QUESTIONNAIRE

A questionnaire is formal set of questions or

statements designed to gather information from respondents that will accomplish the goals of the research project. Questionnaires measure peoples attitudes, behavior and feelings towards every thing.

ATTRIBUTES OF AN EFFECTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE

It should be user friendly.
The questionnaire should look professional. It should be valid.

It should be attractive and motivational in nature.

The questionnaire should encourage respondents to

answer honestly

QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION PHASES

PRE-CONSTRUCTION Determine questionnaire objectives. What needs to be achieved from a data gathering effort? Target respondents characteristics. What characteristics of our target respondents affect questionnaire designs? Resource constraints. What are the limits of our company resources? Decide on data collection method. How should information be obtained?

Question Content
The utility of data .
Effectiveness in producing data. Participants ability to answer accurately.

Respondents willingness to answer accurately.

Effect of external events

QUESTION FORMAT
Open-Ended Questions
Close-Ended Questions Dichotomous Questions

Multiple-Choice Questions
Ranking Questions Checklist Questions

Open-Ended Questions
No predefined response choices
Also called infinite response or unsaturated type questions

Acts as a memory prompts

Useful when narrative answers required and when

researcher is uncertain Freedom of response

Close-Ended Questions
Questions, which restrict the interviewees answers to

pre-defined response options. The uniformity of the questions makes them easier to record and analyze results quantitatively. They give respondents a finite set of specified responses to choose from. Motivates respondents to complete the questionnaire.

Dichotomous questions
Offers only two response choices
Breaking category into two parts Understanding respondents demographic

composition or behavior inclination

Not time consuming

Multiple-Choice Questions
Closed end questions that give respondents several

choices. The three issues that must be considered are: Options should be exhaustive Options should be worded carefully Response options should be distinct from one another

Contd..
Example: How would you rate the food quality at the restaurant you last visited? Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

Ranking Questions
The respondent ranks the response options
listed on a continuum basis in order of preference. Example: Factors that influence your buying from a

particular supermarket. Rank in order of preference

Conveniently located Helpful sales staff Availability of all requirements Regular discount offered

Checklist questions
The participant has the freedom to choose
one or more of the response options available.

Different from multiple choice questions.

Question Wording
Factors to be looked into while framing
questionnaires: Shared Vocabulary

Unsupported Assumptions
Frame of Reference Biased Wording Adequate Alternatives Double barreled questions Positively & negatively worded questions

Shared Vocabulary
Interactive language to be kept simple &
understandable Highly technical language should be avoided as

much as possible
Words used should not be ambiguous or vague. Example: Vague: How satisfied are you with

SterlingResorts? Better: How satisfied are you with the hospitality at SterlingResorts?

unsupported Assumptions
Assumptions should be explicitly stated not
implied. Unsupported assumptions lead to

exaggerated estimates.

Frame of Reference
A single word can have several connotations under

different situations. The frame of desirability should be made clear. Example: capacity may be meant differently by an industrialist & an educator.

Biased Wording
Biased Wording should be avoided.
Awareness of desirable response leads to shift of focus

from actual response. Example: Biased: Do you think TV has negative effect on children? Unbiased: What are your views on the effect of TV on children

Adequate Alternative
Every question should have ample number of

alternatives. They should be explicit rather than being implicit. Example: Do you prefer eating in restaurants? Which do you prefer -eating in restaurants or eating at home.

Double- barreled Questions

A single question that asks for two
responses. Interpretation of the responses not

effective.
Example: Do you believe most Japanese automobiles

are comfortable and worth their price?

Positively/Negatively worded questions

Respondents are often guided by the directions of the

questions. Responses are different when surveys are either exclusively positive or negative. Combination of both is desirable.

Generalizations & Estimates

Proper structuring of questions to avoid
generalizations. Answers which require calculations should be avoided.

Example: How many times have sales promotion

influenced you to switch brands over the last one year? Better: How many times in the last month have sales promotion influenced you to switch brands?

Questionnaire Sequence
Important to elicit required information from the
respondents. The sequencing steps are:

-Leading questions
-Qualifying questions -Warm-up questions -Specific questions -Demographic questions

POST CONSTRUCTION
Pre-testing
Trial run of the questionnaire using a small sample from the target population.

Helps to refine the instrument and identify

errors. Two stages involved: Personal interviews Administer the survey

Revise the questionnaire

At this stage the flaws and ambiguity
identified in the pre-test are eliminated. It also tests if right sample selection

procedures are adopted.

Preliminary indication of what to expect from the full test

Administer Questionnaire & Tabulate Results

The interviewers should :
-code the information -tabulate the data

-conduct appropriate statistical tests

-locate the relationships and differences among

variables -draw conclusions