With their ability to gather vast amounts of information economically, questionnaires are a popular way of collecting data in a variety of research areas. However, the ubiquity and user-friendliness of free online tools such as Google Forms and Microsoft Forms can sometimes lead to a perception of questionnaires as a quick and easy way of carrying out research that requires little or no planning. This webinar draws on survey instruments in second-language acquisition, and on the work of Zoltán Dörnyei and colleagues, to offer a brief introduction to systematically designing and administering questionnaires, and handling the resulting data. A hands-on demonstration of constructing a simple survey will help to put key principles into practice.
The webinar will include:
- tools for conducting surveys (focusing on free online ones, but also mention ones such as Qualtrics)
- articulating research questions and hypotheses, and using theory to inform these
- a quick hands-on demonstration of conducting/analysing a simple survey
