Q.1 What is sampling?

In market research, sampling means getting opinions from a number of people,

chosen from a specific group, in order to find out about the whole group. Let's look
at sampling in more detail and discuss the most popular types of sampling used in
market research.

It would be expensive and time-consuming to collect data from the whole

population of a market. Therefore, market researchers make extensive of sampling
from which, through careful design and analysis, marketers can draw information
about their chosen market.

Sample Design

Sample design covers:

Method of selection

Sample structure

Plans for analyzing and interpreting the results.

Sample designs can vary from simple to complex. They depend on the type of
information required and the way the sample is selected.

Sample design affects the size of the sample and the way in which analysis is
carried out; in simple terms the more precision the market researcher requires, the
more complex the design and larger the sample size will be.

The sample design may make use of the characteristics of the overall market
population, but it does not have to be proportionally representative. It may be
necessary to draw a larger sample than would be expected from some parts of the
population: for example, to select more from a minority grouping to ensure that
sufficient data is obtained for analysis on such groups.

Many sample designs are built around the concept of random selection. This
permits justifiable inference from the sample to the population, at quantified levels
of precision. Random selection also helps guard against sample bias in a way that
selecting by judgment or convenience cannot.

Defining the Population

The first step in good sample design is to ensure that the specification of the target
population is as clear and complete as possible. This is to ensure that all elements
within the population are represented.

The target population is sampled using a sampling frame.

Often, the units in the population can be identified by existing information such as
pay-rolls, company lists, government registers etc.

A sampling frame could also be geographical. For example, postcodes have become
a well-used means of selecting a sample.

Sample Size

For any sample design, deciding upon the appropriate sample size will depend on
several key factors:

1. No estimate taken from a sample is expected to be exact: assumptions about

the overall population based on the results of a sample will have an attached
margin of error

2. To lower the margin of error usually requires a larger sample size: the amount
of variability in the population, i.e. the range of values or opinions, will also
affect accuracy and therefore size of the sample

3. The confidence level is the likelihood that the results obtained from the
sample lie within a required precision: the higher the confidence level, the
more certain you wish to be that the results are not atypical. Statisticians
often use a 95% confidence level to provide strong conclusions

4. Population size does not normally affect sample size: in fact the larger the
population size, the lower the proportion of that population needs to be
sampled to be representative. It's only when the proposed sample size is
more than 5% of the population that the population size becomes part of the
formulae to calculate the sample size

Types of Sampling

There are many different types of sampling methods, here's a summary of the most
common:

Cluster sampling
Units in the population can often be found in certain geographic groups or "clusters"
for example, primary school children in Derbyshire.

A random sample of clusters is taken, and then all units within the cluster are
examined.

Advantages

Quick and easy

Doesn't need complete population information

Good for face-to-face surveys

Disadvantages

Expensive if the clusters are large

Greater risk of sampling error

Convenience sampling

Uses those who are willing to volunteer and easiest to involve in the study.

Advantages

Subjects are readily available

Large amounts of information can be gathered quickly

Disadvantages

The sample is not representative of the entire population, so results can't

speak for them - inferences are limited. future data

Prone to volunteer bias

Judgment sampling

A deliberate choice of a sample - the opposite of random

Advantages

Good for providing illustrative examples or case studies

Disadvantages

Very prone to bias

Samples often small

Cannot extrapolate from sample

Quota sampling

The aim is to obtain a sample that is "representative" of the overall population.

The population is divided ("stratified") by the most important variables such as

income, age and location. The required quota sample is then drawn from each
stratum.

Advantages

Quick and easy way of obtaining a sample

Disadvantages

Not random, so some risk of bias

Need to understand the population to be able to identify the basis of

stratification

Simply random sampling

This makes sure that every member of the population has an equal chance of
selection.

Advantages

Simple to design and interpret

Can calculate both estimate of the population and sampling error

Disadvantages

Need a complete and accurate population listing

May not be practical if the sample requires lots of small visits over the
country
Systematic sampling

After randomly selecting a starting point from the population between 1 and *n,
every nth unit is selected.

*n equals the population size divided by the sample size.

Advantages

Easier to extract the sample than via simple random

Ensures sample is spread across the population

Disadvantages

Can be costly and time-consuming if the sample is not conveniently located

Q.2 Types of data?

Two kinds of data exist: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative data deals with numbers and things you can measure objectively:
dimensions such as height, width, length, temperature, humidity, Price, Area and
volume.

Qualitative data deals with characteristics and descriptors that can't be easily
measured, but can be observed subjectivelysuch as smells, tastes, textures,
attractiveness, and color.

When we measure something and give it a number value, we create quantitative

data. When we classify or judge something, we create qualitative data.

Qualitative Quantitative

Concerned with Concerned with

understanding human discovering facts about
Conceptual behavior from the social phenomena.
informants perspective.
 Assumes a dynamic & Assumes a fixed &
negotiated reality. negotiated reality.

Data are collected Data are collected

through participant through measuring
observation & interviews. things.

Methodology
Data are analyzed
Data are analyzed by
through numerical
themes from descriptions
comparisons & statistical
by informants.
inferences.

Data are reported in the Data are reported

language of the through statistical
informant. analysis.

Q3. Measurement Scales

Scales of measurement can be considered in terms of their mathematical

properties. The most widely used classification of measurement scales are: (a)
nominal scale; (b) ordinal scale; (c) interval scale; and (d) ratio scale.

Nominal: Categorical data and numbers that are simply used as identifiers or
names represent a nominal scale of measurement. Numbers on the back of a
baseball jersey and your social security number are examples of nominal data. If we
conduct a study and we are including gender as a variable, we may code Female as
1 and Male as 2 or vice versa when we enter our data into the computer. Thus, we
are using the numbers 1 and 2 to represent categories of data.

Ordinal: An ordinal scale of measurement represents an ordered series of

relationships or rank order. Individuals competing in a contest may be fortunate to
achieve first, second, or third place. First, second, and third place represent ordinal
data. If Ramesh takes first and Suresh takes second, we do not know if the
competition was close; we only know that Ramesh outperformed Suresh. Likert-type
scales (such as "On a scale of 1 to 10, with one being no pain and ten being high
pain, how much pain are you in today?") also represent ordinal data. Fundamentally,
these scales do not represent a measurable quantity. An individual may respond 8
to this question and be in less pain than someone else who responded 5. A person
may not be in exactly half as much pain if they responded 4 than if they responded
8. All we know from this data is that an individual who responds 6 is in less pain
than if they responded 8 and in more pain than if they responded 4. Therefore,
Likert-type scales only represent a rank ordering.

Interval: A scale that represents quantity and has equal units but for which zero
represents simply an additional point of measurement is an interval scale. The
Fahrenheit scale is a clear example of the interval scale of measurement. Thus, 60
degree Fahrenheit or -10 degrees Fahrenheit represent interval data. Measurement
of Sea Level is another example of an interval scale. With each of these scales there
are direct, measurable quantities with equality of units. In addition, zero does not
represent the absolute lowest value. Rather, it is point on the scale with numbers
both above and below it (for example, -10degrees Fahrenheit).

Ratio: The ratio scale of measurement is similar to the interval scale in that it also
represents quantity and has equality of units. However, this scale also has an
absolute zero (no numbers exist below zero). Very often, physical measures will
represent ratio data (for example, height and weight). If one is measuring the length
of a piece of wood in centimeters, there is quantity, equal units, and that measure
cannot go below zero centimeters. A negative length is not possible.

Q3. Data Collection

Introduction

Data collection is one of the most important stages in conducting a research. You
can have the best research design in the world but if you cannot collect the required
data you will be not be able to complete your project. Data collection is a very
demanding job which needs thorough planning, hard work, patience, perseverance
and more to be able to complete the task successfully. Data collection starts with
determining what kind of data required followed by the selection of a sample from a
certain population. After that, you need to use a certain instrument to collect the
data from the selected sample.

Types of Data

Data can be divided into two types, namely quantitative and qualitative.
Quantitative data is numerical in nature and can be mathematically computed.
Quantitative data measure uses different scales, which can be classified as nominal
scale, ordinal scale, interval scale and ratio scale. Nominal scale is used to
categorize items into different group, for example male and female, different
examination grades, different races in a country, different types of companies,
different shoe sizes and so on. The statistics that is used to analyze this type of data
is mode. The second measure for quantitative data is the ordinal scale which other
than providing information as the nominal scale does also permit ranking of the
data. For example, shoe sizes can be ranked from big to small. A typical ordinal in
ranking a set of data is poor, satisfactory, good, very god, excellent. On the other
hand, an interval scale not only rank order of a set of data, it also measure the
order in units of equal intervals. However, the starting point for the measurement is
arbitrary rather than absolute. For example, Celsius in temperature measurement is
an interval scale because 0o C is an arbitrary value, it is not absolute zero, it does
not mean temperature is lacking at that point. For absolute quantities, we have to
use the ratio scale. For example, measuring temperature in Kelvin is a ratio scale as
it starts the measurement at absolute zero, which is about -273 o Celsius.

Qualitative data are mostly non-numerical and usually descriptive or nominal in

nature. This means the data collected are in the form of words and sentences.

Sources of data

Generally we can collect data from two sources, primary sources and secondary
sources. Data collected from primary sources are known as primary data and data
collected from secondary sources are called secondary data.

Primary data are also known as raw data. Data are collected from the original
source in a controlled or an uncontrolled environment. Examples of a controlled
environment are experimental research where certain variables are being controlled
by the researcher. On the other hand, data collected through observation or
questionnaire survey in a natural setting are examples data obtained in an
uncontrolled environment. Secondary data are data obtained from secondary
sources such as reports, books, journals, documents, magazines, the web and more.

Data Collection Methods

There are many methods to collect data, depending on our research design and the
methodologies employed. Some of the common methods are questionnaires,
interview and observation.

Questionnaires Survey

Questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and

other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although
they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always
the case. Questionnaires are widely used for both quantitative and qualitative
research.

Questionnaires often use various measuring scales to obtain information from the
respondents. To obtain the bio data of the respondents, we use nominal scale as it
serves as label or identification such as gender and age, which often does not
involve calculations. To gather respondents' preferences, we use ordinal scale which
is used to arrange objects or alternatives according to their magnitude in an ordered
relationship. To obtain information related to attitude, we use rating scales. Rating
asks the respondents to estimate the magnitude of a characteristic or quality
regarding certain object or thing.

Questionnaire is designed both for descriptive as well as analytical surveys. In a

descriptive survey, the questionnaire will normally use nominal and ordinal scales
because it concerns primarily with the particular characteristics of a specific
population of subjects. It does not require the examination of dependent and
independent variables. Examples of questions asked in a descriptive survey are
shown below:

State the location of your company

How many workers are employed by your company?

When was the company founded?

On the other hand, rating scale is always used to measure attitude or opinion of the
respondents in an analytical survey. In an analytical survey, it normally needs to
identify independent, dependent and extraneous variables based on a certain
conceptual framework. A researcher needs to conduct a thorough literature review
by paying attention to any existing research and theory relevant to the research
problem. Once the variables are determined, they are built into a questionnaire
using rating scale measures, the most popular one being the Likert scale. Likert
scale questions can consist of three items, four items, five item, six items, seven
items and more. The ratings obtained from the respondents are then summarized or
averaged up to reflect a certain variable, such as job satisfaction. They can be used
to analysed any causal relationship with other variables. Example of Likert-type
questions are shown below:

Strongly
Disagree Strongly Agree

. Need additional staff to manage electronic commerce

1 2 3 4 5

Difficult to justify the cost with desired benefits

1 2 3 4 5

Information from the electronic commerce is not useful

1 2 3 4 5
When we are designing a questionnaire, we have to pay attention to the following
issues:

Are the instructions clear and unambiguous?

Can the questions be understood; are they free from jargon, esoteric
terminology, unsuitable assumptions and ambiguity?

Are the respondents possessed the requisite information and knowledge to

answer the questions?

Is the wording of questions appeared offensive and embarrassing to the

respondents?

Is the wording of questions lead to bias through leading the respondent to

particular answers?

Questionnaire can be administered by post, face to face distribution of the

questionnaires or by interviewing the respondents. If you are conducting
questionnaire survey by interview, you have to keep interviewer bias to the
minimum by following certain rules such as

Record exactly what the respondent answers

Do not answer on behalf of the respondent

Read the questions clearly and slowly.

Do not show approval or disapproval of any answer

Observation

Observation is a process of recording the behavior patterns of people, objects, and

occurrences without questioning or communicating with them. Observation can take
the place in a laboratory setting or in a natural setting. Generally there are two
ways to conduct observation, namely non-participative observation and
participative observation.

The researcher in non-participative observation does not involve in the activities of

the people being observed. He or she merely record whatever happens among the
people, including their actions and their behavior, and anything worth recording. On
the one hand, the researcher in a participative observation involves fully with the
people being observed, with the objective of trying to understand the values,
motives and practices of those being researched.

The main advantage of observation as compared to questionnaire survey is you can

obtain richer and more in-depth information. You can able to catch phenomena,
characteristics, activities and other things impossible to detect by questionnaire
survey. However, there are some weaknesses associated with observation method
as shown below:

Cannot control variables in the natural setting

Researcher own values and ethics might affect his objectivity and give rise to
observer bias

Failure to observe some activities due to distractions.

Q4. Primary Data Collection Methods

Primary data may be collected either through observation or through direct

communication with respondents in one form or another through personal
interviews. There are several ways of collecting primary data.

(i) Observation method,

(ii) Interview method,

(iii) Questionnaire method, and

(iv) Schedule method.

i. Observation Method:

In observation method, the information is sought by way of investigators own direct

observation without asking from the respondent. The main advantage of this
method is that it is free from subjective biasness, as it is free from respondents
willingness. It is, however, an expensive and time consuming method. Moreover, the
information provided by this method is very limited and some of the more busy
people like executives may not be accessible to direct observation.

ii. Interview Method:

Primary data may be collected either through personal interviews or

through telephonic interviews:
(a) In the personal interviews the interviewer asks questions generally in a face to
face contact. Through interview method more and reliable information may be
obtained. Personal information can be obtained easily under this method. It is,
however, a very expensive and time consuming method, especially when large and
widely spread geographical sample is taken. Certain types of respondents, such as
officials, executives or people of high income groups, may not be easily accessible.

In this method, the respondent may give wrong and imaginary information. For
effective interview there should be a good rapport with respondents which is often
very difficult to develop. For a good result the interviewers approach should be
friendly, courteous, conversational and unbiased for which a proper training is
required.

(b) In telephonic interviews contact is made with the respondents through

telephone.

The main merits of telephonic interviews are:

(i) It is more flexible and faster than other methods.

(ii) It is cheaper and less time consuming.

(iii) Recall is easy and replies can be recorded without causing embarrassment to
respondents.

(iv) At times, access can be made to respondents who otherwise cannot be

contacted for one reason or the other.

(v) No staff is required and wider representation of sample is possible.

This method also has several weaknesses. For example, the surveys are restricted
to respondents who have telephonic facilities and little time is given to respondents
for considered answers. It is not suitable for intensive surveys where comprehensive
answers are required for various questions.

iii. Questionnaire Method:

In this method a questionnaire is mailed to the person concerned with a request to

answer the questions and return the questionnaire. This method is most extensively
applied in various researches of human and economic geography.

The main merits of this method are given below:

(i) There is low cost even when the universe is large and is widespread
geographically.
(ii) It is free from bias of interviewer as answers are respondents own words.

(iii) Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached
conveniently. Moreover, respondents are given enough time to give well thought
answers.

The main demerits of this method are:

(i) Low rate of return of the duly filled questionnaires.

(ii) It can be used only when the respondents are educated and cooperative.

(iii) The control of the questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.

(iv) It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative.

(v) This method is likely to be the slowest of all.

iv. Schedule Method:

This method of data collection is very much like the collection of data through
questionnaires, with little difference that lies in the fact that schedules (proforma
containing a set of questions) are being filled in by the enumerators who are
specially appointed for this purpose. Enumerators explain the aims and objects of
the investigation and also remove the difficulties which any respondent may feel in
understanding the implications of a particular question.

This method is very useful in extensive enquiries and can lead to fairly reliable
results. It is, however, very expensive and is usually adopted in investigations
conducted by governmental agencies or by some organizations. Population census
all over the world is conducted through this method.

For the selection of an appropriate method, the objective, nature and scope of
study, the availability of time and funds, and the level of precision required are to
be taken into consideration.

Q5. Secondary Research

By far the most widely used method for collecting data is through secondary data
collection, commonly called secondary research. This process involves collecting
data from either the originator or a distributor of primary research (see Primary
Research discussion below). In other words, accessing information already gathered.

In most cases this means finding information from third-party sources such as
marketing research reports, company websites, magazine articles, and other
sources. But in actuality any information previously gathered, whether from sources
external to the marketer or from internal sources, such as accessing material from
previous market research carried out by the marketers organization, old sales
reports, accounting records and many others, falls under the heading of secondary
research.

Q6. Classification of Secondary Data

Secondary data in research consists of several sources. Sometimes primary data

cannot be obtained or it becomes difficult to obtain primary data, in such cases the
researcher is bound to use secondary data. The reliability, authenticity and
generalizability of secondary data is less as compared to primary data as it has
been already manipulated and used by other people. Obtaining primary data
requires more human and non-human resources like time, money and energy,
therefore in some studies researchers consider secondary data much better and
feasible.

Published Data is the most basic secondary source of information for data
collection. Published data can be obtained from various sources like books,
magazines, newspapers, journals and periodicals etc. Published data is the most
reliable secondary source of information. The validity of published data is greater
than unpublished data.

The majority of published records can be obtained from libraries and archives.
Libraries carry a vast variety of books, journals and periodicals. You can use this
information as a reference in your thesis, dissertation or other research articles.
Periodicals and journals provide up to date information and they are also available
in libraries. In social sciences and humanities newspapers can also be used to get
references. Newspaper is an excellent source of data collection historical research.
Some record cannot be obtained from any other source except newspaper as it does
not exist in books and journals. Old newspapers record can be obtained from the
archives. In published data books are easier to use as data are arranged in order in
books while newspapers are difficult to use because in newspapers there is no list of
contents or bibliography.

Personnel records can also be very useful in research if data is unavailable in

published from. Some personal sources like letters and diaries are invaluable assets.
Letters and diaries can have a personal bias as they are written by human beings
and they contain personal judgement. The chances of bias should be eliminated
before using these sources for references.

Electronic Data like movies, documentaries and television programs can also be
sued for recording data in secondary research. In the social sciences and humanities
it can be a good source of information.
Government Records are available in the form of government surveys, tax
records, census data and other statistical reports. They are easily available and
widely used in research studies.

Public Sector Records are available in NGOs as well as some other public sector
organization keeps records. These records can be published or unpublished but they
carry information that cannot be obtained from other sources.

Internet in todays world is the fastest growing source of information. The internet
has become mature and today you can get any information from the internet. Most
of the books are available on the internet in e-book format. You can get information
while staying at home. The information can be obtained faster than you can obtain
from any other source. On the internet you can get e-books, e-journals, e-periodicals
and e-magazines. The internet is a multiple source of information as all of the above
mentioned sources can be obtained from the internet. Most recent and most up to
date information can be obtained from the internet as it wont be available in books
and other forms. Getting information from the internet is inexpensive as compared
to other sources. You can get membership of different periodicals, sometimes this
membership is free otherwise you have to pay a small amount of money.

Q.7 Criteria for evaluating Secondary Data.

Secondary data are market research data collected for a purpose other than the one
on hand. The data have the advantage of being much less expensive and more
quickly available than primary data. However, because secondary data are collected
for a different purpose, one must carefully evaluate their appropriateness for a
given market research situation. Secondary data should be evaluated with respect
to several important criteria. The data should be accurate, that is, without errors.
The data should be relevant to the particular research need on hand. Relevance is a
function of the level of aggregation of the data, as well as the units and time
increments in which the data are reported. The data should also come in a format
that can be utilized easily. In addition, secondary data should not be out of date.
Consideration should also be given to the format of the data and any restrictions on
their use. When secondary data are evaluated carefully with these criteria, they can
be an excellent source of inexpensive yet valuable information.

Q.8 Descriptive Research & its characteristics.

Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or

phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the
characteristics occurred.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

1. Descriptive research ascertains prevailing conditions of facts in a group or case
under study.
2. It gives either a qualitative or quantitative, or both, description of the general
characteristics of the group or case under study.
3. What caused the prevailing conditions is not emphasized.
4. Study of conditions at different periods of time may be made and the change or
progress that took place between the periods may be noted or evaluated for any
value.
5. Comparison of the characteristics of two groups or cases may be made to
determine their similarities and differences.
6. The variables or conditions studied in descriptive research are not usually
controlled.
7. Descriptive studies, except in case studies, are generally cross-sectional, that is,
it studies the different section belonging to the same group.
8. Studies on prevailing conditions may or can be repeated for purposes of
verification and comparison.

VALUE, IMPORTANCE, AND ADVANTAGES OF DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

1. Descriptive research contributes much to the formulation of principles and

generalizations in behavioral sciences. This is especially true in casual-comparative
and correlation studies. When several register the same findings on a certain
subject, then a principle or generalization may be formed about the subject.
2. Descriptive research contributes much to the establishment of standard norms of
conduct, behavior, or performance. This is especially true in psychological testing,
as for instance, norms in an intelligence test. Normative standards are based on
what is prevalent.
3. Descriptive research reveals problems or abnormal conditions so that remedial
measures may be instituted. It reveals to us what we do not want, what we want,
and how to acquire what we want.
4. Descriptive research makes possible the prediction of the future on the basis of
findings on prevailing conditions, correlations. For instance, the winning candidate
in an election may be predicted on the basis of survey.
5. Descriptive research gives a better and deeper understanding of a phenomenon
on the basis of an in-depth study of the phenomenon.
6. Descriptive research provides a basis for decision-making. Business managers
often base their decisions upon business researches. Government policy makers
usually rely upon descriptive investigations for making the needed policies. In
education, the curriculum has been constructed based upon descriptive researches
in child and adolescent psychology.
7. Descriptive research helps fashion many of the tools with which we do research,
such as, instruments for the measurement of many things, instruments that are
employed in all types of quantitative research. These instruments include
schedules, checklists, score cards, and rating scales. Descriptive studies contribute
to the development of these data-gathering devices in two ways-first through
creating directly a demand for them, and second through providing the normative,
standardizing procedures by which the scales are evaluated and calibrated.

Q9. Questionnaire Design.

A good questionnaire should not be too lengthy. Simple English should be used and
the question shouldnt be difficult to answer. A good questionnaire requires sensible
language, editing, assessment, and redrafting.

Questionnaire Design Process

1. State the information required- This will depend upon the nature of the
problem, the purpose of the study and hypothesis framed. The target
audience must be concentrated on.

2. State the kind of interviewing technique- interviewing method can be

telephone, mails, personal interview or electronic interview. Telephonic
interview can be computer assisted. Personal interview can be conducted at
respondents place or at mall or shopping place. Mail interview can take the
form of mail panel. Electronic interview takes place either through electronic
mails or through the internet.

3. Decide the matter/content of individual questions- There are two

deciding factors for this-

a. Is the question significant? - Observe contribution of each question.

Does the question contribute for the objective of the study?

b. Is there a need for several questions or a single question? - Several

questions are asked in the following cases:

When there is a need for cross-checking

When the answers are ambiguous

When people are hesitant to give correct information.

4. Overcome the respondents inability and unwillingness to answer-

The respondents may be unable to answer the questions because of following
reasons-
 a. The respondent may not be fully informed

b. The respondent may not remember

c. He may be unable to express or articulate

The respondent may be unwilling to answer due to-

d. There may be sensitive information which may cause embarrassment

or harm the respondents image.

e. The respondent may not be familiar with the genuine purpose

f. The question may appear to be irrelevant to the respondent

g. The respondent will not be willing to reveal traits like aggressiveness

(For instance - if he is asked Do you hit your wife, sister, etc.)

To overcome the respondents unwillingness to answer:

a. Place the sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire

b. Preface the question with a statement

c. Use the third person technique (For example - Mark needed a job badly
and he used wrong means to get it - Is it right?? Different people will
have different opinions depending upon the situation)

d. Categorize the responses rather than asking a specific response figure

(For example - Group for income levels 0-25000, 25000-50000, 50000
and above)

ii. Decide on the structure of the question- Questions can be of two

types:

Structured questions- These specify the set of response alternatives

and the response format. These can be classified into multiple choice
questions (having various response categories), dichotomous questions
(having only 2 response categories such as Yes or No) and scales
(discussed already).
 Unstructured questions- These are also known as open-ended
question. No alternatives are suggested and the respondents are free to
answer these questions in any way they like.

a. Determine the question language/phrasing- If the questions are

poorly worded, then either the respondents will refuse to answer the
question or they may give incorrect answers. Thus, the words of the
question should be carefully chosen. Ordinary and unambiguous words
should be used. Avoid implicit assumptions, generalizations and
implicit alternatives. Avoid biased questions. Define the issue in terms
of who the questionnaire is being addressed to, what information is
required, when is the information required, why the question is being
asked, etc.

b. Properly arrange the questions- To determine the order of the

question, take decisions on aspects like opening questions (simple,
interesting questions should be used as opening questions to gain co-
operation and confidence of respondents), type of information (Basic
information relates to the research issue, classification information
relates to social and demographic characteristics, and identification
information relates to personal information such as name, address,
contact number of respondents), difficult questions (complex,
embarrassing, dull and sensitive questions could be difficult), effect on
subsequent questions, logical sequence, etc.

c. Recognize the form and layout of the questionnaire- This is very

essential for self-administered questionnaire. The questions should be
numbered and pre-coded. The layout should be such that it appears to
be neat and orderly, and not clattered.

d. Reproduce the questionnaire- Paper quality should be good.

Questionnaire should appear to be professional. The required space for
the answers to the question should be sufficient. The font type and size
should be appropriate. Vertical response questions should be used, for
example:

Do you use brand X of shampoo ?

a. Yes

b. No

Pre-test the questionnaire- The questionnaire should be pre-tested

on a small number of respondents to identify the likely problems and to
 eliminate them. Each and every dimension of the questionnaire should
be pre-tested. The sample respondents should be similar to the target
respondents of the survey.

Finalize the questionnaire- Check the final draft questionnaire. Ask

yourself how much will the information obtained from each question
contribute to the study. Make sure that irrelevant questions are not
asked. Obtain feedback of the respondents on the questionnaire.

Q10. Types of Question

Most of us know the importance of questionnaires in collecting survey data from a

large audience, but are uncertain about the placement of different types of
questions in questionnaire. There are different types of questionnaires possible that
pollsters can send to their audience, and the format of questionnaire depends
entirely on what information is to be extracted from respondents.

So, the key to creating best questionnaire questions is, understanding the
questionnaire format, and the type of questions that can be asked to respondents
using a survey.

Types of Questionnaire Formats

There are two types of questionnaire questions, open-ended and closed-ended.

Following description will help you understand the format of questionnaire better,
have a look:

1. Open Format Questions

Open format questions or open-ended questions give your audience an opportunity

to express their opinions in a free-flowing manner. These questions don't have
predetermined set of responses and the respondent is free to answer whatever
he/she feels right. By including open format questions in your questionnaire, you
can get true, insightful and even unexpected suggestions. Qualitative questions fall
under this category.

An ideal questionnaire would include an open-ended question at the end of the

questionnaire that seeks feedback and/or suggestions for improvements from
respondents.

Example of an Open Format Question

2. Closed Format Questions

Multiple choice questions, where respondents are restricted to choose among any of
the given multiple choice answers are known as closed format or closed-ended
questions. There is no fixed limit as to how many multiple choices should be given;
the number can be even or odd.

One of the main advantages of including closed format questions in your

questionnaire design is the ease at performing preliminary analysis. These
questions are ideal for calculating statistical data and percentages, as the answers
set is known. Closed ended questions can also be asked to different groups at
different intervals to efficiently track their opinion about a product/service/company
over time. Closed-ended questions can be further classified into 7 types.

Example of a Closed Format Question

Classification of Closed Format Questions for Questionnaire Design

There are 7 ways in which pollsters can create polling or survey questions for their
respondents to collect accurate statistical data. Following is a list of 7 types of
closed-ended questions that can be a part of your questionnaire design:

A. Leading Questions

Questions that force your audience for a particular type of answer are known as
leading questions. In a leading question, all the answers would be equally likely. An
example of a leading question would be a question with choices such as, fair, good,
great, poor, superb, excellent etc. These questions are meant to get an opinion from
the audience in limited words.
Example of a Closed-Ended Leading Question

B. Importance Questions

In importance questions, the respondents are usually asked to rate the importance
of a particular issue, on a rating scale of 1 to 5. These questions can help you
understand things that hold significance to your respondents and allow you make
business critical decisions.

Example of a Closed-Ended Importance Question

C. Likert Questions

Likert questions can help you ascertain how strongly your respondents agree to a
particular statement. Such type of questions also help you assess how your
customers feel towards a certain issue, product or service.

Example of a Closed-Ended Likert Question

D. Dichotomous Questions
These are simple questions that ask respondents to answer in a yes or no. One
major drawback with dichotomous questions is that it cannot analyze the answers
between yes and no, there is no scope for a middle perspective.

Example of a Closed-Ended Dichotomous Question

E. Bipolar Questions

Bipolar questions are the ones having two extreme answers written at the opposite
ends of the scale. The respondents are asked to mark their responses between
those two.

Example of a Closed-Ended Bipolar Question

F. Rating Scale Questions

In rating scale questions, the respondents are asked to rate a particular issue on a
scale that ranges between poor to good. Rating scale questions usually have an
even number of choices, so that respondents are not given the choice of selecting a
middle option.

Example of a Closed-Ended Rating Scale Question

G. Buying Propensity Questions

Buying propensity questions try to assess the future intentions of customers and
determine respondent's buying intention. These questions ask respondents if they
want to buy a particular product, what requirements they want to be addressed, and
whether they would buy such a product in future.

Example of a Closed-Ended Buying propensity Question