© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Designing the Questionnaire Chapter 8, Student Edition MR/Brown & Suter 1

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter2 1. Cite some of the techniques researchers use to secure respondents’ cooperation in answering sensitive questions 2. List some of the primary rules researchers should keep in mind in trying to develop bias-free questions 3. Explain what the funnel approach to question sequencing is 4. Explain the difference between basic information and classification information, and tell which should be asked first in a questionnaire 5. Explain the role of pretesting in the questionnaire development process

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter3 1. Cite some of the techniques researchers use to secure respondents’ cooperation in answering sensitive questions 2. List some of the primary rules researchers should keep in mind in trying to develop bias-free questions 3. Explain what the funnel approach to question sequencing is 4. Explain the difference between basic information and classification information, and tell which should be asked first in a questionnaire 5. Explain the role of pretesting in the questionnaire development process

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 1 MR/Brown & Suter4  When asking sensitive questions, researchers may consider  Guaranteeing respondent anonymity or confidentiality  Making use of counter-biasing statements  Phrasing the question in terms of others and how those others might feel or act  Putting sensitive questions near the end  Using categories or ranges rather than specific numbers  Using the randomized-response model

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter5 1. Cite some of the techniques researchers use to secure respondents’ cooperation in answering sensitive questions 2. List some of the primary rules researchers should keep in mind in trying to develop bias-free questions 3. Explain what the funnel approach to question sequencing is 4. Explain the difference between basic information and classification information, and tell which should be asked first in a questionnaire 5. Explain the role of pretesting in the questionnaire development process

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 2 MR/Brown & Suter6  Use Simple Words  Most researchers are more highly educated than the typical questionnaire respondent  Use conversational language  Avoid Ambiguous Words and Questions  Avoid “problem” words like occasionally, often, rarely, sometimes, usually as they can be imprecise and/or ambiguous  Avoid Leading Questions  Avoid basically telling respondents how to answer, or even a clue as to how to answer

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 2 MR/Brown & Suter7  Avoid Unstated Alternatives  Two different groups of homemakers; the first group answered the first question, the second group answered the second  “Would you like to have a job, if this were possible?”  19% said “no”  “Would you like to have a job, or do you prefer to do just your housework?”  68% said “no”

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 2 MR/Brown & Suter8  Avoid Assumed Consequences Do you favor a 5 percent increase in state taxes? To repair aging bridges To increase education funding For information technology investment To provide raises for state legislators To support pregnant teenagers For farm subsidies Core Survey Question with No Stated Consequences Possible Assumed, but Not Explicitly Stated, Consequences Generated by Respondents

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 2 MR/Brown & Suter9  Avoid Generalizations and Estimates  Two possible questions of purchasing agents  “How many salespeople did you see last year?”  Agent would likely estimate weekly sales calls times 52  “How many salespeople have you seen in the last two weeks?”  Agent more likely to remember than merely estimate; researcher could extrapolate to a year if necessary  Avoid Double-Barreled Questions  “How satisfied were you with the price and quality of service that you received?”  Price and quality of service are different topics for assessment

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter10 1. Cite some of the techniques researchers use to secure respondents’ cooperation in answering sensitive questions 2. List some of the primary rules researchers should keep in mind in trying to develop bias-free questions 3. Explain what the funnel approach to question sequencing is 4. Explain the difference between basic information and classification information, and tell which should be asked first in a questionnaire 5. Explain the role of pretesting in the questionnaire development process

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 3 MR/Brown & Suter11  Use the Funnel Approach  Start broad and progressively narrow down the scope Broad: Which three financial institutions located in Taylorville come to mind first? Narrow: Is RCB Bank located in Taylorville?

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter12 1. Cite some of the techniques researchers use to secure respondents’ cooperation in answering sensitive questions 2. List some of the primary rules researchers should keep in mind in trying to develop bias-free questions 3. Explain what the funnel approach to question sequencing is 4. Explain the difference between basic information and classification information, and tell which should be asked first in a questionnaire 5. Explain the role of pretesting in the questionnaire development process

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 4 MR/Brown & Suter13  Basic Information  Refers to the subject of the study  Should be collected first  Classification Information  Refers to the other data we collect to classify respondents for analysis  Should be collected last

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter14 1. Cite some of the techniques researchers use to secure respondents’ cooperation in answering sensitive questions 2. List some of the primary rules researchers should keep in mind in trying to develop bias-free questions 3. Explain what the funnel approach to question sequencing is 4. Explain the difference between basic information and classification information, and tell which should be asked first in a questionnaire 5. Explain the role of pretesting in the questionnaire development process

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 5 MR/Brown & Suter15  Pretest is vital  Pretesting serves the same role in questionnaire design that test marketing serves in new product development  It is the last chance that the researcher has to ensure that the data collection form is working properly  Pretesting must not be overlooked