Questionnaire Development

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Questionnaire Development

• Lecture 9 Marketing Research 412

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Organization of a Typical Questionnaire
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A survey is only as good as the question it asks

• This stage often overlooked
• One of the most critical
• Its much more than common sense and good
  grammar.
• Haste makes waste

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The Major Decisions in Questionnaire Design

• 1. What should be asked?
• 2. How should each question be phrased?
• 3. In what sequence should the questions be
  arranged?
• 4. What questionnaire layout will best serve the
  research objectives?
• 5. How should the questionnaire be pretested?
  Does the questionnaire need to be revised?

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What should be asked?

• Based on research objectives
• Must keep in mind subsequent statistical analysis

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Asking questions.

• Questions must be relevant.
• No unnecessary information collected
• There needs to be rationale for each item
• Need to think through ommissions
• Questions must be accurate.
• Information be reliable and valid
• Strive for simple, understandable, unbiased,
  unambiguous and nonirritating words.

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How should questions be phrased?

• Open ended questions
• Pose some problem or topic and ask respondents to
  answer in their own words.
• Good for exploratory research
• Coding questions costs time and money

• Fixed alternative questions
• Give specific, limited, alternative responses
• Less interview skill (great for self
  administrated)
• Easier for the respondent to answer
• Needs to have adequate categories
• No overlap on categories

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Types of fixed alternatives questions

• Single-dichotomy
• Multiple-choice alternatives
• Determinant choice (choose one from alternatives)
• Frequency determination (how many times)
• Attitude rating scales (i.e. Likert)
• Checklist questions (need to be mutually
  exclusive).

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What about?

• Which of the following do you prefer to drink?
• Choice A ___
• Choice B ___
• Other ___
• If other, please specify ________

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What about?

• Which type of music do you like to listen ?
• (check all that apply).
• Choice A ___
• Choice B ___
• Choice C ___
• Choice D ___

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• 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

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Avoid complexity

• Do you think the distribution of soft drinks is
  adequate?
• Do you think soft drinks are readily available
  when you want to buy them?
• What is your marital status?
• Are you married?, single?, divorced? etc.

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Avoid leading and loaded questions

• Do you think that patriotic Americans should buy
  imported automobiles when that would put American
  labor out of work?
• __ yes
• __ no
• __ dont know

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Avoid ambiguity

• In a typical month, how often do you shop at the
  mall?
• __ never __ occasionally __ sometimes
• __ often __ regularly
• __ less than once __ 1 or 2 times
• __ 3 or 4 times __ more than 4 times

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Avoid double barreled items

• Do you plan to leave your job and look for
  another one in the coming year?
• Do you plan to leave your job in the coming
  year?
• Do you plan to look for another job in the
  coming year?

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Avoid making assumptions

• Are you in favor of a balanced budget
• Are you in favor of a balanced budget if it
  would result in an increase in the personal
  income tax?

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Avoid burdensome questions

• Do you remember what TV ad you saw during a TV
  program you watched last night?
• Which brands do you recall seeing?
• Do you recall seeing an ad for Budweiser last
  night during the Red sox game on TV?.
• Unaided versus aided recall

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In choosing words, consult a dictionary

• Does it mean what we intend?
• Does it have any other meanings?
• If so, does the context make the intended message
  clear?
• Does the word have more than on pronunciation?
• Is there a word of similar pronunciation that
  might be confused with this word?
• Is a simpler word or phrase suggested?

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Layout for Internet Questionnaires

• Graphical User Interface (GUI)
• Paging layout going from screen to screen
• Scrolling layout gives the respondent the ability
  to scroll down
• Push buttons
• Status bar

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4 Common Question Displays on a Computer Screen

• Radio button
• Drop-down box
• Check box
• Open-ended boxes

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Front page

• Why front page?
• Ubiquitous microsoft product
• Easy to use, similar to word products
• Group management capabilities