Preference of LIS students in responding to a survey questionnaire: A task-based comparison between open-ended, close-ended, and scale-type questions Sultana Tania1,**, Yesmin Shamima2,* 1MSS Student, Institute of Information Sciences, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali-3814, Bangladesh 2Assistant Professor, Institute of Information Sciences, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali-3814, Bangladesh *Corresponding author Email id: shamima.iis@nstu.edu.bd
**tania2413@student.nstu.edu.bd
Online Published on 22 August, 2024. Abstract Questionnaires are mostly used in quantitative and social science research as data collection tools. Therefore, developing a good questionnaire is essential to ensure the survey’s success. This study aims to gain an understanding of the respondents’ views on which type of questions they preferred, their length, number of questions, required duration to fill it out, and so on. The purpose is also to compare the usability of closed-ended, open-ended, and scale-type questions, and determine which type yields the best responses. Using a mixed methods research approach, the respondents were eighty-nine Library and Information Science students of Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. In this study, for quantitative data collection, the researcher prepared two separate questionnaires, one closed-ended and the other rating scale type. For qualitative data, another questionnaire using open-ended questions was used. All these questionnaires used the same questions to observe the difference in response and completion rates. The SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results revealed that in open-ended questionnaires, the number of correct answers was very low, and the number of unattended questions was also very high compared to closed-ended questions. However, in the scale-type questionnaire, a high rate of responses was in the neutral position (neither positively supported nor negatively supported) in the given statements. The data collection tool, i. e. the questionnaire, is not a new tool for conducting research; many studies have focused on its design, development, and validation. However, this research attempts to practically demonstrate which type of questionnaire could yield good responses in a particular discipline, which is new. Top Keywords Closed-ended questionnaire, Open-ended questionnaire, Scale-type questionnaire, Survey method, Research data collection tool. Top |