Advantages: Using a questionnaire to collect data has many advantages. Large numbers of people can be contacted quickly and easily, meaning that a lot of useful information can be collected efficiently. It is relatively easy to make and doesn't take too long - once finished, the respondent does most of the work! Another advantage is that it's easy to standardise, as everyone answers the same question. Questionnaires also can be used to explore sensitive material, as they can be anonymous and completed in private.
Disadvantages: There are however some disadvantages of questionnaires. For example, respondents can misunderstand questions or deliberately invalidate the questionnaire, resulting in having an unreliable set of data. It's difficult to ascertain the truth of respondents' answers, as people could be influenced by their friends etc. Often people only give limited depth of response, even with open questions, so it can be hard to explore complex issues and opinions. Questionnaires can be of limited use if a poor sample is chosen. Also, self-selecting samples can contaminate data, it should be ensured a wide variety of people (age, gender) is chosen. Overall, questionnaires clearly have their strengths and weaknesses. By sending out a questionnaire to my target audience, I'm hoping to gain useful data that will give me the information I need to produce a successful magazine.
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