Study the following questionnaire and identify the areas which require improvements.

Some
comments are available on page 2. Note that the comments are not exhaustive but they should
highlight to you some important issues and concerns in the writing of questions for a
questionnaire.
Questionnaire on lifestyle and spending habits of Singpaoreans
Name: ______________________ Age: _____________ Sex: ______________
Status: ___________________________ H/p: ___________________
1. Income: $1000 and below _____
$1000 - $2000 _____
$2000 - $4000 _____
$5000 and above _____
2. Occupation: ___________________
3. Type of housing: Rented / Owned
4. Do you own a vehicle? Yes/No*
If yes, what model _____________
capacity _________________
If no, how do you commute? ___________________________________
5. Where do you normally shop for the following items? Do you have a favourite brand for each

6.

item?
(a) Grocery
___________
_______________________________
(b) Furniture
___________
_______________________________
(c) Electrical applications ___________
_______________________________
How often do you eat out with your family in a week?

None
1 - 2 times
3 - 4 times
5 - 6 times
every day
What is your average budget when you eat out with the family? What are the frequent eating
outlets for your family? ____________________________________
8. How do you rank the following items regarding the places where you eat out? Please rank
from 1 to 5.
Price, Quality of food, Ambience, Air-conditioned, Cleanliness
9. Are there children in the family? _____________ How many? ________________
10. Type of expenditure on children
Tuition _____ How much?
Music lessons _____ How much?
Swimming ____ How much?
Enrichment classes _____ How much?
11. What products do you buy and is there a particular brand for such items?
Cosmetics
___________
________________________
Accessories
___________
________________________
Fragrances
___________
________________________
Sports equipment ___________
________________________
12. Do you possess the following? Credit card _______ Club membership ________
13. What types of electrical appliances do you have at home?
___________________________________________________________________
14. You do travel, don't you? __________________
15. How often do you travel each year for holidays? ____________________
Do give the relevant information.
Destination Budget per trip
Reason for choosing the destination
_________ ____________
______________________________
_________ ____________
______________________________
7.

End of Survey

POINTS TO NOTE
Question 1 - The income categories are not mutually exclusive. If one earns $1,000,
which category should one tick, the $1,000 and below category or the $1,000 - $2,000
category?
Can you identify which other income figure is problematic? What else is problematic
with the income ranges given?
Question 3 What if one lives with ones parents, where you neither rent nor own the
place. And what is the line for?
Question 4 - What does the asterisk mean? Capacity is ambiguous, seating capacity or
engine capacity.
Question 5 - An example of a multi-topic question. Its unclear which information goes
where. Also, a typo error with electronic applications.
Can you identify any other multi-topic questions?
Question 8 - There is no space to indicate the ranking. Better to list the items vertically.
There is also a problem with the ratings given. What is it?
Question 9 - Whose children? You own or someone elses? Unclear.
Question 10 - Time frame for the expenditure is not given. Are we looking at monthly
expenditure or yearly expenditure? In addition, the list is not exhaustive. There could be
other types of expenditure on children. How do you get around this problem when
designing a questionnaire?
Question 11 Which information goes where? Are respondents supposed to tick?
Question 12 The question will generate a yes-no response. Perhaps it should be
changed to Which of the following do you possess?
Question 13 Its impossible to list each and every electrical appliance.
Question 14 This question may make respondents feel foolish or embarrassed to say
'no'. What type of question is this an example of?
Question 15 Time frame not given. Are respondents expected to list each and every
holiday that they have taken in their entire lifetime? Information requested is also not
very easy to provide.
Other comments

1. If one doesnt eat out with the family at all (question 6), then question 7 doesnt
apply. So, a filter should be inserted at question 6, beside the None option,
e.g. Please proceed to question 8. At what other junctures in the questionnaire would
a filter be appropriate?
2. There should be a brief introduction to the survey which should include, who the
researchers are, what the survey is about, what the purpose is, etc. What else is
missing from this questionnaire that would make it more friendly?
3. It might be better to request personal particulars, if need be, at the end of the form
not at the beginning. Why do you think that's the case?
4. The heading of the questionnaire contains a deliberate spelling error. Did you spot
it?