.
Perceptions: the way people perceive a product or issue may determine whether it is widely accepted or not. Finding out people’s perceptions may help create better understanding on the matter, making it possible to come up with better solutions.
