Question 1

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

ACCOMMODATION

OVERAL SATISFACTION
WITH VICTORIA FALLS
RESTAURANT

DEMOGRAPHIC,
INCOME, NATIONALITY

(a)

 Are the attitudes of Tourists affected by the accommodation offered by the hotel?
 Do the restaurants offer the tourists the required level of satisfaction?
 Is there a uniform satisfaction on all tourists both male and female on the services
offered by the hotel?

(b)

i) Study design

A design may be suitable in one case but may be found not suitable in the other case. To
execute a research design, the following issues will help me:

A good research design should have the following:

 the means of obtaining information

  the availability and skills of the researcher
 the objective of the problem to be studied
 the nature of the problem to be studied
 the availability of time and money for the research work

ii) Sampling

The following will be included in sapling: The sample must have properties which make it
representative of the whole so as to allow for an accurate generalisation of results. A
representative sample must use a complete and correct sampling frame, which is the list of all
units from which the sample is to be drawn. An adequate sampling frame should include all
elements of the population. All elements of the population have the same chance of being
drawn into the sample.

Good sampling implies:

 A well-defined population,
 An adequately chosen sample and
 An estimate of how representative of the whole population the sample is, that is, how
well in terms of probability the sample statistics conform to the unknown population
parameters.

(iii) Data collection instrument

Questionners will be the preferred data collection instrument. I will not begin to develop a
questionnaire by drafting questions instead, I will follow the procedure below.

 List the specific research issues to be investigated by the questionnaire.

 Analyse what kind of data is needed to study those problems. This involves
construction of dummy tables (empty tables showing how the data will be presented).
Such tables will lead to the identification of the variables to be considered.
 Finally formulate the specific questions.
I will always take into account the needs, interests and problems of respondents. These are, in
fact more important than academic factors. In other words, I will design a respondent-centred
questionnaire or interview.

 I should give great attention to the wording of questions.

 Questions should be simple and short. Complex questions should be broken up into
several simple ones.
 Questions should be unambiguous. Words which are too general, too vague or which
could give rise to different interpretations should be replaced with more specific
terms.

iv) Data collection procedures

The main consideration is to make sure that any information collected is done in a way and
for a purpose that is consistent with the Code and complies with freedom of information and
privacy protection legislation. In the interest of effectiveness and efficiency, it is
recommended that efforts be made to collect data that will shed light on issues or
opportunities. To protect the credibility and reliability of data, information should be gathered
using accepted data collection techniques.

Step 1: Identify issues and/or opportunities for collecting data

The first step is to identify issues and/or opportunities for collecting data and to decide what
next steps to take. To do this, it may be helpful to conduct an internal and external assessment
to understand what is happening inside and outside of your organization.

Step 2: Select issue(s) and/or opportunity(ies) and set goals

The focus of Step 2 is choosing a priority issue(s) and/or opportunity(ies) for collecting data,
and then setting goals and objectives.

Step 3: Plan an approach and methods

In Step 3, I will make decisions about who will be surveyed, how data will be collected, the
sources of data that will be used, and the duration of the data collection project, among other
questions. These decisions may be made in consultation with an expert.

Step 4: Collect data

When planning on how best to collect data in Step 4, it is important to be aware of the
practical considerations and best practices for addressing logistical challenges organizations
often face at this stage of the process.

Step 5: Analyze and interpret data

Step 5 involves analyzing and interpreting the data collected. Whether quantitative and/or
qualitative methods of gathering data are used, the analysis can be complex, or less so,
depending on the methods used and the amount of data collected.

Step 6: Act on results

Once an organization has analyzed and interpreted the results of the data collected, it may
decide to act on the data, collect more of the same type of data or modify its approach.

c)

The following are the limitations of questionnaires asa data collection instrument

i) One of the biggest challenges researchers face when conducting surveys is that respondents
give dishonest answers. Here are some other reasons respondents are not honest in filling out
questionnaires:

 They are reluctant to answer sensitive topics

 They want to give socially desirable answers

 They want to drive the survey outcome in their favor

As a preventive measure, assure the participant their privacy is protected, no matter what.
Make them feel valued, regardless of their opinion.
ii) Limited Response Options

Having limited response options in a questionnaire is a major drawback and can deter a
respondent from providing correct data simply because the response options do not include it

iii) Lack of Flexibility

One major downside of using questionnaires is their lack of flexibility. Once you send out a
questionnaire, it becomes challenging to make changes without risking data integrity. Unlike
interviews or focus groups, where adjustments can be made on the spot, questionnaires are set
in stone once distributed.

To the limitation on i) above, as a preventive measure, assure the participant privacy is

protected, no matter what. Make them feel valued, regardless of their opinion.

Question 2

Key principles and considerations that must be adhered to when designing survey
questionnaires for business research.

You should give great attention to the wording of questions.

i) Questions should be simple and short. Complex questions should be broken up into several
simple ones.

Short answer questions also have another important benefit: they can serve as a feedback
mechanism for the researcher. This can be true of all research questions, they can also
provide the researcher with insight into possible misunderstandings respondents have of the
material. Short questions are useful tools, they open lines of communications; give
researchers information; improve interactions, facilitate analysis and diagnostics of a
situation; allow them to propose their own ideas; help to understand the priorities of others

ii) Questions should be unambiguous. Words which are too general, too vague or which could
give rise to different interpretations should be replaced with more specific terms. Use clear
and comprehensible language to ease the cognitive burden for the respondents. Each and
every question reduces the respondent’s capability of concentration. Therefore, if you want to
keep their attention, the questions should be as comprehensible as possible. This is especially
true if you have less educated people in your sample. However, sometimes being clear runs
contrary to being comprehensible, especially if you try to be overly precise. Being clear
should never lead to these extremely long and awkward questions that nobody will read
thoroughly, especially when completing the questionnaire on a mobile device. Always keep
the respondent in mind!

iii) Questions should be understandable. Use vocabulary adapted to the level of education of
the participants. Avoid technical expressions and sophisticated language. The first thing you
need to do to write effective survey questions is identify what exactly you wish to know.
Perhaps surprisingly, it is easy to forget to include important questions when designing a
survey. Begin by looking at your research question. Perhaps you wish to identify the factors
that contribute to students’ ability to transition from high school to college. To understand
which factors shaped successful students’ transitions to college, you’ll need to include
questions in your survey about all the possible factors that could contribute. How do you
know what to ask? Consulting the literature on the topic will certainly help, but you should
also take the time to do some brainstorming on your own and to talk with others about what
they think may be important in the transition to college.

iv) Questions should not be double-barrelled i.e. contain two questions in one. Divide such
questions into two. A double-barreled question is a single question in which one question
covers more than one topic, but only allows only one answer. Double-barreled questions
create confusion and leads to inaccuracies in the responses because there is no indication of
which topic in the double-barreled question the respondent is answering. Researchers should
ensure that each question should refer to only one topic instead of multiple topics.

(v) Leading questions should be avoided. There are questions that favour one type of answer
over another or associate questions starting with "Don't you agree that ….." or ending with
"……. Is it not so?". As a survey creator, you need to know what your respondents are
thinking and you want insights that you can take action on. But, what would happen if you
asked certain questions that lead survey respondents to answer in a favorable way. Asking
leading questions can do far more harm than good for your survey program. In fact, asking
them in your feedback surveys might not only return unhelpful responses, but could also
produce misleading or untrue results. Results that, should you take action on, could lead to
some detrimental business outcomes. They are often framed in a particular way to elicit
responses that confirm preconceived notions, and are favorable to the surveyor even though
this may ultimately sway or tamper with the survey data.

References