QUESTIONNAIRES AND INVENTORIES

Questionnaires and Inventories

 

Questionnaires & Inventories The use of questionnaires and inventories as a means of obtaining useful information about populations, individuals, products, and events has existed since the nineteenth century. But it wasn’t until the twentieth century and the development of modern statistical methods, and, more recently, the advent of digital technology that they came to be considered indispensable tools in a wide range of fields, including the behavioral and social sciences, education, health, and business. Questionnaires and Inventories is written for researchers and practitioners in the above-mentioned disciplines and for all others who rely upon these important tools-of-the-trade. Written by a well-known authority in the field, it is a complete, how-to guide to the construction, administration, analysis, and interpretation of all types of questionnaires and inventories

After a concise review of the historical origins and theoretical underpinnings of assessment tools and rating scales, Dr. Aiken presents chapters providing detailed, hands-on coverage of the construction, administration, scoring, and interpretation of questionnaires, psychological inventories, and population surveys. Following chapters feature in-depth discussions of the statistical analysis of data, as well as test reliability and validity. The final two chapters are devoted to the critical assessment of most commercially available questionnaires and

Figure 1.Questionnaire

inventories. Questionnaires and Inventories includes many features designed to help readersquickly master the skills they need to construct their own assessment tools, including helpful chapter-end summaries, bibliographies, quizzes, and practice exercises. Perhaps the most valuable didactic tool is the diskette, which contains a power-house of programs that readers will find invaluable in designing, constructing, administering, scoring, and evaluating all types of questionnaires and inventories. Questionnaires and Inventories is an indispensable tool for practitioners in the behavioral and social sciences, as well as for market research professionals, attitude and product researchers, and political pollsters. It is also an excellent supplemental text for upper-level graduate courses in psychology, education, sociology, health studies, political science, and other disciplines. Inventory is more often used to measure personality traits and vocational tendencies, for  instance.

Questionnaire and inventory, both are the types of surveys. Questionnaire contains questions which are simple to answer. These questions are often related to specific subjects and are asked in order to gather the information. Inventory is the list of characters or skills which are selected. It is a more precise and specified list or report or record of skills, features, interests etc. Questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for gathering information from respondents or participant .A questionnaire is an effective method for measuring the behavior, attitudes, preference, and choice of relatively large group of people. The questionnaire is important in research because a questionnaire is a research instrument  consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents thus , for some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be concrete. A questionnaire consists of a variety of the questions printed or typed  in a definite order on a form which are mailed further to the respondent .The respondent has to answer these questions on his own. The main function or the objective of the questionnaire is to collect data from the respondent , who are generally scattered in a vast diverse area. This method also helps in the collection of reliable and dependable data.

Differences between Interest and Inventory

Questionnaire	Inventory
It contains questions which are simple to answer. It is a form of obtaining a set of question , especially one addressed to a statistically significant number of subjects as a way of gathering information for a survey.	It is the list of characters or skills which are selected. It is more precise and specified list or report or record or record of skills, features, interests etc.
Questionnaire asks questions often requiring relatively simple answers,  sometimes just true or false.	Inventories  often list skills or characteristics that may be rated or chosen and often commented upon.
Questions are often related to specific subjects and are asked in order to gather the information	An inventory is more of detailed, itemized list, report, or record of characteristics,  skills, interests etc.

References