Transcript Questionnaire Objectives

Questionnaire Design
Lecturer
Gianpaolo Vignali
Lecture Outline
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Questionnaire objectives
Question content
Respondent’s inability to answer
Respondent’s unwillingness to answer
Question structure
Question wording
Questionnaire layout
Question ordering
Questionnaire Objectives
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Must translate information needed into a set of
specific questions that respondents can and will answer
Must encourage respondents to cooperate and
complete the survey
Should minimise response error
Question Content
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Is the question necessary?
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Every question should contribute to the information needed
or serve a specific purpose
Neutral questions can help to establish rapport
Filter questions screen potential respondents to ensure that
they meet the requirements of the survey
Number of questions needed
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Double-barrelled questions can be confusing and result in
ambiguous responses
i.e. Do you come to this bar for its fast and friendly service?
Inability to Answer
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Lack of knowledge
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Limited Memory
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Use filter questions (i.e. product use and past experience) to
screen for respondents who are not adequately informed
Questions that do not provide cues to the event or that rely
on unaided recall can underestimate the actual occurrence of
an event
Unable to phrase answer
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Provide aids such as pictures, maps and descriptions to help
respondents articulate their answers
Unwillingness to Answer
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Effort required of respondents
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Context
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Unwilling to answer questions that are considered to be
inappropriate in a given context
Legitimate purpose
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Time, thought, detail
Unwilling to provide information that is not seen to serve a
legitimate purpose
Sensitive information
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Unwilling to disclose personal or embarrassing information
Unwillingness to Answer
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Techniques to overcome respondents’ unwillingness to
answer questions
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Place sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire
Preface sensitive questions with a statement that suggests
that the behaviour of interest is common
Ask questions using the third-person technique – phrase the
question as if it referred to other people
Hide sensitive questions in a group of other questions that
respondents are willing to answer
Provide response categories rather than asking for specific
figures
Question Structure
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Unstructured questions
Open-ended questions that respondents answer in their own
words
 Enable respondents to express general attitudes and
opinions
 BUT, coding of responses is costly and time-consuming
 i.e. What is your opinion of Portuguese food?
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Question Structure
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Structured questions
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Questions that specify the set of response alternatives and
the response format
Multiple choice questions
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i.e. Which of the following items have you purchased in the
past week from Debenhams? Please tick as many as apply.
1. Clothing
2. Shoes
3. Jewellery
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15. Electrical equipment
16. Other (please specify ___________)
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Question Structure
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Multiple choice questions
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i.e. Which of the following items do you purchase most
often from Debenhams? Please tick only one answer.
1. Clothing
2. Shoes
3. Jewellery
…
15. Electrical equipment
16. Other (please specify ___________)
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Question Structure
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Dichotomous questions
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Allow for only two response alternatives, which are often
supplemented by a neutral alternative
i.e. Would you hire a school uniform for a hen or stag night?
1.Yes
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2. No
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3. Don’t know 
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The decision to use a dichotomous question should be
guided by the complexity of the issue
Such questions allow for limited/basic data analysis only
Question Structure
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Likert scales
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A measurement scale with 5 or 7 response categories
Responses are given numerical values, which reflect the
strength and direction of respondents’ attitudes
Many alternative scales, based on what you are trying to
measure:
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Agreement
Likelihood to purchase
Frequency of an activity
Importance
Question Structure
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Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with
the following statements:
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(1) Strongly agree (2) Agree (3) Somewhat Agree (4) Neutral
(5) Somewhat Disagree (6) Disagree (7) Strongly Disagree
This company is:
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A very personal place
A very dynamic and entrepreneurial place
A very formalised and structured place
A very production oriented place
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Question Structure
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Please indicate how likely you are to purchase the
following soup flavours:
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(1) Very Unlikely (2) Unlikely (3) Somewhat Unlikely
(4) Neutral (5) Somewhat Likely (6) Likely (7) Very Likely
Tomato and basil
Wild mushroom
Carrot and coriander
Leek and potato
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Question Structure
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Please indicate how important the following factors are
in influencing your decision to frequent a Portuguese
restaurant in Manchester city centre:
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(1) Not at all important (2) Unimportant (3) Somewhat Unimportant
(4) Neutral (5) Somewhat Important (6) Important (7) Very Important
Price
Quality of food
Restaurant atmosphere
Location
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Question Structure
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Semantic differential scales
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A seven-point rating scale
The two end points are associated with bipolar labels
Similar alternative scales to Likert scales, but only label the
two extremes:
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Agreement
Likelihood to purchase
Frequency of an activity
Importance
Can also use more descriptive or attitudinal labels
Question Structure
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I would characterise Debenhams as:
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Old fashioned
Low quality
Low priced
Slow service
Dirty
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Modern
High quality
High priced
Fast service
Clean
For data analysis purposes you, as the researcher, will still
have to assign a label to each numerical value
Question Wording
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Clearly define the issue
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Which brand of shampoo do you use?
Which brand/s of shampoo have you personally used at
home during the last month? In the case of more than one
brand, please list all the brands that apply.
Use ordinary words
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Do you think the distribution of soft drinks is adequate?
Do you think soft drinks are readily available when you want
to buy them?
Question Wording
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Use unambiguous words
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Avoid leading or biasing questions
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Never, occasionally, usually, often
Less than once, 1 or 2 times, 3 or 4 times, more than 4 times
Is Colgate your favourite toothpaste?
What is your favourite toothpaste brand?
Avoid generalisations and estimates
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What is your annual expenditure on groceries?
What is the weekly expenditure on groceries in your
household?
Questionnaire Layout
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Provide for questionnaire identification number
Make interviewer instructions very clear
Routing and order must be clear
Separate questions from answers
Provide ample space for writing in answers
Pre-code as many answers as possible
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i.e. Male (1)
Female (2)
i.e. Under 18(1)
19 – 25(2)
40 and over(5)
26 – 32(3)
33- 39(4)
Question Ordering
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Simple, interesting and non-threatening opening
questions
Ask about the present before the past
Put questions in a logical order
Put embarrassing, personal or difficult questions
towards the end
Beware of order effects where one question may
influence the answers to subsequent questions
Apart from screening questions, put identification and
classification questions at the end of the questionnaire
Summary
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Be careful when wording questions
Use scales whenever possible as these allow for more
robust and sophisticated data analysis
Use 7-point scales in preference to 5-point scales as
these provide a greater range of responses (people
rarely pick the extreme points on a scale)
Pre-code your questionnaire – it will make data analysis
and the use of SPSS much simpler and quicker
Avoid using too many open-ended questions as these
must be coded later or analysed qualitatively