Questionnaire vs Schedule – Difference and Comparison

What is Questionnaire?

A questionnaire is an instrument comprised of questions that may be close-ended or open-ended, along with alternative answers. It is used for gathering a piece of information through surveys.

The research questionnaire is a mix of close-ended, open-ended, short-form, or long-form questions, etc. it is most important to consider in the questionnaire that the questions should be unbiased. An effective questionnaire is always simple and concise.

Moreover, the questionnaire is always topic-specific and covers different aspects. The questionnaire is more advantageous than surveys as it costs less and requires less effort is required from the questionnaire as verbal.

It has one more advantage: it simply compiles the required data easily. Using a questionnaire in research is more feasible and effective than in an in-depth interview.

However, the standardized answers may frustrate the users, but the possible answers do not represent their desired responses.

It is also limited so that the respondent can read the questions and respond accordingly. Thus, a questionnaire may not be feasible for some demographic groups.

The benefit of a questionnaire is it saves time for the respondent and researcher. It also helps cover large audiences compared to in-depth interviews in gathering data. The questionnaire is distributed in the form of soft copy and hard copy.

What is Schedule?

It is a set of questions, statements, and spaces for answers provided to the enumerators so they can ask questions and note responses. It is a research tool used to collect information and help design a research study.

It consists of a set of structured questions. The interviewer directly asks the questions. When the respondent faces some issues, he takes help from the interviewer.

The interviewer and respondents ask the well-structured question in the schedule, and respondents have to write answers in the presence of an interviewer.

The questions in the schedule do not contain answers the respondent has to write or verbally answer to the interviewer. The time available for the respondents in the schedule is limited.

The cost of scheduled method data collection is high. The cost involves preparing a schedule, costs incurred by enumerators and their training, etc. The coverage of this method is small as it involves sending enumerators to large areas.

In schedules, there is a possibility of receiving incomplete and incorrect answers due to less understanding of questions; that is why enumerators are present to resolve the issues or any queries or doubts.

Difference Between Questionnaire and Schedule

The main difference between a questionnaire and a schedule is the first one is a quantitative tool for data collection for research, while the 2nd one is a qualitative tool, and detailed answers are written against each question.

Both are important in research work. Both are data collection tools that help collect and analyze data for the researchers and conclusions.

However, the data collection method is the only difference between the questionnaire and the schedule.

In the questionnaire method, there is no scope for personal contact with respondents, while in the schedule, there is a direct personal contract.

Comparison Between Questionnaire and Schedule

References

1. ^ Gault, RH (1907). “A history of the questionnaire method of research in psychology”. Research in Psychology. 14 (3): 366–383. doi:10.1080/08919402.1907.10532551.