9: Designing the Questionnaire

1. 9: Designing the Questionnaire

2. Value of Questionnaires in Marketing Research • A questionnaire is a formal framework consisting of a set of questions/scales designed to generate primary data • Questionnaire construction involves using a process that takes established sets of question/scale measurements and formats them into a complete instrument

3. Steps in Questionnaire Design • 1: Confirm research objectives • 2: Select appropriate data collection method • 3: Develop questions and scaling • 4: Determine layout and evaluate questionnaire • 5: Obtain initial client approval • 6: Pretest, revise, and finalize questionnaire • 7: Implement survey

4. Questions and Scaling • Type of Question Format • Unstructured Questions • Open-ended format where • respondent replies in their • own words. • Structured Questions • Closed-ended format where • respondent responds from a • set of possible responses. • Quality of Question • Bad Questions • Unanswerable. • Leading or loaded. • Double-barreled questions.

5. Guidelines for Evaluating the Adequacy of Questions • Use simple words; avoid technical words • Get the verbiage out • Avoid qualifying phrases (always, sometimes, never, etc.) • Ensure response categories are mutually exclusive • Ensure question and scale statements are meaningful to the respondents • Avoid arranging response categories in a manner that may bias responses • Do not double-barrel questions or response items

6. Questionnaire Design • Confirm the research objectives and data needs before designing the questionnaire • Include a general description of the study in the introduction section * • Ensure instructions are clear • Arrange questions in a logical order • Be mindful of coding needs when choosing response formats • The data amount vs. survey length tradeoff

7. Questionnaire Design • Begin with simple questions and progress to more difficult ones • Ask personal / sensitive / demographic questions at the end • Avoid asking questions using different measurement formats in the same section of the questionnaire • End with a thank-you statement

8. Role of Cover Letters / Intros Initial Contacting Device Encourage Participation Provide Study Information Communicate Study’s Legitimacy Improve Response Rates

9. Cover Letters/ Intros • Personalize letter • Identify sponsoring organization • State purpose and importance clearly • Promise anonymity or confidentiality • Clarify the general time frame of doing study

10. Cover Letters/ Intros • Acknowledge reasons for nonparticipation • Provide time requirements and any compensation • Explain completion date and where and how to return survey • Offer advance thank you statement

11. Supervisor instructions Interviewer instructions Screening forms Quota sheets Rating cards Call record sheets Other Documents Used in Collecting Data

12. Sample Screening-Quota Sheet

13. Sample Rating Card

14. Call Record Sheet Sample