Structured questionnaires and focus group meeting

A structured questionnaire is a fixed set of questions, asked in the same order and wording to every respondent, mostly with closed answers (yes/no, multiple choice, rating scales). It is a quantitative survey tool.

Pros (advantages)

• Same questions for all, so answers are easy to compare, code and analyse statistically.
• Can cover a large sample quickly and at low cost; enumerators need little training.
• Gives numerical data (e.g. household income, water use per day) useful for design.
• Less interviewer bias; results can be repeated and checked.
• Can be self-administered, online or by phone.

Cons (limitations)

• Rigid – cannot explore new issues or the reasons ("why") behind answers.
• Respondents may misunderstand questions or give socially acceptable answers.
• Not suitable for illiterate respondents if self-filled; language problems.
• Poorly designed questions give misleading data; pre-testing is needed.
• Gives little information on culture, power and feelings; low response rate in mail/online surveys.

When to use it

• When the topic is already understood and specific, measurable data are needed (baseline survey, census of households, demand estimate for water supply).
• When the population is large and results must be generalised.
• For monitoring and evaluation, comparing before and after a project.
• After qualitative methods (FGD, key informant interviews) have identified the main issues, so that good questions can be framed.

Focus group meeting (Focus Group Discussion, FGD)

An FGD is a guided discussion among a small group (about 6–12 people) of similar background on a specific topic, led by a facilitator with a checklist, while a note-taker records.

• Procedure: decide topic and checklist → select homogeneous group (e.g. women users, farmers) → introduce purpose, ensure free talk → facilitate discussion for 1–2 hours → record → summarise and share back.
• Advantages: quick, cheap, gives shared views, reasons and disagreements; people stimulate each other's ideas; useful to find needs and priorities.
• Limitations: dominant people may control the talk; not statistically representative; needs a skilled facilitator; sensitive topics are hard to discuss in a group.