Research’s Participant

The length of the survey instruments was varied highly with some survey questions appearing as shorter while others are longer. The questions that required a lot of details involved a lot of questions with items required being marginally high. However, other questions in the survey instrument were quite short especially those that required few elaboration. The length of each instrument could be identified with the kind of modification required or the connection with the other survey instruments such that some required answers related to other instruments which made some part o survey to be quite long. Some sections of the instruments were quite long and required attention in order to get fully keep on course with the required answers. When I encountered the long part of the survey questions, I found a mismatch between what I was thinking and what I was doing. I would find myself paying less attention to the requirements of the various presented questions. The lake of attention made me lose some things that were quite obvious in the survey. The kind of inattention is quite relevant to the survey questionnaires in which the participants pays attention for a short time but from a given point it becomes difficult to pay attention. I could attribute this to feeling bored while trying to concentrate on the longer question that especially those with subsections. This could easily be indicated by the manner in which I would skim on the various questions that required a lot concentration while reading. Other questions had little motivational facto in answering them in areas that required referring to previously provided answers for continuity. Online participants in survey can be less motivated to be attentive to the process since no one is watching how they participating which can draw away their concentration (Robins & Fraley, 2009).

The open ended questions were varied in terms of clarity. The wording of these questions appeared to be quite reasonable though some had much of it. Some of the questions are very general and seemed to ask about the opinion of the participants on the issues at hand. With their clarity, the open ended questions seems to be doing a lot of probing such that I found myself answering in a general manner and using general adjectives in the description of opinions and the relevant situations. The clarity was enhanced by the probing tendency which was mostly a matter of requiring a response that is more specific or an explanation of a given scenario and term. The probing for the purpose of clarity seemed to the participant what they should know or what is need of them to do. The probing also seemed to completeness of information provided such that once an answer has been given the questions ask for additional responses to the previous questions. This is made easier by small wordings for most of the questions which reduces the boring tendency of the questions. This probing made the questions to be less leading .The way the phrasing is done makes it possible for the questions to be used for a little population study. Open-ended questions are very valuable for those surveys which target a research involving small populations since a complex statistical analysis will provide input that is more valuable from every participant. (Robins & Fraley, 2009) Clarity and appropriate wording made easier to complete the questions without wasting much time.

It is preferable to use open ended questions than closed ended questions in this kind of survey. While using the open ended questions, I found it easier to give more information than I had anticipated after immediately reading the question. There is no restriction on the extent of the answers that can be provided since the answers given are as much diverse as possible. The open-ended questions allow the participants to give sets of answers which are broadly covering the interviewers intended purpose.  These kinds of questions allowed me to provide more information about attitude, feelings and the understanding of the subject or the issue. There is low likelihood of forgetting the option from which to choose an answer from while using the open ended questions since the responses are provided freely (Robins & Fraley, 2009). It was quite hard to just disregard reading some of the questions and just felling in the survey with similar answers. However, for the closed ended questions, the answers given are restricted to the alternatives provided. The questions prevent a person from giving a diverse set of answers for a given question. What is expected is what the participant is able to give. This means that there is a limitation on the information provided by the respondent or their understanding on the issue to be tackled. The respondent can b limited to the answers that are believed to be free. The basic point is that closed-ended questions present insufficient options for the participant to choose from which limits their need for expression about a given topic that they understand thoroughly (Robins & Fraley, 2009). However, I found that these questions are easy to answer given that options are provided where one is only supposed to put mark.

Qualitative methods aim at achieving a clear understanding of a given aspect of the organization. Therefore, a dependent variable that provides clear rendering of order, structure and wide patterns found in all the participants can be studied under the qualitative methods questions. This is because the qualitative manipulate research does not variables being researched and does not impose operational definitions of such variable by the researche(Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004)r. Instead, it allows the intended meaning to come from the participants themselves. This methodology is flexible and therefore appropriate that the variable can change depending on a particular setting. The quantitative method of data collection and analysis can be used in the researching on the independent variable. This is because the methodology focuses on the unchanging details which involve a convergent reasoning. This will allow the participants to generate ideas and information about the questions presented to them by the researcher in a free-flowing way. The results provided by the participants’ responses are based on a bigger sample size which represents the whole population (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). This is very appropriate for online survey on independent variables.

The knowledge obtained from participating in the questions will go a long way in helping me choose the right kinds of questions whether open-ended or close ended. An important aspect is how to formulate these questions so that the right information is probed from the participant. In addition, though closed ended questions are easy to respond to, they limit the information provided. Open-ended questions provide for diverse responses. However, a mix of both can be very helpful.

References

Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm whose Time Has Come. Educational Researcher, (7). 14.

Robins, R., & Fraley, R. C. (2009). Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology. New York: Guilford Publications.