1. RESEARCH METHODS IN TOURISM Nicos Rodosthenous PhD 11/04/2013 9 11/4/20131Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

2. Questionnaire surveys 1.Introduction  Questionnaire surveys involve the gathering of information from individuals using a formally designed schedule of questions called a questionnaire or interview schedule. 2. Roles and limitations  Questionnaire surveys involve only a proportion or sample of the population.  Questionnaire surveys rely on information and the accuracy of what respondents say. 11/4/20132Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

3. Questionnaire surveys  Questionnaire surveys involve substantial numbers of subjects such as the people being surveyed.  The written schedule of questions is the questionnaire: a survey is the whole process of designing and conducting a study involving the gathering of information. 3. Types of questionnaire survey  Questionnaire surveys in the leisure and tourism can be divided into six types 11/4/20133Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

4. Questionnaire surveys  1) Household survey: people are selected on the basis of where they live and are interviewed in their home.  2) Street survey: people are selected by stopping them in the street, in shopping malls, etc.  3) Telephone survey: interviews are conducted by telephone  4) Mail survey: questionnaires are sent and returned by mail. 11/4/20134Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

5. Questionnaire surveys  5) E-surveys: surveys making use of the internet and email.  6) User/on-site/visitor survey: users of a leisure or tourism facility, site or destination are surveyed on-site.  7) Captive group survey: members of groups, such as classes of school children, members of a club or employees of an organization, are surveyed. 11/4/20135Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

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7. Questionnaire surveys 4. Questionnaire design  The important element in designing questionnaires is to take slowly and carefully and to remember why the research is done.  In many organizations a draft questionnaire is circulated for comment and everyone joins in, like the Christmas tree decoration.  It is not advisable to begin with a list of questions, but with the examination of the management, planning, policy, or theoretical questions to be addressed.  Every question included must be linked back to the research questions 11/4/20137Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

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9. Questionnaire surveys 4. Types of information  Generally the information to be gathered from questionnaire surveys can be divided into three groups:  1. Respondent characteristics Who?  2. Activities/behavior What?  3. Attitudes/motivations Why?  The items of information are often referred to as variables, as they are characteristics or behavior which vary from one person to another. 11/4/20139Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

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11. Questionnaire surveys 5. Wording of questions  In wording the questions for a questionnaire the researcher should:  Avoid jargon  Simplify wherever possible  Avoid ambiguity  Avoid leading questions  Ask only question at a time (avoid multi-purpose questions) 11/4/201311Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

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13. Questionnaire surveys 6. Layout  A questionnaire must be laid out and printed in such a way that the person who must read it can answer all the questions.  Clarity of layout and the overall impression given by the questionnaire can be all-important in obtaining a good response. 7.Coding  Most questionnaire survey are now analyzed by computer. Thus, information must be coded in numerical codes and organized in a systematic 11/4/201313Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

14. Questionnaire surveys  ‘machine-readable’, manner.  7.1.Pre-coded questions: are used when asking respondents about their age, income, expenditure. Thus, only one answer is possible and only one code is recorded as the answer to this question.  7.2. Open-ended questions: i.e. what suggestions would make for improving this area? Make individual codes for the most frequent responses and group the others into meaningful categories. 11/4/201314Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

15. Questionnaire surveys 7.3. Recording coded information: computer analysis is conducted using the coded information from a questionnaire. It is fairly simple by providing boxes to be ticked and the codes for answers are printed beside the boxes. 8. Validity of questionnaire-based data  Questionnaires are designed to gather information from individuals about their characteristics, behavior and attitudes. The validity of questionnaires is a constant source of concern, with an error of plus or minus 2%. 11/4/201315Dr Nicos Rodosthenous