Designing Questionnaire

Dr. Sasmita Mishra KSOM, KIIT University

INTRODUCTION
Despite much progress, designing questionnaire is still an art. Neither a basic theory nor even a fully systematised approach to the problem has been developed. The extensive experience of many researchers and organised experiments have led to a considerable understanding of the problem and to a long list of "dos and don'ts" and rules of thumb. These help researcher avoid many pitfalls but they can not be substituted for creative imagination. A procedure can be developed by systematizing the steps. Stages are presented in a particular sequence. Rarely to develop a questionnaire in this step-by-step fashion. A more typical development will involve some iteration and looping. Secondly, these steps should be taken as a guide. With questionnaire

STEPS IN QUESTIONNARE DESIGNING

Specify what information will be sought Determine type of questionnaire & method of administration

Determine the contents of the individual questions

Determine the form of response to each question

Determine the question phrasing

Determining the number of questions and sequence of each question

Pre-test the questionnaire and revise, if necessary

Step 1: Specify what information is needed

Basically a questionnaire must serve two functions: 1)Translate research objectives into specific questions, and 2)Motivate respondent to corporate and furnish inf. correctly. Research objectives generally lead to the formulation of hypotheses and hypotheses guide the questionnaire. Hypotheses not only guide what information is needed but they also help in deciding the type of questions and form of response. During the preparation of questionnaire additional hypotheses may emerge. Therefore, if a new hypothesis is important and vital to the understanding the problem, it should be included. On the other hand, if any hypothesis is interesting but not vital to the problem under consideration should be dropped. Lengthening may cause problems in administration and analysis and often increases non-response.

Step 2: Type of Questionnaire and Method of Administration

After basic information, the next step is how it is to be gathered. This is with respect to the structure/disguise and whether mail, telephone, or personal interview will be used to administer it. If a disguised unstructured questionnaire has to be employed then this is not possible with telephone and also for mail. Mail administration is not recommended for unstructured undisguised questionnaire with open ended questions. Type of data can have important effect on these questions. Example: the relationship between behaviour and demographic, one may use either mail/personal/telephone interview. If the researcher wants measuring attitudes through attitude scale telephone interview will be out of question. Thus research must specify what primary data are needed, how these might be collected, what degree of structure and disguise will be used, and then how the questionnaire will be administered.

Step 3: Determine the Contents of Individual Questions

The following points are in the nature of standards against which to check possible questions. 1) Is the question necessary? Extra questions add to the expense of the survey and increase the non response Question should fulfils any objective then it should be included 2) Do the respondents have the necessary information? The respondents will be able to give a reliable answer. The answer will not require a great deal of time and effort Expl: "Which statement true of Metallic Metal Act?

Step 3: Determine the Contents of Individual Questions

The researcher keeps the following with respect to each question.

Answers respondent cannot give or cannot give accurately? Is the issue within the respondents experience? Respondent to do a great deal of work to answer the question? Question for opinion on matters so unfamiliar to the respondent? Whether the respondent is the best source of information? Can the respondents be expected to remember the information?

Step 3: Contents of Individual Questions (Cont)

3) Will Respondents Provide Information? Sometimes respondents have necessary information but they do not provide it. They may not possess necessary communication skills or they may simply not wish to convey this information. Hide the question in a group of questions. Phrasing the question in terms of others. Providing response in terms of a number of categories.

Step 3: Determine the Contents of Individual Questions

4. Are Several Questions Needed Instead of One? "Why do you use Colgate? One respondent may reply, "To reduce cavities" while of may reply, Because my dentist recommended it". Break this one question into two separate questions. (i) How did you first happen to use Colgate? (ii) What is your primary reason for using it?

Step 4: Determine Forms of Response/Response Format

Open Ended Questions: Respondents are free to reply to open ended questions in their own words. The following example highlights this type. 1) What is your age? 2) How much do you earn per month? Open-ended questions are often used as "openers" and for probe for additional information.

Forms of Response/Response Format (Cont)

Multiple-choice Questions: 1. How old are you a) Less than 20 b) 20-29 c) 30-39 d) 40-49 e) 60-above 2. Why did you purchase western colour TV? i) Low Price ii) quality iii) service iv) Sharp picture v) Better Warranty Easy to interpret, tabulated or analysed.

Problems 1) Do not permit individuals to elaborate their true positions 2) Susceptible to potential order bias.

Forms of Response/Response Format (Cont)

Dichotomous Questions: Only two alternatives, for example: Do you intent to purchase a two-wheeler this year? Yes No Offers the ultimate in case of coding tabulation and less interview bias. There may be more than two answers. For example, in purchase intention question the answers may be
"Definitely intend to buy probably will buy" Definitely intend not to buy "undecided"

Dichotomous questions can often be framed in multichotomous question.

Forms of Response/Response Format (Cont)

Scales: For instance, when inquiring about the various sewing machines features the following question might be asked. How often do you use zigzag stitch on your machine?
Never ( ) occasionally ( ) sometimes ( ) Often ( )

The advantage of this pattern is that the descriptors could be presented at the top of the page and a number of possible features could be listed along the left margin.

Forms of Response/Response Format (Cont)

Ranking questions: The respondent may be required to rank feature of a product. Please rank the following factors, for the most important (1) to the least important to you, buying a refrigerator. i) Company reputation ( ) ii) Price ( ) iii) Compressor ( ) iv) Guarantee ( ) v) Colour ( ) vi) After sale service ( ) vii) Maintenance cost ( )

Step 5: Determine the question phrasing/wording

Translation of the desired question content into words and phrases that can be understood easily and clearly by the respondents. In general, questions, should be simple and straight forward. It is to ensure that the respondents and the researcher assign exactly the same meaning to the question.

Step 5: Determine the question phrasing/wording

1. Meaning of Words Technical terms should be avoided unless they are inevitable. They should be clarified or explained. Sometimes common words also create equally serious problems. How many members are there in your family, "Does family mean nuclear family or a joint family. Paynes advice: ask the following five questions . i) Does it mean what we intend? ii) Does it have any other meaning? iii) If so, does the content make the intended meaning clear? iv) Does the word have more than one pronunciation? v) Is a simpler word or phrase suggested?

Question phrasing/wording (Cont)

2. Biased Words and Leading Questions Emotionally coloured, a feeling of approval or disapproval. Leading questions suggest what the answer should be or indicate the researcher's own point of view. Both result in a consistent measurement error. Biased phrases are difficult to deal with because phrases that are neutral to one group may be emotionally charged to another. Phrases such as luxury items and leisure times are neutral to many people, yet negative overtones to others.

Question phrasing/wording (Cont)

3. Implied Alternatives If the implied alternatives are changed into explicit one then it would change the selection of the response category more or less as with the case of implied remains implicit. For example. "Do you think workers should have the right to elect representative on the BODs of the company they work for?" Produced 61% yes answers. When the phrase "or should all the directors be elected by the owners of the company"? The response dropped to 53 percent.

Question phrasing/wording (Cont)

Implied Assumptions Questions are frequently asked in such a way that the answer depends on assumptions about factors outside the question itself. "Are you in favour of curtailment of amount of advertiser allowed on TV? Will elicit differing responses, depending on the respondents assumptions converting the effects this might have on the quantity and quality of TV programming. A more effective way of wording the question would be "Are you in favour of curtailing the amount of advertising allowed on TV if this would have an impact on TV programming". Therefore, failure to state assumptions often produces different responses.

Question phrasing/working (Cont)

5. Frame of Reference The wording of the question will determine which frame reference or view point the respondent will assume. Consider the following versions of a question to be answer by the recent claimants of an insurance company. i) Does GIC provide satisfactory or unsatisfactory settlement of claims? ii) Were you satisfied or unsatisfied with GIC settlement of your recent claim? Each of these versions provides the respondent with a some what different frame of reference. The first version calls for an objective answer that may include the respondent perceptions of other peoples standards for claim settlement and how adequately GIC meets these expectations. The second question involves the personal experience of the respondent.

Step 6: Number and Sequence of Questions

Researcher is ready to putt all questions together. A very long questionnaire can appear quite imposing and may deter the respondent from even reading the instructions. Questions sequence is also important. A typical questionnaire contains two types of information: 1) Basic information: Refers to the subject of the study for example, intentions or attitude of respondents towards some phenomenon. 2) Classification information: Data collected to classify respondent. These are basically the demographical socio-economic characteristics of respondents. Therefore, a proper questionnaire sequence is for question securing basic information to be presented first and those seeking classification information to be presented last. The basic information is most critical, without it there is no study. Thus, the researcher should not risk alienating the respondent before getting to the body of the study.

Number and Sequence of Questions (Cont)

The basic information itself can also present some sequence problem. The early questions should not be sensitive ones. Opening questions should be designed to secure the respondents interest and cooperation. These questions should be simple and if possible should arouse curiosity enough so that they will be willing to cooperate. The sensitive questions should be relegated to the body of the questionnaire and intermixed and hidden among some not so sensitive ones. The order in which the questions are presented can affects the responses. "what improvements are needed in the companies' service policy"? "How do you like the quality of service". Funnel Approach should be used

Step 7: Re-examination, Revision and Pre-testing the Questionnaire

Re-examination and revision are the order of the day. Revision of each question should be done by the researcher critically keeping in mind whether the question is an ambiguous, confusing potentially offensive. The real test how it performs under actual conditions of data collection. For this assessment, the questionnaire pre-test is vital. Therefore, data collection should never begin without an adequate pre-test of questionnaire.

Step 7: Re-examination, Revision and Pretesting the Questionnaire

The pre-test can be used to assess both individual questions and their sequence. A pre-test must use respondents who are as similar as possible to the target respondents. This typically involves drawing a sub sample from the larger sample. The questionnaire should be administered in the some manner as the final survey. Churchil: Researcher who avoids a pre-test is either naive or a fool. The pre-test is the most inexpensive insurance the researcher can buy to assure the success of the questionnaire and the research project.

Scaling Techniques

Comparative Scales
Paired Comparison Constant Sum Q Sort

Non-Comparative Scales

Continuous Rating Scales

Itemized Rating Scales

Rank Order

Likert Scale

Semantic Differential

Staple Scale

Comparative Scales
Paired Comparison
Respondents are presented two or more objects and asked to compare two objects at a time and choose one on some criterion. Example:5 ad copies are given and asked to compare pair-wise on believability.
Ad A B C D E

copy
A B C X X X A X X C C X A B C A B C

D
E

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X

E
X

N (n-1)/2,

5 (5-1) 2

5* 4 = 20/2 =10

Comparative Scales
Rank-Order Rating Scale:
Respondent is required to arrange objects according to some criterion---for example, quality, taste, or attractiveness. Result is ordinal scale, describes objects from most favored to least favored, but says nothing about the distance between objects. Examples, Rank the following cars on the basis of looks: (place I that has the best looks and 4 that is the lowest). _4__ Maruti _2_ Zen 1_ Matiz 3_ Santro More realistic in representing the actual situation, where consumer makes direct comparisons among all alternatives.

Comparative Scales (Cont)

Constant-Sum Rating Scale: In this scale the respondents are required to allocate a given number of points among a number of objects according to some criterion. Respondents are told to allocate their points in proportion to their preferences for the objects. For example, Please divide 100 points among the following automobile brands so as to reflect how much overall quality you believe each one has: Matiz Santro Zen 30 pts 60 pts 10 pts

Non-Comparative Scales
Continuous Rating Scales (graphic-ratings scales) Respondents indicate their rating by placing a check at the appropriate point on a line that runs from one extreme of the attribute to the other. The scale given below is an example. Please evaluate each attribute in terms of how important is to you by placing an X at the position on the horizontal line that most reflects your feelings. Attribute Not Imp V Imp Courteous Service ______________________ Convenient Location ______________________ Convenient Hours _______________________ Low Interest _______________________ Advantage is the ease to construct and use.

Non-Comparative Scales: Itemized Rating Scales

Respondents are provided with a scale that has a number of brief description associated with each category. The categories are ordered in terms of scale position and the respondents are required to select the specific category, the best describes the object being rated. The most commonly used itemized rating scales are Likert type scale, Semantic Differential scale, and Staple scale.

The Likert scale (Summated-rating Scale)

Most widely used scaling and allows respondents to express the intensity of their feelings. Scale Construction: Researchers develop a number of statements that relate to the product or attribute in question. Subjects are asked to indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with each statement in the series. The responses are scored that are consistent in terms of directionality (a strongly agree response to a favourable and a strongly disagree response to an unfavourable statement would both receive similar scores, For example, Let us assume that we are trying to measure the attitudes of students toward a hypothetical University X Step I: A number of favourable and unfavourable statements with regard to the university. only attitude-revealing statements, and avoid statements that are facts Possible statements we might use are:

-1

-2

Statement
1 X Univ is a terrific place to go to

SA

NAND

DA

SDA

2
3 4 5

It has a very attractive campus

If I had to do over again, I would have gone someplace else As a graduate of this univ, I will probably get good job offers It is very difficult to make friends here.

Step II: Test and refine the instruments by using a

sample who are similar to the eventual respondents. The purpose is to eliminate non-contributory statements with regard to the attitude score. provide the same response. total attitudinal score.
Once

1) Statements for which most of the respondents tend to 2) Statements generating responses that are unrelated to

the instrument has been administered, the responses are translated into their numerical counterparts. At this point each individuals response to unfavourable statements must be multiplied by -1 for the purpose of directional consistency so that +ve responses will reflect favourable attitudes and -ve responses will reflect unfavourable attitudes.

S.N Statement o

Respond Direction Corect ents al ed nume corre resp ction rical ons es respo nses 1 2 2 X (-1) 1 2 -2

1 2 3

X Univ is a terrific place to go to It has a very attractive campus If I had to do over again, I would have gone someplace else As a graduate of this univ, I will probably get a lot of good job offers

It is very difficult to make friends here.

X (-1)

-2

Semantic-Differential Scale
The respondent is asked to express feelings relative to an object by selecting a position along a scale bounded by bipolar adjectives. Frequently used in corporate and brand image studies. It is typical to have at least two brands (objects) subjected to the same series of adjective pairs with the data from all respondents averaged for each question. For Examples, Loud - quiet, fast - slow in case of shirts, say, Charag Din and Peter England. Suppose Charag Din identified with slow and quiet while Peter England with fast and loud. The result is a profile analysis:

The profile analysis:

Modern :______:______:______:______:______:______:______:Old fashioned Fast :______:______:______:______:______:______:______:slow Bright Loud ______:______:______:______:______:______:______:Dark :______:______:______:______:______:______:______:Quiet

Friendly _____:_____:______:______:______:______:______: Unfriendly High Prices______:______:______:______:______:______:______: Low Prices Peter England Charag Din

Stapel Scale
It is a modification of the SDS. It differs in that (1) adjectives are tested separately instead of simultaneously as bipolar points, (2) points on the scale are identified by number, and (3) there are ten scale positions rather than seven. Respondents are told to rate how accurately each of a number of statements describes the object of interest, You would select a plus or minus number for words that you think describe (Pizza Hut) accurately. you can select any number from +5, to 5, +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 (Courteous Service) 1 2 3 4 5 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 (Good Food) 1 2 3 4 5 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 (Low Prices) 1 2 3 4 5 It is less popular than semantic-differential scale. A profile analysis for objects evaluated with Stapel scale is generally similar to that of SDS.

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