Exploring Marketing Research William G. Zikmund Chapter 15: Questionnaire Design

“It is not every question that deserves an answer.” Publius Syrus (Roman,1st century B.C.) Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

A questionnaire is only as good as the questions it asks Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Good Questionnaire Appears As easy to compose as a good poem But, it is usually the result of long, painstaking work Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Major Decisions in Questionnaire Design 1. What should be asked? 2. How should each question be phrased? 3. In what sequence should the questions be arranged? 4. What questionnaire layout will best serve the research objectives? 5. How should the questionnaire be pretested? Does the questionnaire need to be revised? Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Should Be Asked? Questionnaire Relevance Questionnaire Accuracy Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Phrasing Questions Open-Ended Questions Fixed-Alternative Questions Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

StructuredUnstructured Undisguised Disguised Example: Typical descriptive survey with straight-forward, structured questions Example: Survey with open-ended questions to discover “new” answers or focus group interview Example: Survey interview to measure brand A’s image versus competitive brands’ images or brand recall (unaided recall) Example: Projection techniques used mostly for exploratory research Classifying Surveys by Degree of Structure and Degree of Disguise Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Developing a Questionnaire No Hard and Fast Rules Only Guidelines Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Avoid Complexity: use simple, conversational language Avoid leading and loaded questions Avoid ambiguity: be as specific as possible Avoid double-barreled items Avoid making assumptions Avoid burdensome questions Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Do you believe that private citizens have the right to own firearms to defend themselves, their families, and property from violent criminal attack? YesNoUndecided Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Do you believe that a ban on the private ownership of firearms would be significantly reduce the number of murders and robberies in your community? YesNoUndecided Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

1a. How many years have you been playing tennis on a regular basis? Number of years: __________ b. What is your level of play? Novice Advanced Lower Intermediate Expert Upper Intermediate Teaching Pro c. In the last 12 months, has your level of play improved, remained the same or decreased? Improved Decreased Remained the same Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

2a. Do you belong to a club with tennis facilities?Yes No b. How many people in your household - including yourself - play tennis? Number who play tennis ___________ 3a. Why do you play tennis? (Please “X” all that apply.) To have fun To stay fit To be with friends To improve my game...-4 To compete To win b. In the past 12 months, have you purchased any tennis instructional books or video tapes?Yes No Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dear Passenger: American Airlines is pleased to have you on board today. To help us provide the best service possible, we need to know more about you and your opinions of our service. If you are over 11 years old, we would appreciate it if you would complete this questionnaire. Your flight attendant will pick up your completed questionnaire shortly. Thank you. Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Please indicate: Flight number ___________ Date_____________ 2a. At the city where you boarded this particular plane, did you make a connection from another flight? Yes, from American Yes, from Other Airline..2 No b. Did you board this plane at the airport from which it just took off, or were you a through passenger for which that was an intermediate stop? Boarded here Through passenger How would you rate the overall service from American for this flight, all things considered, from your arrival at the airport terminal until now? Excellent Good Fair Poor Overall Service Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Please rate each of the following with regard to this flight, if applicable. Excellent Good Fair Poor Courtesy and Treatment from the: Skycap at airport Airport Ticket Counter Agent..... Boarding Point (Gate) Agent..... Flight Attendants Your Meal or Snack Beverage Service Seat Comfort Carry-On Stowage Space Cabin Cleanliness Video/Stereo Entertainment On-Time Departure Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Questionnaire Design Question Sequence –Order Bias –Funnel Technique –Filter Bias Question Layout Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pretesting is Important Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Preliminary Considerations for Questionnaire Construction 1. Exactly what information is required? 2. Exactly who are appropriate target respondents? 3.What data collection method will be used to survey respondents? Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for Devising a Good Questionnaire 1. Write specific questions only after you have thoroughly thought through your research questions. Write the research questions down. 2. When you are working on the questionnaire, constantly refer to your research questions. 3. For each question you write, explain how the information obtained from responses will help in answering your research questions. Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Principles of Developing Questions 1.Be clear and precise. 2.Response choices should not overlap. 3.Use natural and familiar language. 4.Do not use words or phrases that show bias. 5.Avoid double-barreled questions. 6.State explicit alternatives. 7.Questions should meet criteria of validity and reliability. Copyright © 2000 Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.