Other Considerations in Questionnaire Development

Open-Ended Questions Open-ended questions are analyzed as nominal data Wording of the question should facilitate free response What are your feelings about PBS? vs.  Do you like PBS or not?

Other Considerations Stay in an “active” voice Avoid ‘leading’ questions  Don’t you believe SUVs are good for off-road driving? vs. Do you believe SUVs are good vehicles for off-road driving?

Other Considerations Avoid double barreled questions  What do you think about the image and advertising for the Pontiac Aztek? Avoid ambiguity, be specific How would you categorize your public television usage?  Sometimes, often, regular, irregular, infrequent

Other Considerations Avoid making assumptions about the respondent’s state of mind  Explain what you like about PBS… vs. What, if anything, do you like about PBS?

Other Issues In Question Development Loaded questions Implies a socially desirable responses Where did you rank academically in your high school graduating class? __ Top quarter __ 2 nd quarter __ 3 rd quarter __ 4 th quarter

Other Issues In Question Development Loaded words  To what extent do you believe global warming affects the planet’s environment? Vs. To what extent do you believe climate change affects the planet’s environment?

Other Issues In Question Development Burdensome Questions (overtaxing to the memory)  How often have you gone to a sporting event since the World Series? How often did you watch sports on ESPN last week?

Other Issues in Question Development Avoid jargon, technical language, abbreviation  Which marketing attributes contribute to how you feel about the brand? Vs. Which of the following influence how much you like the brand? (check all that apply)

Other Issues in Question Development Negatively phased questions  Do you agree that it is not the job of the government to make decisions about social security? Vs. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the idea that the government should make decisions about social security?

Other Issues In Question Development Order bias Responses influenced by the order of question presentation Solution Funnel questions - Asking brand specific questions after general questions

Other Issues in Question Development Filter [or qualifying] questions Maximizes the chance of asking appropriate questions for the respondent in question  Which Bank of America location has the best customer service? Vs. Are you familiar with Bank of America’s customer service?

Other Considerations: Structure Does it flow well? How are we going to administer it? Does it have a structure? A start, a middle, an end?

Dos and don’ts: main body Begin easy Start general, then get more specific Complete a topic before you move to the next

Other Considerations: Structure Visual appearance Interviewer script Interviewer directions Open, airy format (coding accessible)

Other Considerations: Structure Clarity Clear directions Logical transitions “If no, go to” filter questions Clear questions, logical response categories

Other Considerations: Structure Justify the need for personal information Classification questions come near the end Conciseness Keep it to the point, as brief as possible