4.4. Data Generation Methods
4.4.1. Questionnaire
The questionnaire was the most widely used technique for obtaining research data from participants. McMillan and Schumacher (1993) define a questionnaire as, “A written set of questions or statements that assesses attitudes, opinions, beliefs and biographical information”. A questionnaire therefore was that document containing questions designed to solicit information appropriate for analysis. Rubin and Babbie, (2010) define a questionnaire as a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purposes of gathering information from participants. A questionnaire is used by the researcher to gather information which is converted into quantifiable or descriptive data given by research participants. My study used a questionnaire comprising closed and open-ended questions. The questions in all cases emanated from the research sub problems which in essence were guided by sub-topics on important issues pertaining to people’s experiences and perspectives concerning the role of public education on addressing corruption in Zimbabwe. The sub-topics include; types of public education, approaches to public education, experiences and perspectives on the role of public education; stakeholder participation in public education and people’s views on public education platforms used by Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission. The questionnaire was hand delivered to all the participants (60) and I collected the completed questionnaire in person on agreed dates.
Advantages of using questionnaires
In terms of the advantages, Best and Kahn, (1993) identified the following;
questionnaires make the participants anonymous such that they feel free and secure to answer question items. All issues regarding corruption required covert means of getting information since participants were usually very skeptical about their security and safety. This issue was very important in that it ensured that the researcher got accurate and reliable information. The questionnaire also eliminates bias usually found in the use of other methods like interviews since answering of questions would
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be done in the absence of the researcher. In this case, data was collected without the researcher influencing the ideas from participant. I made it a point that the participants should not provide their names and any other form of identities. This gave confidence to the participants and it allowed them to give truthful answers after the assurance that they would not be identified and victimized or penalized for having given their contributions.
McMillan and Schumacher, (1993), subscribe to the notion that questionnaires were relatively economical, had standardized questions, could ensure anonymity and questions could be written for specific purposes. This explained that questionnaires could be distributed throughout the country or region in form of hard or soft copies at very minimal costs and participants were guided as to what answers would be desirable. A questionnaire could enable the assessment of facts, attitudes or opinions from research participants with relative ease. This could be done by assessing the tone of the responses in given parts of the questionnaire. The use of questionnaires was efficient and easy for participants to fill in and the format increased comparability of responses by the researcher. In addition, questionnaires saved time for example a large group of participants could complete them concurrently in a given space of thirty minutes. Questionnaires could use both closed and open-ended questions making them a utility instrument which could generate both qualitative and quantitative data effectively if they were well constructed. Open questions allowed the participant to answer without presented or implied choices.
Questionnaires could be analyzed more scientifically and objectively than other forms of research instruments. The responses of questionnaires were gathered in a standardized way, so questionnaires were more objective, certainly more so than interviews. The results of questionnaires could usually be quickly and easily quantified by a researcher through the use of a computer software package.
Disadvantages of Questionnaires
Questionnaires were mostly affected by the fact that participants should be able to read questions and respond to them. Unfortunately, people conducting the research may never know if the participants understood the question that was being asked (Rubin and Babbie, 2010). Thus, researchers may make decisions on information that a participant never gave time to think about particularly in areas that required
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participants to just tick. The majority of the participants that return the questionnaire were those that have a really positive or really negative view point and want their opinion to be heard. The people that were most likely unbiased either way typically do not respond because it is not worth their time (Rubin and Babbie, 2010). Open ended questions could generate large amounts of data that could take long time to process and analyze. I attempted to solve this by limiting the space available so that the responses were concise and easy to manage. Participants may answer superficially especially if the questionnaires took long time to complete. The researcher tried to avoid the common mistake of asking too many questions. There was no way to tell how truthful a participant was being and how much thought, a participant put in. Questionnaires were standardized so it was not possible to explain any points that participants might misinterpret. In my study, I solved this problem through piloting the questions on a small group of participants in order to ensure they meant what they were intended to.
Participants might read differently into each question and therefore could reply basing on their interpretation of the question (Reiss, 2004). There could be a level of researcher imposition, meaning the researcher could make his own decisions and assumptions as to what was and was not important, therefore, thereby missing something that could have been of importance. Participants might not wish to reveal information because they think they could be victimized by giving their real opinion.
Participants needed to be told why the information was being collected and how the results would be beneficial to their country and that the questionnaire should be anonymous.
Rate of return of questionnaires is usually very low. In order to ensure maximum return rate, I delivered the questionnaires with the assistance of two research assistants to all the sixty participants. Questionnaires do not probe the participant in the event of them giving an inadequate answer, an interesting one which needs expansion or sought for clarity in situations requiring so. Gall et al. (1996) point out that, the participants typically control the data collection process, they could fill in the questionnaire at their own convenience, answer items in any order, take more than one sitting to complete it, make marginal comments and could skip some questions.
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The researcher should encourage the participants to fill in the questionnaire in an honest manner as this would benefit the society in future.
Among many of the disadvantages associated with the use of questionnaires as a research instrument were that they suffocate and restrict participants to dictated areas. Thus, Best and Kahn (1993) were quick to advise that questions should be pre-tested to avoid ambiguities which could lead to some questions being answered incorrectly. It might be also very difficult to authenticate the information given by participants in the sense that some participants would delegate their secretaries, children or spouses to respond on their behalf. Despite these shortcomings, the questionnaire remained a crucial instrument in this study in generating people’s experiences and perspectives on the role of public education on addressing corruption.