Designing the Data Collection Form Chapter 13

Procedure for Developing a Questionnaire Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 5 Step 4 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Specify what information will be sought Determine type of questionnaire and method of administration Determine content of individual questions Determine form of response to each question Determine wording of each question Determine question sequence Determine physical characteristics of questionnaire Reexamine steps 1-7 and revise if necessary Pretest questionnaire and revise if necessary

Step 1: Specify what information will be sought Descriptive and causal research require that researchers have enough knowledge about the problem to frame specific hypotheses to guide research Hypotheses specify what relationship will be investigated A researcher can determine what information will be sought and from whom The preparation of the questionnaire may itself suggest further hypotheses and other relationships that might be investigated Do not test hypotheses for the sake of variety or getting interesting information

Step 2: Determine the Method of Administration PERSONAL INTERVIEWS TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS MAIL ONLINE

Step 3: Determine content of individual questions Is the question necessary? stage in the life cycle to explore family consumption behavior is made up of marital status, presence of children, and the ages of children Are several questions needed instead of one? Why do you use Crest? Do respondents have the necessary information? Use “FILTER questions” before the question to determine if the individual is likely to have this information

Telescoping Error and Recall Loss IMPORTANCE, LENGTH of TIME since the event, PRESENCE of stimuli that assist in recalling it If the event could be considered relatively unimportant to most individuals, then ASK about very RECENT OCCURRENCES of it TELESCOPING ERROR A type of error resulting from the fact that most people remember an event as having occurred more recently than it did. For long periods this effect is smaller. RECALL LOSS A type of error caused by a respondent’s forgetting that an event happened at all. For short periods this effect is smaller.

Will respondent give the information? When sensitive questions must be asked, make them less threatening using one of the techniques below: 1. Hide the question in a group of other harmless questions 2. Before asking the question state that the behavior or attitude is not unusual (counter biasing statement) 3. Phrase the question in terms of other people 4. State the response in terms of a number of categories 5. Use the randomized response model An interviewing technique in which potentially embarrassing and relatively innocuous questions are paired, and the question the respondent answers is randomly determined but is unknown to the interviewer.

Illustration of the Randomized Response Technique Interviewer: Please reach in the jar and pull out one of the colored balls, but do not show the ball to me. However, if the ball is blue, please answer question A on the card, whereas if it is red, please answer question B. Since I don’t know which colored ball you’ve drawn, I won’t know which question you’re answering. Respondent: Says yes. Questions: 1.Do we know if this respondent ever shoplifted? 2.Can we calculate the proportion of people in the sample who have shoplifted? Items handed to respondent 1.Is your birthday in January? 2.Have you ever shoplifted? Yes No Yes No

Suppose the proportion of people in the sample who answered yes was.20 and there were an even number of blue and red balls in the jar, say 50 of each. Let π = the total proportion of “yes” responses =.20 p = the probability that the sensitive question (the person has shoplifted) is being answered =.50 1-p = the profitability that the nonsensitive question (the person’s birthday is in January) is being answered =.50 π s = the proportion of “yes” responses to the sensitive question or the proportion of people who have shoplifted π NS = the proportion of “yes” responses to the nonsensitive question or the proportion of people whose birthday is in January; suppose census data indicate that π NS =.05 Now π = p π S + (1-p) π NS and.20 =.50 π S x +.50(.05) and π S =.35 Illustration of the Randomized Response Technique (Cont.)

Step 4: Determine Form of Response to Each Question Open-Ended Questions How old are you? ______ Do you think laws requiring passengers in motor vehicles to wear seat belts are needed? _____ Can you name three sponsors of the Monday-night football games? _____ Do you intend to purchase an automobile this year? _____ Why did you purchase a Magnavox brand color television set? _____ Do you own a VCR? _____

Multichotomous Questions A fixed-alternative question in which respondents are asked to choose the alternative that most closely corresponds to their position on the subject. Example How old are you?      60 or over

A fixed-alternative question in which respondents are asked to indicate which of the two alternative responses most closely corresponds to their position on the subject. Example Do you think laws requiring passengers in motor vehicles to wear seat belts are needed? Yes No Dichotomous Questions

A technique used to combat response bias in which one phrasing is used for a question in one-half of the questionnaires while an alternate phrasing is used in the other one-half of the questionnaires. Split Ballot Example Do you think gasoline will be more expensive or less expensive next year than it is now? More expensive Less expensive Do you think gasoline will be less expensive or more expensive next year than it is now? More expensive Less expensive

Item Non-Response is a source of non-sampling error that arises when a respondent agrees to an interview but refuses to answer it, this condition creates data analysis problems Poor phrasing may cause respondents to answer incorrectly, either on purpose or because of misunderstanding. This condition creates measurement error Step 5: Determine Wording of Each Question

Use simple words and questions YOU: ALL: Some people do not like the opinion questions that hinge upon all- inclusive or –exclusive words like: all, always, every, never, nobody, only, none, sure BAD: LIKE: WHERE: frame of reference may vary greatly

Avoid ambiguous words and questions

A question framed so as to give the respondent a clue as to how he or she should answer. Example Do you think that patriotic Americans should buy imported automobiles? Yes No Don’t know Avoid Leading Questions

Words that Might Signal Leading Questions Allege, allude, arbitrary, blame, claim, demand, error, failure, fault, ignore, ill-advised, ill- informed, incompetence, ineptness, insist, just, maintain, misinformed, must, neglected, one- sided, only, overreact, peremptory, purport, questionable, rejection, rigid, so-called, unfortunately, unilateral, unreasonable Source: “Guide to Writing Survey Questions,” Management Analysis and Development, downloaded from on October 25, 2012.

An alternative that is not expressed in the options is an implicit alternative. To learn the attitudes of full-time home-makers toward the idea of having a job outside the home a researcher could ask: Avoid Implicit Alternatives Example Would you like to fly when traveling short distances? Would you like to fly when traveling short distances, or would you rather drive?

A problem that occurs when a question is not framed so as to explicitly state the consequences, and thus it elicits different responses from individuals who assume different consequences. Avoid Implicit Assumptions Example Are you In favor of a balanced budget? Are you in favor of a balanced budget if it would results in an increase in the personal income tax? YesNo Yes No

A question that calls for two responses and thereby creates confusion for the respondent. Avoid Double-Barreled Questions Examples Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft drink? YesNo What is your evaluation of the price and convenience offered by Wal-Mart? Not Very good Very good

Use simple words and questions Avoid ambiguous words and questions Avoid leading questions Avoid implicit alternatives Avoid implicit assumptions Avoid double-barreled questions Avoid generalizations and estimates What is the annual per capita expenditure on groceries in your household? Guidelines for Question Wording

Use simple, interesting opening questions Use the funnel approach, asking broad questions first Carefully design branching questions Ask for classification information last Place difficult or sensitive questions near the end Guidelines for Question Sequencing

Funnel Approach An approach to question sequencing that gets its name from its shape, starting with broad questions and progressively narrowing down the scope. Example How would you rate your last experience when eating at Olive Garden restaurant? Extremely Poor Poor So-So Good Good How would you rate the quality of the service? Extremely Poor Poor So-So Good Good Guidelines to Question Sequencing

Branching Question A technique used to direct respondents to different places in a questionnaire, based on their response to the question at hand. Guidelines to Question Sequencing (Cont)

Branching Question Example 1. Please answer the following question Yes or No. Did you, personally, give money to Canopy of Care last year? Y or N {If Yes, go to #3.} 2.We are interested in why people do not contribute. The following is a list of answers others have given. Please tell me which, if any, apply to you. a. ___ Someone else in my household had already contributed. b. ___ I did not have the money at the time. c. ___ I gave to other charities. d. ___ I volunteered my services to Canopy of Care instead of contributing money. e. ___ I volunteered my services to other charities instead of contributing to Canopy of Care. f. ___ I did not give because Canopy of Care spends its money inefficiently. g. ___ None of the above. 3.To how many different charities do you think Canopy of Care gives money? a. ___ 0-20 d b. ___ 21-40e. More than 100 c. ___ 41-80f. Don’t know. Guidelines to Question Sequencing (Cont)

Use of a questionnaire (or observation form) on a trial basis in a small pilot study to determine how well the questionnaire (or observation form) works. Pretest