Marketing Research

Marketing Research Aaker, Kumar, Day Seventh Edition Instructor’s Presentation Slides

Chapter Twelve Designing the Questionnaire

Designing the Questionnaire Logical Steps to Develop a Good Questionnaire • Plan what to measure • Formulate questions to obtain the needed information • Decide on the order and wording of questions and the layout of the questionnaire • Using a sample, test the questionnaire for omissions and ambiguity • Correct the problems (pretest again, if necessary) Aaker, Kumar, Day

Designing the Questionnaire (Contd.) Planning What to Measure • Specify research objectives and information to be collected • Relevance of the study Translating Research Objectives Into Information Requirements Aaker, Kumar, Day

Designing the Questionnaire (Contd.) Formatting the Question Decision to be made regarding the degree of freedom to be given to the respondents in answering the questions Alternatives • Open ended with no classification • Open ended where the interviewer uses precoded classifications to record the response • Close ended or structured format in which a question or a supplementary card presents the responses to be considered Aaker, Kumar, Day

Open Ended Questions Open Ended Questions Are Good for the Following Circumstances • Introduction to a survey or to a topic • When it is important to measure the saliency of an issue to a respondent • When there are too many responses to be listed, or they can't be foreseen • When verbatim responses are desired to give the flavor of people's answers or to cite examples • When the behavior to be measured is sensitive or disapproved Aaker, Kumar, Day

Open Ended Questions (Contd.) Advantages • Wide range of responses • Responses obtained without any influence • Free choices Aaker, Kumar, Day

Open Ended Questions (Contd.) Disadvantages • Variability in the clarity and depth of the responses • Articulateness of the respondent in personal interview • Willingness to compose a written answer for a mail survey • Interviewer's ability to record the verbatim answers quickly Aaker, Kumar, Day

Open Ended Questions (Contd.) Disadvantages (Cont.) • These type of questions are also time consuming • Involves subjective judgements during summarization and are prone to error • Expensive • The answer to this type of question expands or contracts depending on the space or time available for it • Respondents may not use the same frame of reference, when the options are not available Aaker, Kumar, Day

Closed-response Questions There Are Two Basic Formats for Closed Ended or Structured Questions • Choice from a list of responses • Appropriate single-choice rating on a scale Aaker, Kumar, Day

Closed-response Questions (Contd.) Advantages • Easier to answer • Require less effort by the interviewer • Tabulation and analysis is easier • Less potential error in the way the question is asked and the way it is recorded • The responses are directly comparable from respondent to respondent Aaker, Kumar, Day

Closed-response Questions (Contd.) Limitations • Disagreement among researchers on the type of responses that should be listed • The answer to a closed response question will be received no matter how relevant or irrelevant the question is in that context • May not produce meaningful results • Dichotomous questions are prone to a large amount of measurement error because the alternatives are polarized Aaker, Kumar, Day

Closed-response Questions (Contd.) Limitations (Contd.) • Good questions are hard to develop • Provides fewer opportunities of self expression • The list of alternative responses provides answers that might have not been considered by the respondent who are reluctant to admit ignorance, and thereby selecting a "reasonable" response Aaker, Kumar, Day

Number of Response Categories • Generally five to seven categories • Ideally the multiple choices should be mutually exclusive Aaker, Kumar, Day

Order of Response Categories • To prevent order bias, place the average or expected response at various positions in the sequence of categories Aaker, Kumar, Day

Handling Uncertainty and Ignorance Concerns the handling of “don’t know” and neutral responses • May be advisable to provide the interviewer with an additional “no answer” category to identify these people correctly Aaker, Kumar, Day

Using Both Open-Response And Closed-Response Questions Probe: Using an open-response question to follow up a closed-response question Two general purposes for the use of probes: • Pinpoint questions that were particularly difficult for respondents • Aid researcher interpretation of respondent answers Aaker, Kumar, Day

Question Wording Care Has to Be Taken That • Is the vocabulary simple, direct, and familiar to all respondents? • Do any words have vague or ambiguous meanings? • Are any questions " double-barreled”? • Are any questions leading or loaded? • Are the instructions potentially confusing? • Is the question applicable to all respondents? • Are the questions of appropriate length? Aaker, Kumar, Day

Asking Sensitive Questions Consumption of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes The casual approach • “Have you eaten ‘Frosted Flakes’ within the last week? The numbered card • “Would you please read off the number on this card that corresponds to what you had eaten for breakfast in the last week?” (Hand card to respondent) • Pancakes • Frosted Flakes • Other (what)? Aaker, Kumar, Day

Asking Sensitive Questions (Cont.) The everybody approach • “As you know, many people have been eating Frosted Flakes for breakfast. Do you eat Frosted Flakes?” The “other people” approach • “Do you know of any adult who eats Frosted Flakes?” • “How about yourself?” Aaker, Kumar, Day

Asking Sensitive Questions (Cont.) The sealed ballot technique • In this version you explain that the survey respects people’s right to anonymity with respect to their eating habits, and that they themselves are to fill out the answer to the question, seal it in an envelope, and drop it in a box conspicuously labeled “sealed ballet box” that is carried by the interviewer The Kinsey approach • Stare firmly into respondent’s eyes and ask in simple clear-cut language as that to which the respondent is accustomed, and with an air of assuming that everyone had done everything, “Do you eat Frosted Flakes for breakfast?” Aaker, Kumar, Day

Asking Sensitive Questions (Cont.) Randomized Response Technique • The respondent is asked to answer one or two randomly selected questions without revealing which question has been answered • Questions: • Sensitive • Innocuous Since the interviewer records a “yes” or “no” answer without knowing which question has been answered, the respondent feels free to answer honestly Aaker, Kumar, Day

Randomized Response Technique P[Yes] = P[Yes|S.Q] * P[S.Q] + P[Yes|I.Q] * P[I.Q] where S.Q = Sensitive Question I.Q = Innocent Question Aaker, Kumar, Day

Sequence And Layout Decisions • Open with an easy and non threatening question • The questionnaire should flow smoothly and logically from one topic to the next • Proceed from broad general questions to the more specific Aaker, Kumar, Day

Sequence And Layout Decisions (Contd.) • Sensitive questions should not be placed in the beginning of the questionnaire • Use good quality of paper • Physical layout should be appealing and interesting • Order bias Aaker, Kumar, Day

Order Bias: Does The Question Create The Answer? Percentage of Respondents “Very Much Interested” in Buying New Product Questions Preceding Buying Interest Question Aaker, Kumar, Day

Pretesting and Correcting Problems • Pretest Design • Pretesting Specific Questions For • Variation • Meaning • Task difficulty • Respondent interest and attention • Pretesting the Questionnaire • Flow of the questionnaire • Skip patterns • Length • Respondent Interest and Attention Aaker, Kumar, Day

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