Marketing Research and the Questionnaire

Steps in Designing and Administering Questionnaire Define the Objective(s) of the Survey Determine the Sampling Group Design and Write the Questionnaire Pilot the Questionnaire Administer the Questionnaire Tabulate the Results Interpret the Results Write the Report.

Defining the Objective The importance of a well-defined objective can not be overstated A questionnaire that is written without a clear goal and purpose is going to: Overlook important issues Waste participants’ time by asking useless questions Goal: To find out if there is a gender difference in people’s attitudes to the media To find out how the work and study habits of students relate to their academic success Rule of thumb: If you are finding it hard to write the questions, you haven’t spent enough time defining the objective(s) of the questionnaire.

Validity and Reliability Questionnaires should provide data that is both valid and reliable Validity: Exists when the questions asked measure what was intended to be measured Poorly written questions will NOT have validity Reliability Exists when a research technique produces nearly identical results in repeated trials Questions must ask the same type of information from all respondents Questions that are unclear and poorly written do NOT give reliable results.

Writing Questions Survey questions can either be open ended or forced choice. Open Ended Questions Questions that ask respondents to construct their own response to a question Open ended questions generate a wide variety of responses Generally hard to categorize and tabulate Forced Choice Questions that ask respondents to choose from possibilities given on the questionnaire These are the simplest to write and easiest to tabulate These can be either: Two Choice Multiple Choice Rating or Ranking Scales Level of Agreement Scales.

Two Choice Questions Two-choice questions give the respondent only two options Yes/No Should only be used when looking for a response on ONE issue 1. Were our facilities clean Yes No 2. Was your server courteous Yes No Sometimes Yes/No questions are used as filter questions 4. Have you for any reason been suspended from school last year Yes No – ( go to question 8).

Multiple Choice Questions Multiple choice questions give the respondent several options Multiple choice questions must be comprehensive enough to include all possible responses Many multiple choice questions include a final option of OTHER Increases reliability An outdoor equipment manufacturer might use the following type of question 5. What is your primary intended use for this product? (check only one) A. Backpacking/Hiking B. Camping C. Fishing D. Hunting E. Other _________________________ .

Rating Scale Questions Rating Scale questions ask respondents to rank a product based on a scale A variety of scales may be used Very Satisfied to Very Dissatisfied Excellent to Poor 6. Please rate the following: Reservations Excellent Good Average Fair Poor Check-In Process Excellent Good Average Fair Poor Parking Excellent Good Average Fair Poor.

Level of Agreement Questions When assessing attitudes or opinions: it is a good idea to write statements that reflect those attitudes or opinions Then ask respondents for their level of agreement Commonly used options include Strongly Agree [SA] Agree [A] Neutral [N] Disagree [D] Strongly disagree [SD] 7. “I am extremely health conscious” SA A N D SD When using this type of question the full words would appear above each column to avoid confusion.

Guidelines for Writing Questions Each question should be clearly written, and as brief as possible Use the same rating or ranking question for all similar questions Do not ask leading questions or suggest an answer Introduces bias into the survey An unintended influence on the data gathering method Avoid questions that require the respondent to guess at the meaning of your question Always pretest the wording of your question.