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Questionnaire Design

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Questionnaire Design

Uploaded by

manishapattnaik52
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

DECISIONS IN QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN


A questionnaire is a set of questions to be asked to the respondents in an interview.
Deciding factors are;
1. What should be asked?
2. Who will be the target respondent
3. What will be the interviewing techniques
4. How should questions be phrased?
5. In what sequence should the questions be arranged?
6. What questionnaire layout will best serve the research objectives?
7. How should the questionnaire be pretested? Does the questionnaire need to be
revised?

GUIDELINES FOR CONSTRUCTING QUESTIONS


• Avoid complexity: Simpler language is better.
• Avoid leading and loaded questions.
• Avoid ambiguity: Be as specific as possible.
• Avoid double-barreled items.
• Avoid making assumptions.
• Avoid burdensome questions that may tax the respondent’s memory.
• Avoid external events
• Make certain questions generate variance.
Take utmost care
• Utility of the data
• Effectiveness in producing the data
• The respondent's willingness to answer accurately

GUIDELINES FOR CONSTRUCTING QUESTIONS


 Shared vocabulary - The words should not be too technical, unambiguous or vague
 Unsupported assumption – Where your spouse is working
 Frame of reference – A single word can have several connotations under different
situations? (often, regularly)
 Biased wording – Do you think that the mobile game has a negative effect on
children?
 Adequate alternatives – How often do you purchase stock?
 Double –barreled questions - Do you drive or take the bus every day to office? Y/N
 Generalizations & Estimates – How many times do you smoke in a month?

WHAT IS THE BEST QUESTION SEQUENCE?


 Order bias
Bias caused by the influence of earlier questions in a questionnaire or by an answer’s position
in a set of answers. Lead-in questions ( hot topic, current events)
 Qualifying questions (Objective oriented)
 Warm-up questions
 Specific questions
 Demographic Questions (age, sex, location, occupation etc.)
 Funnel technique
Asking general questions before specific questions in order to obtain unbiased responses
 Filter question
A question that screens out respondents who are not qualified to answer a second question
 Pivot question
A filter question used to determine which version of a second question will be asked.

WHAT SHOULD BE ASKED?


• Questionnaire Relevancy
All information collected should address a research question in helping the decision maker in
solving the current business problem.
• Questionnaire Accuracy
Increasing the reliability and validity of respondent information requires that:
 Questionnaires should use simple, understandable, unbiased, unambiguous, and
nonirritating words.
 Questionnaire design should facilitate recall and motivate respondents to cooperate.
 Proper question wording and sequencing to avoid confusion and biased answers.

WORDING QUESTIONS
Open-ended Response Questions
Pose some problem and ask respondents to answer in their own words.
 Free response
 Probing
 Projective
Advantages:
• Are most beneficial in exploratory research, especially when the range of responses is
not known.
• May reveal unanticipated reactions toward the product.
• Are good first questions because they allow respondents to warm up to the questioning
process.
Disadvantages:
• High cost of administering open-ended response questions.
• The possibility that interviewer bias will influence the answer.
• Bias introduced by articulate individuals’ longer answers.
• Wording Questions (cont’d)

Close ended Questions


Questions in which respondents are given specific, limited-alternative responses and asked to
choose the one closest to their own viewpoint
Advantages:
• Require less interviewer skill
• Take less time to answer
• Are easier for the respondent to answer
• Provides comparability of answers

Disadvantages:
• Lack of range in the response alternatives
• Tendency of respondents to choose convenient alternative

Types of Close ended Questions


• Binary Question
Requires the respondent to choose one of two alternatives
(e.g., yes or no)
• Multiple choice Question (MCQ)
Requires the respondent to choose one response from among multiple alternatives (e.g., A, B,
or C)
• Frequency-determination Question
Asks for an answer about general frequency of occurrence (e.g., often, occasionally, or
never).
• Checklist Question
Allows the respondent to provide multiple answers to a single question by checking off items
• Ranking
Allows the respondent to rank the multiple options to a single question

PHRASING QUESTIONS FOR SELF-ADMINISTERED, TELEPHONE, AND PERSONAL


INTERVIEW SURVEYS
• Influences on Question Phrasing:
The means of data collection—telephone interview, personal interview, self-administered
questionnaire—will influence the question format and question phrasing.
• Questions for mail, Internet, and telephone surveys must be less complex than those
used in personal interviews.
• Questionnaires for telephone and personal interviews should be written in a
conversational style.

PRETESTING AND REVISING QUESTIONNAIRES


• Pretesting Process
Seeks to determine whether respondents have any difficulty understanding the questionnaire
and whether there are any ambiguous or biased questions.
• Preliminary Tabulation
A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help determine whether the questionnaire will meet
the objectives of the research

Dr. Manas Kumar Pal

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