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Expert sampling was used for the second set of questionnaires. This set was e-mailed to
ten experts that the researcher identified as people who have the specialist knowledge
needed to make informed opinions and comments.
Frazer and Lawley (2000) described four types of questionnaires: mail questionnaires,
personally administered questionnaires, telephone questionnaires and Internet
questionnaires. Of these, personally administered questionnaires and telephone
questionnaires are conducted by the researcher who asks the questions and records the
responses given by the respondent. Mail questionnaires and Internet or e-mail
questionnaires are “self-administered questionnaires” with no direct interaction between
the researcher and the respondent (Bernard, 2006, p. 258).
Two of the most prominent advantages of mail questionnaires are their economy and
ease of administration (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1996). Mail questionnaires
also provide greater anonymity. Furthermore, mail questionnaires reduce the rate of
errors caused by any bias created by the nature of the interaction between the
interviewer and the interviewee and the variability in the skills of the administrator
(Sarantakos, 1998). Finally, mail questionnaires grant respondents more time to
consider their answers rather than having to give an immediate response (Frankfort-
Nachmias & Nachmias, 1996).
However, a marked disadvantage of mail questionnaires can be their low response rate
(Bernard, 2006), because a low response rate will affect the validity of generalizing any
research findings (Frankfort–Nachmias & Nachmias, 1996). Frankfort–Nachmias and
Nachmias suggest that non-respondents usually are the poorly educated who may have
difficulty understanding the questions, the elderly who are not able to respond, and the
more mobile who are difficult to locate. If these categories of respondents are excluded
due to their non-response, then the returned responses may not accurately represent the
population originally defined by the researcher and this will create a bias in the findings
(Frankfort–Nachmias & Nachmias, 1996). Furthermore, since questionnaires can use
only simple, straightforward questions, this method eliminates the opportunity for
probing further than the given answer (Jennings, 2001). Finally, there is no guarantee
that the questionnaire is completed by the intended respondent (Bernard, 2006). The
advantages and disadvantages of mail questionnaires are compared in Table 3.2.
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