King Fahd University of Petroleum

1
King Fahd University of Petroleum
MineralsDepartment of Management and
MarketingMKT 345 Marketing ResearchDr.
Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin

• Questionnaire Design Reference Zikmund, Chapter
  15

2
Learning Objectives

• At the end of the discussion you should be able
  to
• Identify and explain the key factors that
  determine what to ask in the questionnaire
• Identify the different ways in which questions
  can be phrased and explain the characteristics of
  alternative question phrasings
• Summarize key guidelines in the art of asking
  questions
• Describe the issues to consider in determining
  question order
• Describe alternative ways to improve
  questionnaire layout
• Describe the importance and approaches to
  questionnaire pre-testing and revision

3
What Should be Asked

• What to ask in questionnaire depends on
• The research problem definition/objectives
• The communication medium to be used E.g. some
  questions cannot be asked in personal interviews
• The type of statistical analysis to be performed
  E.g. if you plan to do regression analysis, you
  may need to ask about, say, overall evaluations
  to use as dependent variable
• Two important guidelines are
• Relevancy ? ask only questions that are relevant
  to the
• research objective.
• 2. Accuracy ? ask only questions that will
  provide accurate
• information.

4
Question Phrasing

• Need to decide how what is to be asked should
  be phrased
• Alternative question formats are shown below
• Each format has its advantages and disadvantages

Open ended
Simple dichotomy
Question type
Closed ended
Multiple choice
Check-list
Determinant choice
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Alternative Question Formats

• Open-ended Questions in which the respondent
  answers in his own words
• Closed-ended (or Fixed Alternative) Question in
  which respondent selects one or more options from
  pre-determined set of responses
• Simple dichotomy ? Closed ended question with
  only two response alternatives
• Multiple Choice ? Closed ended question with more
  than two response alternatives
• Determinant choice Multiple choice question in
  which respondent must select only one of the
  response alternatives
• Checklist question - Multiple choice question in
  which respondent can select more than one of the
  response alternatives

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Requirements for Close-Ended Questions

• Response categories provided for each close-ended
  question should be mutually exclusive and
  exhaustive
• Mutually Exclusive ? Response categories must be
  such that the same respondent cannot be
  classified into more than one category e.g. the
  categories SR1,000-5,000 and SR5,000-10,000 are
  not mutually exclusive.
• Mutually Exhaustive Response categories should
  include all possible response options. Sometimes
  this is achieved by including a response option
  like Other (Please specify).

7
THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS

• Avoid complexity use simple, conversational
  language.
• Avoid leading and loaded questions.
• Avoid ambiguity be as specific as possible.
• Avoid double barreled items.
• Avoid making assumptions.
• Avoid burdensome questions.

8
Leading Loaded questions
Leading question a question that suggests or
implies a certain answer.

• Causes
• The bandwagon effect e.g. Most Saudis have
  stopped eating junk food. Do you eat junk food?
• Partially mentioning some alternatives e.g.
  which fast food restaurant do you prefer,
  Al-Tazaj or others?
• Questions with the phrase Dont you think that
  ..
• Phrasing question to reflect negative or positive
  aspect of issue ? use split ballot technique.

9
Loaded Question

• A question that is designed to suggest a socially
  desirable answer. Usually it is emotionally
  charged.

• Causes
• Choice of words e.g. using emotionally-charged
  words, such as in In your opinion is it fair
  that the Security Dept should be harassing
  students with parking tickets?

• Framing question such that honest answer is
  painful or embarrassing ? use counter biasing
  statement.

10
Question Sequence

• Two related issues
• Order of questions in questionnaire.
• Order of answer alternatives for specific
  questions.
• Both can lead to order bias.

11
Order of Questions

• Use simple, interesting opening questions ? e.g
  asking for respondents opinion on an issue.
• Ask general questions before specific questions ?
  funnel approach
• Use branching questions (filter pivot) with
  care.
• Ask for classification information last.
• Place difficult or sensitive questions late in
  questionnaire.
• Finish asking questions on one topic before
  moving to another.

12
Questionnaire layout

• Keep questionnaire short if possible, but not
  too short that you sacrifice needed information
• Do not over crowd questionnaire
• Provide decent margin space
• Use multiple- grid layout for questions with
  similar responses
• Use good quality print paper.
• Use booklet form if possible
• Carefully craft the questionnaire title
• Captures respondents interest.
• Shows importance of the study.
• Shows interesting nature of the study.

13
Questionnaire Pre-testing

• Pretesting Process
• Seeks to determine whether respondents have any
  difficulty understanding the questionnaire and
  whether there are any ambiguous or biased
  questions.
• Preliminary Tabulation
• A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help
  determine whether the questionnaire will meet the
  objectives of the research.

14
Questionnaire Translation

• Back Translation
• Taking a questionnaire that has previously been
  translated into another language and having a
  second, independent translator translate it back
  to the original language.
• A questionnaire developed in one country may be
  difficult to translate because equivalent
  language concepts do not exist or because of
  differences in idiom and vernacular.