ABSTRACT
The questionnaire has become one of the most used and abused means of collecting information. If well constructed, a questionnaire permits the collection of reliable and reasonably valid data in a simple, cheap and timely manner. However, there are many sloppy questionnaires and these yield unreliable data of limited validity and utility. The decision to use a questionnaire is often motivated by a need to collect routine data from a large number of respondents who may be in one or several locations, for example, schools within a district. In this situation a questionnaire can be administered to a group at one school or it may be widely dispersed throughout the district. Questionnaires can be efficiently administered by mail; however, unless sufficient care is taken, the rate of return can be a gamble. Researchers who elect to use this form of data collection are cautioned to think carefully before they use questionnaires to gather information which could be gathered in another more efficient or valid way.
