Chapter 11 Questionnaire Design 2007 ThomsonSouthWestern All rights

Chapter 11 Questionnaire Design © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

LEARNING OUTCOMES After studying this chapter, you should be able to 1. Explain the significance of decisions about questionnaire design and wording 2. Define alternatives for wording open-ended and fixedalternative questions 3. Summarize guidelines for questions that avoid mistakes in questionnaire design 4. Describe how the proper sequence of questions may improve a questionnaire 5. Discuss how to design a questionnaire layout 6. Describe criteria for pretesting and revising a questionnaire and for adapting it to global markets © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 2

Questionnaire Quality and Design: Basic Considerations • Questionnaire design is one of the most critical stages in the survey research process. Ø A questionnaire (survey) is only as good as the questions it asks—ask a bad question, get bad results. Ø Composing a good questionnaire appears easy but, it is usually the result of long, painstaking work. Ø The questions must meet the basic criteria of relevance and accuracy. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 3

Decisions in Questionnaire Design 1. What should be asked? 2. How should each question be phrased? 3. In what sequence should the questions be arranged? 4. What questionnaire layout will best serve the research objectives? 5. How should the questionnaire be pretested? 6. Does the questionnaire need to be revised? © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 4

What Should Be Asked? • Questionnaire Relevancy Ø All information collected should address a research question in helping the decision maker in solving the current marketing problem. • Questionnaire Accuracy Ø Increasing the reliability and validity of respondent information requires that: v Questionnaires should use simple, understandable, unbiased, unambiguous, and nonirritating words. v Questionnaire design should facilitate recall and motivate respondents to cooperate. v Proper question wording and sequencing to avoid confusion and biased answers. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5

How Should Questions Be Phrased? • Open-ended Response Questions Ø Pose some problem and ask respondents to answer in their own words. Ø Advantages: v Are most beneficial in exploratory research, especially when the range of responses is not known. v May reveal unanticipated reactions toward the product. v Are good first questions because they allow respondents to warm up to the questioning process. Ø Disadvantages: v High cost of administering open-ended response questions v The possibility that interviewer bias will influence the answer v Bias introduced by articulate individuals’ longer answers © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 6

How Should Questions Be Phrased? (cont’d) • Fixed-alternative Questions Ø Questions in which respondents are given specific, limited-alternative responses and asked to choose the one closest to their own viewpoint. Ø Advantages: v Require less interviewer skill v Take less time to answer v Are easier for the respondent to answer v Provides comparability of answers Ø Disadvantages: v Lack of range in the response alternatives v Tendency of respondents to choose convenient alternative © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 7

Types of Fixed-Alternative Questions • Simple-dichotomy (dichotomous alternative) Question Ø Requires the respondent to choose one of two alternatives (e. g. , yes or no). • Determinant-choice Question Ø Requires the respondent to choose one response from among multiple alternatives (e. g. , A, B, or C). • Frequency-determination Question Ø Asks for an answer about general frequency of occurrence (e. g. , often, occasionally, or never). • Checklist Question Ø Allows the respondent to provide multiple answers to a single question by checking off items. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 8

Phrasing Questions for Self-Administered, Telephone, and Personal Interview Surveys • Influences on Question Phrasing: Ø The means of data collection—telephone interview, personal interview, self-administered questionnaire— will influence the question format and question phrasing. v Questions for mail, Internet, and telephone surveys must be less complex than those used in personal interviews. v Questionnaires for telephone and personal interviews should be written in a conversational style. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 9

EXHIBIT 11. 1 Reducing Question Complexity by Providing Fewer Responses Source: Don A. Dillman, Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978), p. 209. Reprinted with permission. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 10

The Art of Asking Questions • No hard and fast rules; however avoid: Ø Using complex question language Ø Asking leading and loaded questions Ø Using ambiguous phrasing in questions Ø Asking confusing double-barreled items Ø Making internal assumptions in questions Ø Asking burdensome questions that tax the respondent’s memory © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 11

What Is the Best Question Sequence? • Factors Influencing the Sequencing Questions Ø Order bias v Bias caused by the influence of earlier questions in a questionnaire or by an answer’s position in a set of answers. Ø Funnel technique v Asking general questions before specific questions in order to obtain unbiased responses. Ø Filter question v. A question that screens out respondents who are not qualified to answer a second question. Ø Pivot question v. A filter question used to determine which version of a second question will be asked. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 12

What Is the Best Question Sequence? (cont’d) • Factors Influencing the Sequencing Questions (cont’d) Ø Anchoring effect v The first concept measured tends to become a comparison point from which subsequent evaluations are made. v Randomization of items on a questionnaire susceptible to the anchoring effect helps minimize order bias. Ø Order of alternatives on closed questions v The order of choices should be rotated if producing alternative forms of the questionnaire is possible. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 13

EXHIBIT 11. 2 Flow of Questions to Determine the Level of Prompting Required to Stimulate Recall Source: “General Foods Corporation: Tang Instant Breakfast Drink (B), ” © 1978 F. Stewart De. Bruicker and Harvey N. Singer, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Reprinted with permission. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 14

What Is the Best Layout? • Traditional Questionnaires Ø Multiple-grid question v Several similar questions arranged in a grid format. Ø The title of a questionnaire should be phrased carefully: v To capture the respondent’s interest, underline the importance of the research v Emphasize v Appeal the interesting nature of the study to the respondent’s ego v Emphasize the confidential nature of the study v To not bias the respondent in the same way that a leading question might © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 15

EXHIBIT 11. 3 Layout of a Page from a Telephone Questionnaire © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 16

EXHIBIT 11. 4 Telephone Questionnaire with Skip Questions © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 17

EXHIBIT 11. 5 Personal Interview Questionnaire Source: Reprinted with permission from the Council of American Survey Research, http: //www. casro. org. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 18

EXHIBIT 11. 6 Example of a Skip Question © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 19

Internet Questionnaire Layout • Graphical User Interface (GUI) Software Ø The researcher can control the background, colors, fonts, and other features displayed on the screen so as to create an attractive and easy-to-use interface between the user and the Internet survey. • Layout Issues Ø Paging by going from screen to screen Ø Scrolling layout gives the respondent the ability to scroll down © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 20

Internet Questionnaire Layout (cont’d) • Push Button Ø A small outlined area, such as a rectangle or an arrow, that the respondent clicks on to select an option or perform a function, such as submit. • Status Bar Ø A visual indicator that tells the respondent what portion of the survey he or she has completed. • Radio Button Ø A circular icon, resembling a button, that activates one response choice and deactivates others when a respondent clicks on it. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 21

Internet Questionnaire Layout (cont’d) • Drop-down Box Ø A space saving device that reveals responses when they are needed but otherwise hides them from view. • Check Boxes Ø Small graphic boxes, next to an answers, that a respondent clicks on to choose an answer; typically, a check mark or an X appears in the box when the respondent clicks on it. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 22

EXHIBIT 11. 7 Question in an Online Screening Survey for Joining a Consumer Panel Source: J. D. Power and Associates, “JDPower. Panel, ” https: //ia. jdpa. com/20/survey/onsurvey. phtml, accessed June 25, 2006. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 23

Internet Questionnaire Layout (cont’d) • Open-ended Boxes Ø Boxes where respondents can type in their own answers to open-ended questions. • Pop-up Boxes Ø Boxes that appear at selected points and contain information or instructions for respondents. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 24

EXHIBIT 11. 8 Alternative Ways of Displaying Internet Questions © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 25

Internet Questionnaire Layout (cont’d) • Software That Makes Questionnaires Interactive Ø Variable piping software v Allows variables to be inserted into an Internet questionnaire as a respondent is completing it. Ø Error trapping software v Controls the flow of an internet questionnaire. Ø Forced answering software v Prevents respondents from continuing with an Internet questionnaire if they fail to answer a question. Ø Interactive help desk v. A live, real-time support feature that solves problems or answers questions respondents may encounter in completing the questionnaire. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 26

How Much Pretesting and Revising Are Necessary? • Pretesting Process Ø Seeks to determine whether respondents have any difficulty understanding the questionnaire and whethere any ambiguous or biased questions. • Preliminary Tabulation Ø A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help determine whether the questionnaire will meet the objectives of the research. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 27

Designing Questionnaires for Global Markets • Back Translation Ø Taking a questionnaire that has previously been translated into another language and having a second, independent translator translate it back to the original language. Ø A questionnaire developed in one country may be difficult to translate because equivalent language concepts do not exist or because of differences in idiom and vernacular. © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 28

Key Terms and Concepts • Open-ended response question • Fixed-alternative question • Simple-dichotomy (dichotomous-alternative) question • Determinant-choice question • Frequency-determination question • Checklist question • Leading question • Loaded question • Counterbiasing statement • Split-ballot technique © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. • Double-barreled question • Order bias • Funnel technique • Filter question • Pivot question • Multiple-grid question • Push button • Status bar • Radio button • Drop-down box • Check box • Open-ended box 29

Key Terms and Concepts (cont’d) • Pop-up boxes • Variable piping software • Error trapping • Forced answering software • Interactive help desk • Preliminary tabulation • Back translation © 2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved. 30