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G Marketing Research and the Questionnaire

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GSteps in Designing and

Administering Questionnaire

1. Define the Objective(s) of the Survey2. Determine the Sampling Group3. Design and Write the Questionnaire4. Pilot the Questionnaire5. Administer the Questionnaire6. Tabulate the Results7. Interpret the Results8. Write the Report.

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GDefining the Objective

• The importance of a well-defined objective can not be overstated

• A questionnaire that is written without a clear goal and purpose is going to:– Overlook important issues– Waste participants’ time by asking useless questions

• Goal:– To find out if there is a gender difference in people’s

attitudes to the media– To find out how the work and study habits of students

relate to their academic success

• Rule of thumb:– If you are finding it hard to write the questions, you

haven’t spent enough time defining the objective(s) of the questionnaire.

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GValidity and Reliability

• Questionnaires should provide data that is both valid and reliable

• Validity:– Exists when the questions asked measure what was

intended to be measured– Poorly written questions will NOT have validity

• Reliability– Exists when a research technique produces nearly identical

results in repeated trials– Questions must ask the same type of information from all

respondents– Questions that are unclear and poorly written do NOT give

reliable results.

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GWriting Questions

• Survey questions can either be open ended or forced choice.

• Open Ended Questions– Questions that ask respondents to construct their own

response to a question– Open ended questions generate a wide variety of

responses– Generally hard to categorize and tabulate

• Forced Choice– Questions that ask respondents to choose from

possibilities given on the questionnaire– These are the simplest to write and easiest to tabulate– These can be either:

• Two Choice• Multiple Choice• Rating or Ranking Scales• Level of Agreement Scales.

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GTwo Choice Questions

• Two-choice questions give the respondent only two options– Yes/No

• Should only be used when looking for a response on ONE issue

1. Were our facilities clean Yes No2. Was your server courteous Yes No

• Sometimes Yes/No questions are used as filter questions

4. Have you for any reason been suspended from school last year

Yes No – ( go to question 8).

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GMultiple Choice Questions• Multiple choice questions give the respondent several

options• Multiple choice questions must be comprehensive enough

to include all possible responses• Many multiple choice questions include a final option of

OTHER– Increases reliability

• An outdoor equipment manufacturer might use the following type of question5. What is your primary intended use for this product? (check only one)

A. Backpacking/HikingB. CampingC. FishingD. HuntingE. Other _________________________ .

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GRating Scale Questions

• Rating Scale questions ask respondents to rank a product based on a scale

• A variety of scales may be used– Very Satisfied to Very Dissatisfied– Excellent to Poor

6. Please rate the following:Reservations Excellent Good Average Fair

PoorCheck-In Process Excellent Good Average Fair

Poor Parking Excellent Good Average Fair

Poor.

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GLevel of Agreement Questions• When assessing attitudes or opinions:

– it is a good idea to write statements that reflect those attitudes or opinions

– Then ask respondents for their level of agreement • Commonly used options include

– Strongly Agree [SA]– Agree [A]– Neutral [N]– Disagree [D]– Strongly disagree [SD]

7. “I am extremely health conscious”SA A N D SD

• When using this type of question the full words would appear above each column to avoid confusion.

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GGuidelines for Writing

Questions• Each question should be clearly written, and as brief

as possible• Use the same rating or ranking question for all

similar questions• Do not ask leading questions or suggest an answer

– Introduces bias into the survey• An unintended influence on the data gathering method

• Avoid questions that require the respondent to guess at the meaning of your question

• Always pretest the wording of your question.