Questionnaire design, to be effective, should be done with the

respondent in mind.
Language

The first and foremost question we have to ask ourselves as a

researcher is –

What language is the respondent going to understand and respond

in?

The questionnaire must be designed such that it can be used in the

language concerned. This does not necessarily mean it has to be
printed in each language in which it has to be administered.

For instance, a questionnaire printed in English could be

administered to the respondent in the local language he speaks, by
a trained interviewer who could translate each question on-line.
The answers can be recorded in the given English language form
if the interviewer is fluent in both languages. This makes it easier
to tabulate.

Alternatively, the numerical codes for the answers can be in usual

numbers, and the questionnaire could be translated into any
language required for the respondent to understand. But the
translation must be as consistent as possible with the original.
Slide 2
Difficulty Level
Avoid marketing jargon or difficult words unless the
respondent is a postgraduate or an experienced executive.
In other words, keep the language as simple and
straightforward as possible.
Fatigue
Avoid unnecessary questions. The golden rule is to keep
the questionnaire as short as possible, and the ideal
maximum interview time is probably about 20 minutes per
interview.
Cooperation with Researcher
Encourage the respondent to respond.
In personal interviews, introduce the subject of the
research and the agency represented, before starting the
interview.
In questionnaires which are filled by respondents
themselves, there must be a two-three line introduction and
request for respondent’s cooperation at the top of the
questionnaire.
In mailed questionnaires, a covering letter detailing the
purpose of the study and explaining what use its results
will be put to, along with a return pre-paid/stamped
envelope, is likely to increase manifold the response rate.
Slide 3
Social Desirability Bias

There is a tendency on the part of respondents to give

wrong, but “socially acceptable” answers to even the most
ordinary, innocuous questions. For example, the socially
desirable answer to the question “Do you read the daily
newspaper?” is “yes”. It is as likely to be wrong as right.

There are many ways to verify the accuracy of responses

and to deal with them. Some of the techniques are –

•.Repeating the same or similar question in the

questionnaire at different places.
•.Asking indirect questions
•.Asking follow up questions to probe if the respondent is
really truthful.

For example, we could ask the respondent to state one

important headline, or describe one important story he
remembers, if he states that he reads the daily newspaper.
This could be from the same day’s or previous day’s,
newspaper.
.Deliberately introducing non-existent periodicals, or
advertisements, and asking the respondent if he/she has seen
them.
Slide 4 Ease of Recording

A questionnaire, that it has to be carried on the field, and

data may be recorded on it while standing in awkward
postures. The questionnaire design should ensure it is easy
to carry, visible in different kinds of light, and the distance
between different answer categories should be sufficient so
that there is no confusion or mistake while placing a tick
over the actual response for a given question.

Coding

If the questionnaire is coded before doing the field work (as

most questionnaires are these days), it must be ensured that
the field staff knows where to mark the answers – on the
code or on the actual answer choice. This should be done
during the briefing and mock interview.

Instructions for Navigation

Frequently, a questionnaire contains printed instructions for

the interviewer. This includes ‘Go To’ statements, such as
“If respondent is a non-user of Brand X”, then Go To Q.5.
If not, Go To Q.9.
Slide 5 Sequencing of Questions

Questions in a questionnaire should appear in a sequence

starting from non-threatening or ice-breaking or introductory
questions, and then proceed to the main body of questions.

Generally, the age, income, occupation, education and

similar demographic questions should appear at the end of a
questionnaire, after an interviewer has established a rapport
or familiarity with the respondent. If these are asked in the
beginning, there is a high likelihood of suspicion and non-
cooperation resulting in a wasted effort in many cases.

As far as possible, questions should follow a logical

sequence, and must be phrased appropriately.

Biased and Leading Questions

The questions should be carefully worded to avoid bias. It is

not a good practice to ask questions such as “Don’t you think
liberalisation is a good idea?” You could be better off
getting an unbiased reply asking a question like “Some
people think liberalisation is a good thing, and some think it
is bad. What do you think?”
Slide 6 Monotony

One indicator that a questionnaire is monotonous for

the respondent is if he answers “Agree” to every
question or “Disagree” to every question, for four to
five questions in a row.

If this happens, the researcher must find a way to

overcome the potential problem, by re-sequencing the
questions which force the respondent to think before
he answers, or by changing the scale, or by some
other method.

Analysis Required

A questionnaire design is dependent on the analysis

required from it. But the most important effect of the
analysis required is in the scale of measurement that
must be used. So we will deal with this topic – the
scale of measurement – next.
Slide 7
Scales of Measurement Used in Marketing Research

Marketing research uses the following four major types

of scales –Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio.

Nominal Scale

A nominal scale uses numbers as labels, with no

numerical sanctity. For example, if we want to
categorise male and female respondents, we could use a
nominal scale of 1 for male and 2 for female.

But 1 and 2 in this case do not represent any order or

distance. They are simply used as labels. For instance,
we could easily label females as ‘1’ and males as ‘2’,
and it could still be a valid nominal scale.

We can use the nominal scale to indicate categories of

any variable which is not to be given a numerical
significance. For example, demographic variables such
as religion, education level, languages spoken, and other
variables like magazines read, T.V. shows watched, user
or non-user of a brand, brands bought, etc. can be
nominally scaled.
Slide 7 contd...

Nominally scaled variables cannot be used to perform

many of the statistical computations such as mean,
standard deviation etc., because such statistics do not have
any meaning when used with nominal scale variables.

However, counting of number of responses in each

category and computation of percentages after division by
the sample size is allowed. Also, nominal scale variables
can be used to do cross tabulations, one of the most
popular methods of routine analysis. The chi-squared test
can be performed on a cross tabulation of nominal scale
data.

To repeat, simple tabulations (also called frequency

tables) and cross tabulations can be done with nominal
scale variables.
Slide 11

Structured and Unstructured Questionnaires

Structured questionnaires are those where the questions

to be asked are standardised, and no variation is
permitted in terms of the wording of the questions
between different interviewers. Standardisation in a
structured questionnaire usually extends to the answers
also. In effect, then, we can standardise either (1)
questions only, or (2) both questions and answers.

Structured Questions
Structured questions improve the reliability of the study,
by ensuring that every respondent is asked the same
question, word for word.

For example, the question " Do you live in Delhi?" may

be construed differently from the question " Are you a
resident of Delhi?" by some respondents, even though it
appears that both questions are asking for the same
information.

A person who is normally not resident in Delhi but is

living there at present on a short visit may answer "yes"
to the first question but "no" to the second one. It is best
to keep the question exactly the same (either version 1 or
version 2), when asked by different interviewers.
Slide 12
Structured Answers

Structuring or standardising answers which a

respondent can choose from in a questionnaire also
achieves consistency of form. Additionally, it makes
the interpretation of answers, analysis and tabulation,
easier than in the case of unstructured answers.

Unstructured answers become difficult to categorise

after the study, and different analysts may interpret
them differently - so they may lend themselves to
subjective interpretations.

Subjectivity by itself is not bad, but it becomes

difficult to defend it if the sponsors(clients) of the
study are quantitatively oriented. Most large scale
studies in marketing research therefore, choose the less
risky, and easier to manage, structured-answer
approach.
Slide 13 Open ended and Closed ended Questions

Questions which permit any answer from the respondent in

his own words are called open-ended questions. Questions
which structure the possible answers beforehand are known
as closed-ended questions.

An example of an open-ended question is " What do you

like about Surf
detergent?"____________________________________

The respondent can say whatever he wants to, in response

to this question.

On the other hand, a closed-ended question which elicits

similar information could be "What do you like about Surf
detergent?"
•.Its cleaning power
•.Its Price
•.Its fragrance
•.That it dissolves easily
•.Its stain-removing ability
•.Any other, (please
specify)____________________________________

Here, options "a" to "e" are pre-determined, but "f"

provides for anything else the respondent wants to add.
Slide 14 Disguised Versus Undisguised Questions

Sometimes questions that are disguised (rather than direct) can

elicit more accurate replies. For example, we may ask a person
if he/she is a good parent. This is a direct question.

Or, we may ask for the respondent's opinion on the deficiencies

they have observed in how others bring up their children- say,
their neighbours, relatives or friends. This is an indirect
question, and a qualified analyst can interpret the answers to
gauge how good a parent the respondent might be, from the
responses given.

The problem with the direct question in this case is that most
people will not admit to being a bad parent. But they may come
out freely with other people's deficiencies, some of which could
reflect their own shortcomings.

There are other reasons why disguised questions are sometimes

needed. It is often found that respondents are biased when they
know who is the sponsor of the study. To get true, unbiased
opinions regarding attitudes towards brands, researchers
sometimes do not let on the name of the sponsor.

For example, a well known multinational company making

electrical switches for industrial application once did an
anonymous survey in Mumbai among its customers (a study
done by the author) and found many deficiencies in its products
and service which they otherwise may not have found out. If it
results in more accurate data without doing any harm to the
respondent, it may be a legitimate way to do the study.
Slide 15

Completely disguised or indirect questions probing into the

psyche of a person are usually used for qualitative research,
as part of projective techniques, etc.

To summarise, market researchers usually ask structured,

undisguised questions in a typical study done on a large
sample. Most studies also tend to be of the "quantitative"
type, where numbers (frequencies), percentages, averages or
similar summary statistics are computed. These types of
analyses are easier to do with structured formats for answers.

Even if a study is primarily based on structured responses, a

couple of open-ended questions may still be included in it if
they are the best suited for the task on hand. One such
category of questions is called "Probing" questions in
marketing research terminology. These are used as a follow
up after a structured response question. An example of this
use of open-ended question following a structured question is

.Which brand of mosquito mats do you use?

•.Good Knight
•.Mortein
•.Jet

.Why do you use this particular brand?

_________________________

In this question, the second part is open-ended, while the first

part is closed-ended.
Slide 16 Types of Questions

The six major types of questions that most

questionnaires would generally use are-

•.Open-ended
•.Dichotomous (2 choices)
•.Multiple Choice
•.Ratings or Rankings
•.Paired Comparisons
•.Semantic Differential, or other special types of
scales.

An open-ended question is one which leaves it to the

respondent to answer it as he chooses. An example is
“What do you think of the taste of Brand X of Cola?”
No alternatives are suggested. The answer can be in
the respondent’s own words.
Slide 17
Dichotomous questions

These are those which ask the respondent to choose

between two given alternatives.

The most common example of this is the yes or no

type of questions “Are you a user of Brand X toilet
soap?” Yes or No are the alternatives given.

A third choice is sometimes added to dichotomous

questions such as “Do you like Brand X of potato
chips?” The choices given are “Yes”, “no”, and
“neither like nor dislike”.

Sometimes, any other, please specify “______” is

used instead of neither like nor dislike.
Slide 18 Multiple choice questions

These are extensions of dichotomous questions, except

that the alternatives listed number more than two. A
common example is as follows –

Please tick against the factors which made you buy this
brand of car :
.Reasonable Price
.Great Looks (Appearance)
.Fuel Economy
.Easy Availability of Service
.Any Other, please specify.

In the above question, more than one category can be

chosen. In some multiple choice questions, only one
category is to be chosen. For example, look at the
question below-

Please specify your age group-

.Below 15
.16-25
.26-40
.Above 40

Only one of the above is to be chosen. It must be clear to

the respondent and the interviewer whether only one
choice is allowed, or more than one are allowed for a
multiple choice question.
Slide 19

Ratings or Rankings : This is a question of the type, ‘Please

rate the following detergent brands on a scale of 1 to 7 in their
ability to clean clothes’.

Brand A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Brand B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Brand X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

This is an example of rating. Ranking would have looked as

follows :

Please rank (1=Best, 2=next best, etc.) the following detergent

brands on their ability to clean clothes.

Brand A -----
Brand B -----
Brand X -----
Slide 20
Paired Comparisons

A special type of question is the paired comparison.

This requires the respondent to choose between pairs of

choices at a time. For example, there could be six brands of
colour TVs, Brands A, B, C, D, E, F. A respondent may be
asked to do a paired comparison to say which Brand is
better, but for only two Brands at a time.

He is given a table or a card with two brands written on it,

and has to choose the better brand, each time. This process
has to repeat for as many pairs as exist in the given set of
objects or brands.

Some special techniques such as Multidimensional Scaling

need data from paired comparisons. This technique is
explained later in Part II of this book.
Slide 21 Semantic Differential

Another scale commonly used by marketing

researchers is called the semantic differential. This
type of question is similar to the rating scale. The only
additional
feature is that a set of two adjectives forms the two
extreme points of the scale. For example, a product is

Easy to Use |----------------------| Difficult to Use

Expensive |----------------------| Inexpensive
Easily Available |----------------------| Not Easily Available
Convenient |-----|-----|-----|-----| Inconvenient

There may be several intermediate points between the

two extreme values of the scale. These could be coded
1 to 5 or 1 to 7 or whatever the number of points is. A
commonly used 5 point scale is from Completely
Agree to Completely Disagree.

There may be questions based on other scales which

are standard or specially constructed. Some scales like
the Likert Scale or Thurston Scale are named after
people who invented them.
Slide 22

How to Choose a Scale and Question

Type

The researcher must decide on the scale and

type of question based on the following
factors.

•.Information Need
•.Output format desired
•.Ease of tabulation
•.Ease of interpretation
•.Ease of statistical analysis
•.Reduction of various errors in
understanding or use by respondents and
field workers
Slide 23
Transforming Information Needs Into A Questionnaire
We will now illustrate by developing a complete questionnaire
for a given set of information needs.

Example of Information Needs : A soft drink concentrate

manufacturer (such as Rasna’s manufacturer, for example)
wants to know the following :

.Demographic profile of users versus non-users of soft drink

concentrates.
Among users
•the preference for liquid concentrate versus powder.
•preference for powder with sugar added, versus powder with
no added sugar.
•occasions of use by self
•whether served to guests
•rating on convenience, taste, price and availability
•brand preferred among soft drink concentrates.

Among non-users
•Reasons for not using soft drink concentrate
•Substitute product usage, if any, and reasons for using or
consuming them

Let us attempt to develop a questionnaire for the above

information needs. A possible questionnaire is shown in the
next slide –
Slide 26

Double-Barrelled Questions

Inexperienced questionnaire designers have a

tendency to combine two questions into a single
question, such as –

Are you happy with the price and quality of

Brand Y ?

Yes No

This is not a good question to ask, because the

answer will be ambiguous, whether it is yes or
no. It would not be clear whether the respondent
has said yes for price alone, quality alone, or for
both. The same problem exists for a ‘no’ answer.

It is better to rephrase the question and provide

for different answer categories for each attribute,
or ask two separate questions, one for price and
one about quality.
Good Questionnaires and Bad Questionnaires

In general, a questionnaire is good if it measures

what it set out to measure (ie., it is VALID) and
does it in an efficient manner.

Usually, a questionnaire goes through various

stages before it is used in the field.
• Listing of information needs
• Conversion into questions with suitable scales
of measurement
• Sequencing of questions into a logical order
• Trying it out in a pre-test on a handful of
respondents in a convenience sample or a field
sample
• Modifications in the wording, scale or sequence
as a result of the pre-test, and then
• Preparation of the final draft for the actual study

are the usual steps involved. Most faults in a

questionnaire would be ironed out in this process if
followed meticulously.
Slide 28 Blank Output Formats/Tables

Problems in a typical study stem from a lack of

sufficient thought given to the analysis required in
advance.

The solution for this is to prepare blank output

formats for each question on the questionnaire,
before doing the field work.

In many cases, the value of the research increases

manifold by slightly modifying the scale or
wording of the questions asked. Remember, it is
cheaper to modify the questionnaire in advance
than think about what could have been done after
the study is over.
 Slide 30 Summary

Questionnaire design is an art, but there are certain

common sense rules that can help, as we have discussed
throughout this chapter.

Scales to be used should be decided on by the researcher

in consultation with the study sponsor, keeping in mind
the kind of output formats or tables required for decision-
making.

Validity and reliability issues are of particular

importance if the subject of the study is new or the
researcher is inexperienced.

Practice with designing questionnaires is the best way to

perfect the art.

Please do test the questionnaire on a small sample, and

modify it if necessary, before going full steam ahead.