Questionnaires

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Questionnaires Interviews

• DeDe Tumbrink
• Elizabeth Brown
• Christie Schillinger

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Purpose of Questions
Obtain Information
Provide Information
Ensure Understanding
Measure interest
Encourage participation
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Key Question Types

• Open-Ended
• Questions that have no pre-specified answers

• Closed-Ended
• Questions answered from a specified set of
  responses

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Open-Ended Defined

• Also known as infinite response or
  unsaturated questions
• Use this type when
• You cannot anticipate all possible responses
• You do not know the precise questions to ask
• You require explanation
• To reveal personal opinions or beliefs
• When help is needed to define the big picture

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Open-Ended

• Advantages
• Puts respondents at ease
• Gives respondents stronger sense of involvement
• May divulge previously unknown information
• Disadvantages
• Length of time to answer is typically longer
• Summarizing is difficult
• Responses may be vague or incomplete
• May result in unnecessary information

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Closed-Ended Defined

• Also known as dichotomous or saturated
  questions
• Use this type when
• major answers to questions are well known
• Forms of Questions
• True / False
• Multiple Choice
• Rated Scale
• Ranking

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Closed-Ended

• Advantages
• Do not require a large time commitment to answer
• Results are easily quantifiable
• Responses do not require interpretation
• Disadvantages
• Useful information may be overlooked
• May be perceived as leading, irritating or even
  threatening to the respondent
• Discourages disclosure

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The Power of Why?

• Why is an excellent question to have in your
  bag of tricks. The answer
• May point out a business rule
• May expose assumptions held by the person you are
  questioning
• Can reveal implicit requirements that no one
  thought to mention
• May supply rationale behind the requirement
• May identify dependencies
• May provide additional details that solidify the
  analysts understanding of a requirement

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Questionnaires

• Liz Brown

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Questionnaires

• Mainstream data collection tool for
• Obtaining specific, targeted information
• Measuring impact of implementation
• Administered electronically or in print
• Flexible
• Low cost
• Easy to administer
• Confidential

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Methods of Questionnaires
Advantages Disadvantages
Mail Survey Inexpensive Reach wide number of people Low response rates Not conducive to asking detailed questions
Group Administered Ability to clarify questions for all respondents Survey large groups at one time Not practical for most populations being studied Members of the group are not independently chosen
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Questionnaire Steps

• Selecting Participants
• Using samples of the population
• Designing the questionnaire
• Careful question selection
• Administering the questionnaire
• Working to get a good response rate
• Questionnaire follow-up
• Send results to the participants

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Questionnaire Guidelines

• Place the most important questions toward the
  beginning

• Group items into logically coherent sections

• Do not crowd a page with too many items

• Avoid abbreviations and biased questions

• Number questions to avoid confusion

• Pretest the questionnaire to identify confusing
  questions

• Provide anonymity to the respondents

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Interviews

• Christie Schillinger

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Interviews

• Mainstream data collection tool for
• Obtaining information from several different
  stakeholders
• Gathering up-to-date info that is not found in
  documents
• Administered in person
• Flexible ability to ask additional probing
  questions
• Medium to high cost travel could be involved
• Time consuming
• May be confidential not anonymous

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Methods of Interviews
Advantages Disadvantages
Telephone Interview High degree of quality control Random-digit dialing sampling can be used Households without phones are excluded Resistance to intrusion via telephone
Face-to-Face Interview Controlled situation very good response rate Ability to observe individual behavior Very expensive Very time consuming
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Interview Preparation

• Prepare general interview plan
• Interview method
• List of questions
• Anticipated answers and follow-up questions
• Confirm areas of knowledge

• Set priorities in case of time shortage
• Prepare the interviewee
• Schedule/coordinate time
• Explain the reason for the interview
• Inform of the topics of discussion

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Interview Guidelines

• Appear professional and unbiased
• Record all information
• Confirm tape recording policy
• Understand all issues and terms

• Separate facts from opinions
• Allow interviewee time to ask questions
• Summarize key points
• End on time
• Be gracious

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During the Interview
Gather
Speculation
Opinions,
Facts,
Observe
Body Language
Emotions,
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Post-Interview Follow-up

• Prepare interview notes
• Prepare interview report
• Recaps interviewer / interviewee names and roles
• Interview date
• Summary
• Open items
• Detailed notes
• Look for gaps and new questions

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The Real World
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Questions?