Obtaining data for my thesis through questionnaires has proven to be more challenging than I initially anticipated.

I dedicated a considerable amount of time to creating a 20-question questionnaire for my thesis study on machine learning, specifically targeting banking professionals involved in financing, banking, and loan origination - a relatively small group of individuals. After compiling a list of professionals to reach out to, I sent the questionnaire via email. However, to my disappointment, none of them had completed it when I checked the following day.

In an effort to improve response rates, I decided to contact each person individually via phone and WhatsApp to request their participation. Although I messaged some via WhatsApp, I still had to clarify the purpose of the questionnaire over the phone. Unfortunately, out of the 11 people I contacted thus far, only one responded positively.

It's become clear that I need to alter my approach to gathering data from these banking professionals. Consequently, I have extended the deadline for data collection, as I had originally hoped to obtain all the necessary data within two days. However, it's now apparent that gathering this information will require more time and effort.

So these are the steps I took:

1. Created a questionnaire

2. Built a list of people and contacts to send the list to

3. Call and email the respondents asking if they can complete the questionnaire.

4. Send reminder emails and do phone calls.