Chapter 13

Fieldwork
True/False Questions
1. Fieldwork is the sixth step in the marketing research process.
(False, moderate, page 387)
2. The persons who design the research frequently collect marketing research data.
(False, moderate, page 388)
3. All fieldwork involves the selection, training, and supervision of persons who collect
data.
(True, moderate, page 388)
4. Researchers generally agree that the more characteristics the interviewer and the
respondent have in common, the smaller the probability of a successful interview.
(False, easy, page 389)
5. The typical interviewer is a married woman age 25 to 34, with an above-average
education and an above-average household income.
(False, moderate, page 389)
6. All training of field workers should be conducted in person at a central location.
(False, moderate, page 390)
7. Training ensures that all interviewers administer the questionnaire in the same manner
so that the data can be collected uniformly.
(True, easy, page 390)
8. A slight change in the wording, sequence, or manner in which a question is asked
does not distort its meaning or bias the response.
(False, moderate, page 390)
9. (AO?) stands for the probing comment any other reason.
(True, moderate, page 391)
10. Interviewers should record responses after the interview.
(False, moderate, page 391)
11. When recording respondents answers, interviewers should include all probes and
comments.
(True, moderate, page 391)

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12. As a part of central office control, supervisors should keep a record of hours worked
and expenses.
(False, difficult, page 393)
13. Cheating involves falsifying part of a question or the entire questionnaire.
(True, easy, page 393)
14. To validate the study, the supervisors call 25 to 30 percent of the respondents to
inquire whether the field workers actually conducted the interviews.
(False, moderate, pages 393)
15. The evaluation of field workers should be based on the criteria of cost and time,
response rates, quality of interviewing, and quality of data.
(True, moderate, page 393)
16. If interviewer costs differ by city size, comparisons should be made only among field
workers working in comparable cities.
(False, moderate, page 393)
17. Supervisors can help interviewers with an inordinate number of refusals by listening
to the introductions they use and providing immediate feedback.
(True, easy, page 393)
18. The quality of interviewing should be evaluated in terms of the appropriateness of the
introduction.
(True, easy, page 394)
Multiple Choice Questions
19. Which of the following activities is not fieldwork?
a. a worker mailing questionnaires from an office
b. an observer counting customers in a particular section of a store
c. a statistician analyzing the results of a survey
d. a telephone interviewer calling from a central location
(c, easy, page 387)

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20. The Council for Marketing and Opinion Research offered several guidelines for
reducing refusal rates related to fieldwork. Which of the following is not one of those
guidelines?
a. Interviewer training programs should be routinely administered so that field
workers will be effective at their jobs.
b. Courtesy should be exercised when deciding what hours of the day to call
respondents. Calling between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. is recommended.
c. If mall respondents indicate the time is not convenient, an appointment should be
made to conduct the interview later.
d. Interviewers must have good reading and writing skills.
(d, moderate, page 387)
21. Which of the following is not one of the general qualifications of fieldworkers?
a. healthy
b. outgoing
c. pleasant appearance
d. all of the above
(d, easy, page 389)
22. The training of field workers is critical. Which of the following statements is not true
regarding making the initial contact?
a. Interviewers should be trained to make opening remarks that will convince
potential respondents that their participation is important.
b. The interviewer should specifically ask the respondents permission.
c. The interviewer should be instructed on handling objections and refusals.
d. The initial contact can result in cooperation or the loss of potential respondents.
(b, moderate, page 390)
23. Which of the following initial contact statements should be avoided?
a. May I have some of your valuable time?
b. We highly value your opinion and would like to ask you a few questions.
c. Would you like to answer a few questions?
d. Both a and c should be avoided.
(d, easy, page 390)
24. If you are receiving field worker training and you are being told to Ask questions in
the order in which they appear in the questionnaire; and to Repeat questions that are
not understood, then you are learning about which aspect of field worker training?
a. probing
b. making initial contact
c. asking questions
d. recording the answer
(c, moderate, page 390)

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25. Which statement is not true about probing?

a. Probing is intended to motivate respondents to enlarge on, clarify, or explain their
answers.
b. Probing helps respondents focus on the specific content of the interview and
provide only relevant information.
c. Changing the phrasing or order of questions during the interview can make
significant differences in the response obtained.
d. Probing should not introduce any bias.
(c, easy, page 390)
26. All of the following are commonly used probing techniques except:
a. using objective/neutral questions or comments
b. ask each applicable question
c. boosting or reassuring the respondent
d. eliciting clarification
(b, moderate, page 391)
27. Which statement is correct about terminating the interview?
a. Any spontaneous comments the respondent offers after the formal questions have
been asked should be recorded.
b. The interviewer should answer the respondents questions about the project.
c. The respondent should be left with a positive feeling about the interview.
d. All of the above statements are correct.
(d, easy, page 391)
28. Supervision of field workers includes all of the following except:
a. quality control and editing
b. sampling
c. control of cheating
d. central office control
(b, moderate, page 392)
29. Which aspect of supervising field workers requires checking to see if the field
procedures are being properly implemented?
a. quality control and editing
b. control of cheating
c. central office control
d. sampling control
(a, moderate, page 392)

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30. Supervisors involved in quality control and editing should do all of the following
except:
a. Supervisors should do some interviewing.
b. Supervisors should provide tabulation of important demographic characteristics.
c. Supervisors should collect questionnaires and other forms and edit them daily.
d. Supervisors should keep a record of hours worked and expenses.
(b, moderate, page 392)
31. Which aspect of supervision ensures that the interviewers strictly follow the sampling
plan rather than select sampling units based on convenience or accessibility?
a. quality control and editing
b. control of cheating
c. central office control
d. sampling control
(d, easy, page 393)
32. Which aspect of supervision includes tabulation of quota variables, important
demographic characteristics, and answers to key variables?
a. quality control and editing
b. control of cheating
c. central office control
d. sampling control
(c, moderate, page 393)
33. Supervisor should keep daily records of the number of calls made, number of not-athomes, number of refusals, number of completed interviews for each interviewer, and
the total for all interviewers under their control. These daily records are a part of
_____.
a. quality control and editing
b. control of cheating
c. central office control
d. sampling control
(d, difficult, page 393)
34. _____ means verifying that the field workers are submitting authentic interviews.
a. Validation of fieldwork
b. Sampling control
c. Control of cheating
d. Evaluation of field workers
(a, moderate, page 393)

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35. The evaluation of field workers should be based on which of the following criteria?
a. cost and time
b. response rates
c. quality of the data
d. all of the above
(d, easy, page 393)
36. Field workers should be evaluated on which of the following:
a. time spent interviewing
b. time spent on administration activities
c. time spent traveling
d. all of the above
(d, moderate, page 394)
37. The quality of interviewing should be evaluated in terms of:
a. Interpersonal skills displayed during the interview
b. The ability to record all replies verbatim
c. The manner in which the interview is terminated
d. a and c are correct
(d, moderate, page 394)
38. The quality of interviewing should be evaluated in terms of:
a. the precision with which the field worker asks questions
b. the ability to ask sensitive questions
c. the ability to probe in an unbiased manner
d. all of the above are correct
(d, moderate, page 394)
39. Indicators of quality data include all of the following except:
a. providing a tally on each terminated interview and the reason for termination
b. item nonresponse occurs infrequently
c. all instructions, including skip patterns, are followed
d. the answers to unstructured questions are meaningful and complete enough to be
coded
(a, moderate, page 394)
40. Which statement does not apply only to international research?
a. Local fieldwork agencies are unavailable in many countries.
b. Local field workers can create an appropriate climate for the interview and be
sensitive to the concerns of the respondents.
c. The completed questionnaires of each interviewer should be evaluated for the
quality of data.
d. Interviewer cheating may be more of a problem in many foreign countries than in
the United States.
(c, easy, page 395)

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41. Respecting the respondents privacy, feelings, and dignity and ensuring the integrity
of the data collection process are aspects of _____.
a. ethics in marketing research
b. evaluation of field workers
c. training of field workers
d. supervision of field workers
(a, difficult, page 396)
42. The Internet can help with fieldwork in which of the following areas:
a. central office control
b. evaluation of field workers
c. validation of fieldwork
d. all of the above
(d, easy, page 396)
Essay Questions
43. List the guidelines for asking questions.
Answer
Be thoroughly familiar with the questionnaire.
Ask the questions in the order in which they appear in the questionnaire.
Use the exact wording given in the questionnaire.
Read each question slowly.
Repeat questions that are not understood.
Ask every applicable question.
Follow instructions and skip patterns, probing carefully.
(difficult, page 390)
44. Discuss four of the probing techniques.
Answer
Repeating the question. Repeating the question in the same words can be effective
in eliciting a response.
Repeating the respondents reply. Respondents can be stimulated to provide
further comments by repeating verbatim their replies. This can be done as the
interviewer records the replies.
Using a pause or silent probe. A silent probe, or an expectant pause or look, can
cue the respondent to provide a more complete response. However, the silence
should not become embarrassing.
Boosting or reassuring the respondent. If the respondent hesitates, the interviewer
should reassure the respondent with comments like, There are no right or wrong
answers. We are just trying to get your opinions. If the respondent needs an
explanation of a word or phrase, the interviewer should not offer an interpretation.

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Rather, the responsibility for the interpretation should be returned to the

respondent. This can be done with a comment such as, Whatever it means to
you.
Eliciting clarification. The respondents motivation to cooperate with the
interviewer and provide complete answers can be aroused with a question like, I
dont quite understand what you mean by thatcould you please tell me a little
more?
Using objective/neutral questions or comments. Some common questions or
comments used as probes and the corresponding abbreviations are: Any other
reason? (AO?), Anything else? (AE or Else?), What do you mean? (What mean?),
and Why do you feel that way? (Why?). The interviewer should record the
abbreviations on the questionnaire in parentheses next to the question asked.
(moderate, pages 390-391)
45. How can the Internet help with fieldwork?
Answer
Regardless of which method is used for interviewing (telephone, personal, mail, or
electronic), the Internet can play a valuable role in all the phases of fieldwork:
selection, training, supervision, validation, and evaluation of field workers. As far as
selection is concerned, interviewers can be located, interviewed, and hired by using
the Internet. This process can be initiated, for example, by posting job vacancy
notices for interviewers at the company Web site, bulletin boards, and other suitable
locations. Similarly, the Internet, with its multimedia capabilities, can be a good
supplementary tool for training the field workers in all aspects of interviewing.
Training in this manner can complement personal training programs and add value to
the process. Supervision is enhanced by facilitating communication between the
supervisors and the interviewers via e-mail and secured chatrooms. Central office
control can be strengthened by posting progress reports, quality, and cost-control
information on a secured location at a Web site, so that it is easily available to all the
relevant parties. Validation of fieldwork, especially for personal and telephone
interviews, can be easily accomplished for those respondents who have an e-mail
address or access to the Internet. These respondents can be sent a short verification
survey by e-mail or asked to visit a Web site where the survey is posted. Finally, the
evaluation criteria can be communicated to the field workers during the training stage
by using the Internet, and performance feedback can also be provided to them by
using this medium.
(difficult, page 396)

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