SOME QUESTIONS????

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SOME QUESTIONS????

• PAPIA BAWA
• Class Exercise

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Question Set 1

• Suppose we are trying to gather statistics
  regarding the efficacy of the death penalty.
• Here are some ways to design the questions

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Option a

• Do you support the death penalty?
• Yes
• No

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Option b

• Which one do you consider to be a better option
• The death penalty
• Life in prison without the possibility of parole

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Option c

• Which of these do you consider to be the best
  alternative
• The death penalty
• Life in prison without the possibility of parole
• Life in prison without the possibility of parole
  with the inmates working in prison to pay
  restitution to their victims families.

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Let us see the results

• Yes" or "No" have found 70-75 of the respondents
  choosing Yes in favor of death penalty.
• The choice between the death penalty and life in
  prison without the possibility of parole show
  support for the death penalty at about 50-60.
• The alternatives of the death penalty or life in
  prison without the possibility of parole, with
  the inmates working in prison to pay restitution
  to their victims families have found support for
  the death penalty closer to 30. !!!!

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So what is the true level of support for the
death penalty?

• The lowest figure is probably truest, since it
  represents the percentage that favor that option
  regardless of the alternative offered. The need
  to include all relevant alternatives is not
  limited to political polls. You can get
  misleading data anytime you leave out
  alternatives.

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Question Set 2

• "Do you buy frozen meat and frozen fish?"
• Yes
• No

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OR

• "Have you ever bought Product X and, if so, did
  you like it?"
• Yes
• No

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How could this pan out.

• "Do you buy frozen meat and frozen fish?"
• A "Yes" answer can mean the respondent buys meat
  or fish or both.

• "Have you ever bought Product X and, if so, did
  you like it?"
• A "No" answer can mean "never bought" or "bought
  and disliked."

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Question Set 3 Option a

• "Do you ever buy pasta?"
• Yes
• No

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Option b

• "Have you bought pasta (other than in a
  restaurant) in the last three months?
• "If yes, was it frozen, canned or dried?"

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Which option is better?

• Option b, of course!
• It is more specific and is based on realistic
  expectations.
• Few people can remember what they bought more
  than three months ago unless it was a major
  purchase such as an automobile or appliance.

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Question Set 4 Option a

• "Do you use regular or premium gas in your car?"

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Option b

• "Which type(s) of fuel do you use in your cars?"
• Regular gasoline Premium gasoline Diesel Other
  Do not have a car

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Which is the better one?

• Option b
• Option a does not cover all possible answers.
  The owner may alternate between both types.

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Question Set 5

• In which of the following do you live?
• A house An apartmentThe suburbs

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The question is faulty

• In which of the following do you live?
• A house An apartmentThe suburbs
• The options are not mutually exclusive.
• This question ignores the possibility of someone
  living in a house or an apartment in the suburbs

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Question 6

• What do you think about product X?
• It's the best on the market It's about
  averageIt's the worst on the market

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The question is faulty

• What do you think about product X?
• It's the best on the market It's about
  averageIt's the worst on the market
• The rating scale labels are not meaningful
• A question phrased like the one above will force
  most answers into the middle category, resulting
  in very little usable information.

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Question 7

• Asking a question that does not accommodate all
  possible responses can confuse and frustrate the
  respondent. For example, consider the question
• What brand of computer do you own? __       A.
  IBM PC       B. Apple

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Clearly, there are many problems with this
question

• What if the respondent doesn't own a
  microcomputer?
• What if he owns a different brand of computer?
• What if he owns both an IBM PC and an Apple?

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There are two ways to correct this kind of
problem.

• The first way is to make each response a separate
  dichotomous item on the questionnaire. For
  example
• Do you own an IBM PC? (circle Yes or No)
• Do you own an Apple computer? (circle Yes or No)

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Another option

• Add the necessary response categories and allow
  multiple responses. This is the preferable method
  because it provides more information than the
  previous method.
• What brand of computer do you own?(Check all
  that apply)
• __ Do not own a computer__ IBM PC__ Apple__
  Other

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Question 8

• A good question leaves no ambiguity in the mind
  of the respondent. There should be only one
  correct or appropriate choice for the respondent
  to make. An obvious example is
• Where did you grow up? __
• A. countryB. farmC. city

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Any problem??

• A person who grew up on a farm in the country
  would not know whether to select choice A or B.
• This question would not provide meaningful
  information.
• Worse than that, it could frustrate the
  respondent and the questionnaire might find its
  way to the trash.

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Question 9

• If a question does not produce variability in
  responses, it will not be possible to perform any
  statistical analyses on the item. For example
• What do you think about this report? __
• A. It's the worst report I've readB. It's
  somewhere between the worst and bestC. It's the
  best report I've read

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The problem is

• Since almost all responses would be choice B,
  very little information is learned.
• Design your questions so they are sensitive to
  differences between respondents

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Question 10

• Among the most subtle mistakes in questionnaire
  design are questions that make an unwarranted
  assumption. An example of this type of mistake
  is
• Are you satisfied with your current auto
  insurance? (Yes or No)

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Here, the problem is.

• This question will present a problem for someone
  who does not currently have auto insurance. This
  can easily be corrected by adding an additional
  response category.
• Are you satisfied with your current auto
  insurance?
• ___ Yes___ No___ Don't have auto insurance

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Question 11

• One of the most common mistaken assumptions is
  that the respondent knows the correct answer to
  the question. Industry surveys often contain very
  specific questions that the respondent may not
  know the answer to. For example
• What percent of your budget do you spend on
  direct mail advertising? ____

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The issue is.

• Very few people would know the answer to this
  question without looking it up, and very few
  respondents will take the time and effort to look
  it up.

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Question 12

• Be careful not to lead the respondent into giving
  the answer we would like to receive. Leading
  questions are usually easily spotted because they
  use negative phraseology. As examples
• Wouldn't you like to receive our free brochure?
• Don't you think the Congress is spending too much
  money?

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Last, but not the least

• Do you agree, disagree or have no opinion that
  this company has
• A good vacation policy - agree/not
  sure/disagree.Good management feedback -
  agree/not sure/disagree.Good medical insurance -
  agree/not sure/disagree.High wages - agree/not
  sure/disagree.

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A better layout would be
A good vacation policy Agree Not Sure Disagree
Good management feedback
Good medical insurance
High wages
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To Conclude

• The quality of your surveys depend on the time
  and effort taken to design them.
• The quality of your primary data depend on the
  quality of your surveys.
• The quality of your reports depend on the quality
  of your data.
• Good Luck!