How to Get Respondents for Your Questionnaire in Nigeria Without Buying Fake Responses

Quick Summary

The best questionnaire respondents are people who genuinely belong to the population your study is investigating.

To get real responses:

1. Define exactly who should answer your questionnaire.
2. Confirm your required sample and sampling method.
3. Get permission before collecting data where required.
4. Make the questionnaire short, clear and mobile-friendly.
5. Share it through channels where your target respondents can actually be found.
6. Write a clear invitation message.
7. Ask trusted representatives or gatekeepers to help distribute it.
8. Send polite reminders.
9. Check responses before analysis.
10. Never invent, buy or manipulate responses.

A large number of responses is not useful if the people answering your questionnaire do not belong to your study population.

Start With the Right Population

Before asking anyone to complete your questionnaire, define exactly who should participate.

For example:

Undergraduate students of [Institution Name]

may be too broad if your study is specifically about final-year students.

A clearer population might be:

Final-year students in the Department of Business Administration at [Institution Name].

Another study might target:

Customers of selected small retail businesses in Kano metropolis.

Or:

Secondary-school teachers working in public schools within [Local Government Area].

Your respondents should match the population and sampling approach described in your Chapter Three.

Do not distribute your questionnaire everywhere simply because you want more responses.

If people outside your study population complete the questionnaire, the resulting data may not properly answer your research questions.

Confirm How Many Respondents You Actually Need

Before distributing your questionnaire, know the sample size approved for your study.

The required number of respondents depends on factors such as:

• Your study population
• Research design
• Sampling technique
• Departmental requirements
• Sample-size method used in Chapter Three

Do not simply copy another student's sample size.

A study with a population of 300 people does not automatically require the same number of respondents as a study involving 10,000 people.

Also distinguish between:

• Target sample: the number you intend to reach
• Completed responses: the number of questionnaires returned
• Valid responses: the number that can actually be analysed

For example, you may distribute 200 questionnaires but receive 174 usable responses.

Report what actually happened.

Get Permission Where Required

Some studies require permission before data collection.

You may need approval from:

• Your supervisor
• Your department
• A school
• A hospital
• A company
• A government agency
• A professional association
• A community leader
• A group administrator

Permission is especially important when you are collecting responses through an organisation or from a protected group.

For example, you should not enter a workplace and begin distributing questionnaires to staff without approval from the appropriate person.

Likewise, do not claim that your university, department or an organisation officially supports your study unless that is true.

Introduce yourself honestly and explain why you are collecting the data.

Make Your Questionnaire Easy to Complete

People are more likely to complete a questionnaire that is clear and easy to use.

Before sharing it, check:

• Is the purpose explained clearly?
• Does it state who is eligible to participate?
• Are the instructions simple?
• Does it work properly on a phone?
• Is the text easy to read?
• Are there unnecessary questions?
• Are response options clear?
• Does the questionnaire take a reasonable amount of time?
• Are sensitive questions genuinely necessary?
• Have you tested the form yourself?

If your questionnaire takes five minutes, say five minutes.

Do not tell respondents it takes two minutes when it actually takes fifteen.

Test the Questionnaire Before Sharing It Widely

Complete the questionnaire yourself before sending it out.

You can also ask a small number of appropriate people to check whether:

• Questions are understandable
• Options are complete
• Instructions make sense
• The form works on mobile devices
• Skip logic works correctly
• Required questions are appropriate

Where your research design requires a formal pilot study, follow the procedure approved in your methodology.

Where Can You Find Questionnaire Respondents in Nigeria?

The best place to find respondents depends on your target population.

University Students

Possible channels include:

• Departmental WhatsApp groups
• Class WhatsApp groups
• Faculty groups
• Class representatives
• Course representatives
• Student associations
• Departmental executives
• Physical distribution before or after lectures, where permitted
• School email or learning platforms where access is approved

If your questionnaire is only for 400-level Computer Science students, a general university group may generate many responses from people who are not eligible.

Target the relevant group instead.

Students From Multiple Universities

If your population covers students across different institutions, consider:

• Student associations
• Departmental communities
• Campus WhatsApp groups
• Student Facebook groups
• Telegram communities
• Student creators or campus community pages
• Friends or classmates at other institutions who can act as legitimate distribution contacts

Make sure your sampling method supports this approach.

Employees or Professionals

If your study targets workers, professionals or staff members, consider:

• Formal organisational permission
• Human-resources departments
• Department heads
• Professional associations
• Workplace WhatsApp groups where approved
• Designated staff representatives
• Physical distribution at the organisation

Do not ask random people online to pretend they work in the profession you are studying.

Business Customers

Possible approaches include:

• Asking the business owner for permission
• Sharing a QR code at the business location
• Sending the questionnaire through an approved customer channel
• Inviting eligible customers after a transaction
• Collecting responses physically at selected outlets

Make sure the respondents genuinely meet your inclusion criteria.

Community Residents

For studies involving a particular community, you may need help from:

• Community leaders
• Residents' associations
• Youth groups
• Religious or community organisations, where appropriate and approved
• Local volunteers
• Physical household visits according to your sampling method

Do not replace community-based sampling with random online responses if your methodology requires participants from a specific location.

Use Channels That Match Your Target Population

A simple guide:

Do not simply post your questionnaire link in unrelated groups.

Targeted distribution generally gives you more useful responses than mass distribution.

Ask Gatekeepers to Help You

Sometimes the fastest way to reach respondents is through someone who already has access to the group.

Examples include:

• A class representative
• Departmental president
• Course representative
• Lecturer
• Organisation administrator
• HR officer
• Community leader
• Association executive
• Group administrator

Instead of messaging 200 students individually, you may be able to ask a class representative to share the questionnaire with eligible students.

A short request could say:

Good afternoon. I am conducting my final-year research on [topic], and my target respondents are [group]. Please, would you be able to share my questionnaire with eligible members of the class? I would really appreciate your help.

Always explain who should respond.

Write a Clear Questionnaire Invitation

A message that simply says:

Please help me fill my questionnaire.

is easy to ignore.

Your invitation should tell people:

• Who you are
• What the research is about
• Who should respond
• How long it takes
• Whether participation is voluntary
• How their information will be handled
• Where to access the questionnaire

Student Questionnaire Invitation Template

Good afternoon. My name is [Your Name], a final-year student in the Department of [Department], [Institution].

I am conducting a research study on [brief topic]. This questionnaire is specifically for [target respondents].

It takes approximately [actual estimated time] minutes to complete. Participation is voluntary, and the information collected will be used for academic purposes.

If you belong to the target group, please complete the questionnaire here:

[Questionnaire Link]

Thank you for your time and support.

Short WhatsApp Version

Hello. I am conducting my final-year research on [topic].

I am looking for [specific target respondents].

If you belong to this group, please help me complete this short questionnaire. It takes about [time] minutes.

[Link]

Thank you.

Organisation or Workplace Template

Good morning. My name is [Your Name], a student in the Department of [Department], [Institution].

I am conducting an academic study on [brief topic], and the target participants are [eligible staff group].

With the appropriate permission, I would be grateful if eligible staff members could complete the questionnaire.

Participation is voluntary, and responses will be handled according to the research requirements of the study.

The questionnaire takes approximately [actual time] minutes.

Thank you for your consideration.

Make Your Google Form Mobile-Friendly

Many respondents in Nigeria will open your questionnaire from WhatsApp or another mobile app.

Test the form on your phone before distribution.

Avoid:

• Extremely long paragraphs
• Complicated grids that are difficult to use on a small screen
• Too many open-ended questions
• Questions with unclear options
• Upload requirements unless necessary
• Collecting email addresses when they are not required
• Asking respondents to sign in unless your method requires it

A respondent who opens a difficult questionnaire may simply close it.

Use Physical and Online Collection Together Where Appropriate

Google Forms is convenient, but online distribution is not always enough.

Depending on your approved sampling method, you may combine:

• Google Forms
• Printed questionnaires
• QR codes
• Class-group distribution
• Face-to-face collection
• Organisation contacts
• Departmental announcements

For example, you could display a QR code after receiving permission to approach eligible students physically.

They can scan it and complete the questionnaire on their phones.

Be careful not to collect the same person's response twice through both paper and online forms.

How to Increase Your Questionnaire Response Rate

If responses are coming slowly, improve the distribution process rather than creating fake data.

Make the Eligibility Clear

Instead of:

Please fill my form.

write:

This questionnaire is for final-year Accounting students at [Institution].

People immediately know whether they qualify.

Keep It Short

Long questionnaires have a higher chance of being abandoned.

Remove questions that do not contribute to your research objectives.

Tell People How Long It Takes

If the questionnaire takes approximately four minutes, say so.

This helps respondents decide whether they have time to complete it.

Ask Relevant People to Share It

A class representative sending the questionnaire to the correct class may be more useful than posting it in ten unrelated WhatsApp groups.

Send a Reminder

People may intend to respond and simply forget.

A polite reminder can help.

Share at a Convenient Time

Avoid relying only on one message posted when most group members may be busy.

Where permitted, one later reminder may reach respondents who missed the original message.

Send Respectful Follow-Ups

A simple follow-up might say:

Good afternoon. This is a gentle reminder about the questionnaire shared earlier on [topic]. If you belong to the target group and have not yet responded, I would really appreciate your participation.

Thank you.

Do not:

• Message people repeatedly every few hours
• Pressure respondents
• Threaten classmates
• Make people feel their grades or relationship with you depends on participating
• Pretend participation is compulsory when it is not

Respect a person's decision not to participate.

Can You Offer Respondents an Incentive?

Possibly, but it depends on your study and any applicable ethics requirements.

An incentive should not pressure someone into participating or influence the answers they provide.

If you are considering an incentive:

• Discuss it with your supervisor where appropriate.
• Make the terms clear.
• Do not promise something you cannot provide.
• Do not make the reward dependent on giving particular answers.
• Do not disguise the incentive.

For many undergraduate studies, a clear request, short questionnaire and access to the right target group may be enough.

Why You Should Not Buy Fake Questionnaire Responses

You may see people online offering:

100 questionnaire responses for ₦5,000.

or:

We will complete your Google Form for you.

The number may look attractive, but those responses may be useless for your research.

The people completing them may:

• Not belong to your target population
• Give random answers
• Complete multiple responses themselves
• Rush through the form
• Use fake demographic information
• Produce patterns that do not represent your population

You may end up analysing data that has nothing to do with the people your project claims to study.

That makes your findings difficult to justify during project defence.

Do Not Create Responses Yourself

Never fill your own questionnaire repeatedly just to meet your sample size.

Also avoid:

• Asking friends to pretend they are eligible respondents
• Copying another student's dataset
• Generating random responses
• Inventing paper questionnaires
• Creating fake respondent names
• Altering genuine answers
• Deleting valid responses because you dislike the result

Your project should report the data you actually collected.

What If You Cannot Reach Your Required Sample Size?

This is a real research problem, and the solution is not to invent respondents.

Try the following:

1. Confirm that you are approaching the correct population.
2. Check whether your questionnaire is too long or confusing.
3. Ask another legitimate gatekeeper for distribution access.
4. Send one respectful reminder.
5. Use another approved distribution channel.
6. Consider physical collection if your methodology allows it.
7. Give the collection period enough time where possible.
8. Tell your supervisor how many valid responses you actually obtained.

Your supervisor can help determine whether:

• Data collection should continue
• Another approved channel should be used
• The limitation should be reported
• Your sampling approach needs adjustment

Do not secretly change the sample size or create missing responses.

Protect Respondents' Privacy

Collect only information that is necessary for your research.

Avoid collecting information such as:

• Phone numbers
• Home addresses
• Bank information
• Passwords
• Identification numbers
• Email addresses
• Full names

unless there is a legitimate research reason and the collection is properly approved.

If your study requires sensitive or identifying information:

• Explain why it is being collected.
• Restrict access to the data.
• Do not post raw responses publicly.
• Do not share identifiable responses casually with classmates or friends.
• Follow your institution's research and privacy requirements.

Do not promise anonymity if your questionnaire actually collects identifying information.

Check Your Responses Before Analysis

Collecting responses is not the final step.

Before moving to SPSS, Excel or another analysis tool, review your dataset.

Check for:

• Duplicate submissions
• Test responses
• Completely empty responses
• Respondents outside the target population
• Impossible demographic combinations
• Incomplete submissions
• Responses completed suspiciously quickly
• Repeated answer patterns that may require investigation
• Data-entry errors

However, be careful.

A respondent selecting the same answer for several questions does not automatically mean the response is fake.

Likewise, a response that disagrees with your expected result is not invalid simply because you dislike it.

Only exclude responses according to clear and defensible criteria.

Keep a Record of Your Data Collection

It can be useful to record:

• When data collection started
• When it ended
• Where the questionnaire was distributed
• Number of questionnaires distributed
• Number returned
• Number excluded
• Final number analysed

This helps when writing your methodology and Chapter Four.

For example:

A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed, 182 were returned, and 176 valid responses were included in the final analysis.

Only report numbers that reflect what actually happened.

What Should You Do After Collecting the Responses?

Once you have enough valid responses according to your approved methodology:

1. Close or stop distributing the questionnaire.
2. Export your responses.
3. Keep an original copy of the dataset.
4. Remove obvious test entries where appropriate.
5. Code the variables.
6. Check missing values and duplicates.
7. Prepare the data for analysis.
8. Analyse it according to your Chapter Three method.

If you plan to use SPSS, read our guide on how to analyse questionnaire data in SPSS for Chapter Four.

Create a Proper Research Questionnaire

Getting respondents is easier when the questionnaire itself is well structured.

MonoEd's free Research Questionnaire Builder can help you create a questionnaire with:

• A research introduction
• Demographic questions
• Questionnaire items organised by research question
• Structured response options
• A format you can review before distribution

Your supervisor should still review the final questionnaire before you begin data collection.

The questionnaire must reflect your actual research objectives and methodology.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can I get respondents for my questionnaire in Nigeria?

Start with the population defined in your study.

Use channels that contain those people, such as departmental groups, class representatives, organisations, professional associations, community contacts or approved physical distribution.

Do not distribute the questionnaire randomly simply to increase your numbers.

Where can I share my questionnaire in Nigeria?

It depends on your respondents.

Possible channels include WhatsApp groups, departmental communities, student associations, workplaces, professional groups, community organisations and physical distribution.

Use only channels that are relevant to the population stated in your research methodology.

Can I ask my friends to complete my questionnaire?

Yes, but only if they genuinely belong to your target population.

Do not ask friends to pretend they qualify simply because you need more responses.

Can I ask people to share my questionnaire?

Yes.

A class representative, association executive, organisation contact or other legitimate gatekeeper can help you reach eligible respondents.

Make sure the invitation clearly explains who is supposed to respond.

Can I post my questionnaire in WhatsApp groups?

Yes, where appropriate.

Ask the administrator when necessary and make sure the group contains people who fit your target population.

Avoid posting repeatedly in unrelated groups.

Can I use Facebook groups to get questionnaire responses?

Yes, if the group is relevant to your study population and its rules allow research posts.

For example, a questionnaire targeting Nigerian university students may be appropriate in a genuine student community, while a study limited to students from one department should normally use a more targeted channel.

Can I use Google Forms for my final-year project?

Yes, if online data collection fits your research design and your supervisor permits it.

Make the form mobile-friendly and make sure the people receiving the link meet your eligibility criteria.

How many questionnaire respondents do I need?

There is no single number for every final-year project.

Your required sample depends on your population, sampling approach, study design and the sample-size procedure approved in your methodology.

Is it okay to get fewer respondents than my sample size?

If you obtain fewer valid responses than planned, do not invent the remaining data.

Tell your supervisor and discuss whether additional data collection is necessary and how the final response rate should be reported.

Can I pay people to answer my questionnaire?

An approved incentive for genuine eligible participants is different from paying strangers to manufacture responses.

If incentives are being considered, follow your supervisor's guidance and applicable ethics requirements.

Do not buy random questionnaire responses.

How can I know if questionnaire responses are fake?

There is no single sign that proves a response is fake.

You can review the dataset for issues such as duplicate submissions, ineligible participants, impossible values, test entries or other patterns that require investigation.

Do not automatically delete a response simply because it was completed quickly or contains answers you did not expect.

What should I do after getting my questionnaire responses?

Clean and organise your dataset, identify missing or invalid entries, code the variables and analyse the data according to your approved methodology.

If you are using SPSS, follow a structured data-entry and analysis process rather than copying someone else's output.

Final Checklist Before You Start Data Collection

Before sharing your questionnaire, confirm that:

• You know exactly who should respond.
• Your sample size and sampling method are defined.
• You have the required approval.
• Your supervisor has reviewed the questionnaire where required.
• The questionnaire works properly on a phone.
• Your invitation clearly identifies eligible respondents.
• You know which channels you will use.
• You have a plan for follow-up reminders.
• You know how you will protect respondents' information.
• You have a plan for storing and analysing the data.

Good questionnaire data starts before the first respondent clicks the link.

Reaching the right people, asking clear questions and recording genuine answers will give you a much stronger project than simply trying to reach a large response count.