Chapter 10 Questionnaire surveys: typology, design and coding

1. Chapter 10 Questionnaire surveys: typology, design and coding

2. CONTENTS • Introduction • The household questionnaire survey • The street survey • The telephone survey • The mail survey • E-surveys • User/site/visitor surveys • Captive group surveys • Questionnaire design • Coding • Validity of questionnaire-based data • Conducting questionnaire surveys

3. Introduction • Definitions and terminology • Roles • Merits of questionnaire surveys • Limitations • Interviewer-completion or respondent-completion? • Types of questionnaire survey A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

4. Definitions • Questionnaireor ‘interview schedule’: • A printed or on-line list of questions • Survey • Whole process of conducting an investigation which involves a number of ‘subjects’ • Questionnaire survey • A survey involving the use of a questionnaire • ie. a ‘survey’ is not a ‘questionnaire’ A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

5. Roles of questionnaire surveys • Used when a specified range of information required • Typically involve just a sample of the population being studied • for implications see Ch. 13, Sampling • But, the aim is to make inferred statements about the population as a whole A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

6. Merits of questionnaire surveys • An ideal method of providing policy-related data • Transparent methodology • Quantification easily communicated/understood • Repeat surveys can study change over time • Can cover a wide range of (sporting) activities • Can study attitudes, meanings, perceptions of population as a whole A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

7. Limitations of questionnaire surveys • Samples – see Ch. 13 • Self-reported data • exaggeration/under-reporting • accuracy of recall • sensitivity to some questions A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

8. Interviewer-completion or respondent-completion? A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

9. Types of questionnaire survey (Fig. 10.3) * refers to population of subjects to be studied – see ch. 13 A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

10. Types of questionnaire survey contd (Fig. 10.3) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

11. Types of questionnaire survey contd(Fig. 10.3) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

12. Household survey • Nature • Can cover all adult age-groups • Representative of whole community • Common for government, market research, etc. • Conduct • Typically interviewer-completed, but also ‘drop-off and collect’ with respondent-completion sometimes used – or combination • Sampling – see chapter 13 • Omnibus surveys • One questionnaire includes questions on a number of topics for multiple clients • Time-budget studies • Respondents complete a 1 or 2-day diary of activities • National surveys • See Chapter 7: often seen as secondary data sources A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

13. Street surveys • Nature • Conducted in: • Shopping street/mall • Tourism areas (but may be seen as ‘site survey’) • Transport nodes (bus-stations, airports) - tourism • Conduct • Interviewers typically given quotas related to known demographics of the community • Still a problems of representativeness re people who • are housebound • do not visit shopping streets • do not visit particular tourist locations (eg. VFR sport tourists) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

14. Telephone survey • Nature • Common for political polling • Growing response and representativeness problem because of: • excluding those without land-line telephones • growing resistance/non-response in some countries • Conduct • Fast, using CATI – computer-aided telephone interviewing • Numbers selected/dialed automatically • Data keyed directly into computer • Not possible to show checklists to respondents • Anonymity may help honesty of response A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

15. Mail/postal survey • Nature • Ideal for surveying widely dispersed lists • eg. Members of organisations • Conduct • Low response rates – eg. 30% often quoted as ‘acceptable’ …. but is it? • Factors affecting response rates – see below • Mail and user/site survey combos • In some on-site user/visitor surveys a brief face-to-face interview is combined with a hand-out questionnaire which respondents complete and mail back after their visit. A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

16. Factors affecting mail survey response rates (Fig. 10.4) • Interest of the respondent in the survey topic • Length of the questionnaire • Questionnaire design/presentation/complexity • Style, content, authorship of accompanying letter • Provision of a postage-paid reply envelope • Rewards for responding • Number and timing of reminders/follow-ups – see below A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

17. Mail survey response pattern (Fig. 10.6) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

18. E-surveys • Nature • Conducted via email/Internet • Dependent on availability of email list or other means of inviting sample to participate • Conduct • Partially or fully electronic • Commercial organisations offer online service, including on-line questionnaire design, and analysis. • Problem of response rate due to growth of ‘junk mail’ A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

19. Types of e-survey (Fig. 10.7) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

20. User/on-site/visitor surveys • Nature • Survey conducted at a leisure facility/site • Alternative terms: • On-site survey, site survey, user survey, visitor survey, spectator survey • Commonly used by facility/site managers • Conduct • Interviewer completion preferred for quality/ response rate • Respondent-completion, if not very closely supervised, can result in: • Low response rates • Unrepresentative sample • Poor quality responses (incomplete etc.) • On-site/mail combo • face-to-face interview can be followed by handout of a mail-back questionnaire – particularly in long-stay sites, such as cricket, golf match, motor sport A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

21. Uses of User/on-site/visitor surveys • Establish catchment area (place of residence) • User profile (age, gender, socio-economic group etc.) • User opinions • Non-users : • Use census data to assess non-users within the catchment area A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

22. Captive group surveys • Nature • Respondents in organised group • May have little choice but to participate • Ethically, must be given the option • Conduct • Typically respondent-completed under supervision • Quick and cheap A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

23. Questionnaire design: Contents • Introduction: research problems and information requirements • Example questionnaires • General design issues • Types of information • Activity/events/places questions • Respondent characteristics • Attitude/opinion questions • Market segments • Ordering of questions and layout of questionnaires A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

24. Questionnaire design: culmination of a process (Fig. 10.8) Research questions/ management problem/ conceptual framework Research strategy List of information requirements Questionnaire survey Draft design Pilot/ test Final design Other methods? A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

25. Example questionnaires: Case study 10.1 • Questionnaire for a site/street survey: respondent-completed: Campus Sporting Life Survey • Questionnaire for a household survey: interviewer-completed: Short-stay Sport Holiday Survey • Questionnaire for a site survey: interviewer-completed: Ramsey Street Park Survey A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

26. General design issues: wording of questions (Fig. 10.9) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

27. General design issues: wording of questions (Fig. 10.9) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

28. General design issues: wording of questions (Fig. 10.9) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

29. General design issues: wording of questions (Fig. 10.9) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

30. Pre-coded vs open-ended questions (Fig. 10.10) • Open-ended: • What is the main constraint on your ability to study? ________________________________________ • Pre-coded/closed: • A. My job ☐1 • B. Timetabling ☐2 • C. Child care ☐3 • D. Spouse/partner ☐4 • E. Money ☐5 • F. Energy ☐6 • G. Other ____________ ☐7 • In interview situation card shown to interviewee A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

31. Open-ended questions produce large numbers of answers (Fig. 10.11), which will require coding (see later) • Question: Do you have any complaints about this (beach/picnic) area? (Site survey in a beachside National Park with boating and camping. Number of responses in brackets) • Sand bars (22) - Uncontrolled boats (23) • Parking (5) - Jet skis (39) • Wild car driving (1) - Surveys (1) • Lack of beach area (1) - Should be kept for locals (1) • Too few shops (1) - Seaweed (3) • Too few picnic tables (4) - Need showers (1) • No timber for barbecue (2) - Administration of National Park (1) • Need more picnic space (3) - Maintenance & policing of Park (1) • Need boat hire facilities (1) - Trucks on beach (2) • Need active recn facilities (1) - Anglers (1) • Litter/pollution (74) - Crowds/tourists (26) • Urban sprawl (1) - Having to pay entry fee (6) • Need wharf fishing access (1) - Houses along waterfront (2) • Lack of info. on walking trails (1) - Unpleasant smell (drain) (2) • Not enough facilities (3) - Sales people (1) • Slow barbecues (2) - Need electric barbecues (1) • Etc. - Etc A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

32. Types of information • Activities/events/places What? • Respondent characteristics Who? • Attitudes/motivations Why? A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

33. Activity/event/places questions • Effect of participation reference period • See Table 10.1 A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

34. Participation in sport etc. by reference period, Britain, 1987: Table 10.1 (part) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

35. Respondent characteristics: range of data Marital/family status Household type/family size Life-cycle Ethnic group/country of birth Residential location Mobility - driving licence, access to private transport Party/group size/type (site/visitor surveys) • Gender • Age • Economic status • Occupation/social class (own or 'head of household') • Previous job history • Income (own or household) • Education/qualifications A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

36. Attitude/opinion questions • Formats • Open-ended or direct questions • Checklist • Ranking • Likert scales • Attitude statements • Semantic differential • Repertory grid A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

37. Attitude/opinion questions contd(Fig. 10.17) a. Open-ended/direct: What attracted you to apply for this course? ____________________________________ b. Checklist: Of the items on the card, which was the most important to you in applying for this course? • Good reputation • Easy access • Curriculum • Level of fees • Easy parking A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

38. Attitude/opinion questions contd(Fig. 10.17) c. Ranking: Please rank the items on the card in terms of their importance to you in choosing a course. Please rank them 1 for the most important to 5 for the least important. Rank A. Good reputation ___ B. Easy access ___ C. Curriculum ___ D. Level of fees ___ E. Easy parking ___ A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

39. Attitude/opinion questions contd(Fig. 10.17) d. Likert scales: Looking at the items on the card, please say how important each was to you in choosing this course; was it: Very important, Quite important, Not very important or Not at all important? Very Quite Not very Not at all important importantimportantimportant Good reputation □1 □2 □3 □4 Easy Access □1 □2 □3 □4 Curriculum □1 □2 □3 □4 Level of fees □1 □2 □3 □4 Easy parking□1 □2 □3 □4 A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

40. Attitude/opinion questions contd(Fig. 10.17) e. Attitude Statements: Please read the statements below and indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with them by ticking the appropriate box. Agree Agree No Disagree Disagree Strongly opinion strongly The learning experience is more important than the qualification in education □1 □2 □3 □4 □5 Graduate course fees are too high □1 □2 □3 □4 □5 A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

41. Attitude/opinion questions contd(Fig. 10.17) f. Semantic differential: Please look at the list below and tick the line to indicate where you think this course falls in relation to each factor listed. Difficult |_______|________|________|________| Easy Irrelevant |_______|________|________|________| Relevant Professional |_______|________|________|________| Unprofessional Dull |_______|________|________|________| Interesting A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

42. Introductory remarks, Ordering of questions • Consider content/length of opening/introductory remarks • Question order: • Start with easy questions • Start with 'relevant' questions • Leave sensitive questions until later • Layout: • Be aware of the needs of the reader/user – interviewer or respondent? • Special care with mail survey questionnaires • Compactness (eg. single page) = ease of handling • Two-column layout often helps A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

43. Coding • Giving numerical codes to answers: • eg. Yes: 1 No: 0 • alpha codes can be used, but numeric has advantages • Coding of open-ended questions: Fig. 10.19 A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

44. A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

45. Recording coded information (Fig. 10.20) Campus Sporting Life Survey 2008| Office Use | # 1 | qno 1. Which of the following best describes your current situation? | Full-time student with no regular paid work 1 | Full-time student with some regular paid work  2 | 2status Part-time student with full-time job 3 | Part-time student - other 4 | ONLY ONE ANSWER POSSIBLE – ONE CODE – ONE VARIABLE (status) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

46. Recording coded information contd 2. Which of the following university sport facilities have you used | Office use in the last 4 weeks? | | Swimming pool1 |1cafebar Gym 1 |1 music Squash courts 1 |0 sport Attended sports match a spectator1|0 travel | UP TO FOUR POSITIVE ANSWERS POSSIBLE – FOUR VARIABLES A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

47. Recording coded information contd 3. In thinking about the sport and social services provided on campus, | what are the most important considerations for you? | Please rank the items below in terms of their importance to you. | Rank them from1 for the most important to 5 for the least important. | Rank | Free or cheap access 1 | 1 cheap Convenient opening hours4 | 4 daytime Quality of facilities2 | 2unusual Opportunities to socialise/meet people 3 |3 meet Available time 5 | 5 quality | FIVE RANKS REQUIRED – FIVE VARIABLES A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

48. Recording coded information contd • 4. Approximately how much do you spend in an average month on | • sport and social activities on and off campus? | • | • NUMBER RECORDED £100 | 100 spend • | • Please indicate the importance of the following to you in relation to | • campus life. | • | • Very Important Not at all | • important important | • Relaxation opportunities □1 □2 3 | 3 relax • Social interaction □1 □2 3 | 3 social • Fitness1□2□3 | 1 mental • | • THREE ANSWERS REQUIRED – THREE VARIABLES A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

49. Recording coded information contd 6. What suggestions would you make for improving campus social life? | | Provide more flunchtime sessions___ _________________|1 sug1 ________________________________________________ | __ sug2 ________________________________________ | __ sug3 | OPEN-ENDED (CODING SEE Fig. 10.19) – UP TO THREE ANSWERS | RECORDED = THREE VARIABLES | | 7. You are: Male 1 Female 2 | 2gender | 8. Your age last birthday was: 22 years | 22 age A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge

50. Data from first completed questionnaire (Fig. 10.21) Variables Data from one questionnaire (as in Fig 10.20) A. J. Veal & S. Darcy (2014) Research Methods for Sport Studies and Sport Management: A practical guide. London: Routledge