King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Department of Management and Marketing MKT 345 Marketing Research

Dr. Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin

Questionnaire Design Reference: Zikmund, Chapter 15

Learning Objectives

At the end of the discussion you should be able to: • Identify and explain the key factors that determine what to ask in the questionnaire • Identify the different ways in which questions can be phrased and explain the characteristics of alternative question phrasings • Summarize key guidelines in “the art of asking questions” • Describe the issues to consider in determining question order • Describe alternative ways to improve questionnaire layout • Describe the importance and approaches to questionnaire pre-testing and revision

What Should be Asked

What to ask in questionnaire depends on:

1. The research problem definition/objectives 2. The communication medium to be used – E.g. some questions cannot be asked in personal interviews 3. The type of statistical analysis to be performed – E.g. if you plan to do regression analysis, you may need to ask about, say, overall evaluations to use as dependent variable

Two important guidelines are:

1. Relevancy  ask only questions that are relevant to the research objective.

2. Accuracy  ask only questions that will provide accurate information.

Question Phrasing

•Need to decide how “what is to be asked” should be phrased •Alternative question formats are shown below •Each format has its advantages and disadvantages Open ended

Question type

Simple dichotomy Closed ended Multiple choice Determinant choice Check-list

Alternative Question Formats

1. Open-ended – Questions in which the respondent answers in his own words 2. Closed-ended (or Fixed Alternative) – Question in which respondent selects one or more options from pre-determined set of responses – Simple dichotomy  Closed ended question with only two response alternatives – Multiple Choice  Closed ended question with more than • • two response alternatives Determinant choice – Multiple choice question in which respondent must select only one of the response alternatives Checklist question - Multiple choice question in which respondent can select more than one of the response alternatives

Requirements for Close-Ended Questions

• Response categories provided for each close-ended question should be

exhaustive mutually exclusive

and 1. Mutually Exclusive  Response categories must be such that the same respondent cannot be classified into more than one category; e.g. the categories SR1,000-5,000 and SR5,000-10,000 are not mutually exclusive.

2. Mutually Exhaustive – Response categories should include all possible response options. Sometimes this is achieved by including a response option like “Other (Please specify)….”

THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS

• 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.

Leading & Loaded questions

Leading question

: a question that suggests or implies a certain answer.

Causes:

•The bandwagon effect – e.g. Most Saudis have stopped eating junk food. Do you eat junk food?

•Partially mentioning some alternatives – e.g. which fast food restaurant do you prefer, Al-Tazaj or others?

•Questions with the phrase: “ Don’t you think that ..” •Phrasing question to reflect negative or positive aspect of issue  use split ballot technique.

Loaded Question

• A question that is designed to suggest a socially desirable answer. Usually it is emotionally charged.

Causes

: •

Choice of words

; e.g. using emotionally-charged words, such as in: In your opinion is it fair that the Security Dept should be harassing students with parking tickets?

•

Framing question

such that honest answer is painful or embarrassing  use counter biasing statement.

Question Sequence

Two related issues: 1. Order of questions in questionnaire. 2. Order of answer alternatives for specific questions. Both can lead to order bias.

Order of Questions

• Use simple, interesting opening questions  asking for respondent’s opinion on an issue.

e.g • Ask general questions before specific questions  funnel approach • Use branching questions (filter & pivot) with care.

• Ask for classification information last.

• Place difficult or sensitive questions late in questionnaire.

• Finish asking questions on one topic before moving to another.

• • • • • • •

Questionnaire layout

Keep questionnaire short if possible, but not too short that you sacrifice needed information Do not over crowd questionnaire Provide decent margin space Use multiple- grid layout for questions with similar responses Use good quality print paper.

Use booklet form if possible Carefully craft the questionnaire title: 1. Captures respondent’s interest.

2. Shows importance of the study.

3. Shows interesting nature of the study.

Questionnaire Pre-testing

• Pretesting Process – Seeks to determine whether respondents have any difficulty understanding the questionnaire and whether there are any ambiguous or biased questions.

• Preliminary Tabulation – A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help determine whether the questionnaire will meet the objectives of the research.

Questionnaire Translation

• Back Translation – Taking a questionnaire that has previously been translated into another language and having a second, independent translator translate it back to the original language.

– A questionnaire developed in one country may be difficult to translate because equivalent language concepts do not exist or because of differences in idiom and vernacular.