Chapter 10

Questionnaire and Form

Design

11-1
 Focus of this Relationship to Relationship to Marketing
Chapter Previous Chapters Research Process
• Questionnaire • Research Design
Design Components Problem Definition
(Chapter 3)
• Design of
Observation Form • Basic Types of Scales Approach to Problem
(Chapter 9)
• Continuous and Research Design
Itemized Rating Scales
(Chapter 10) Field Work

Data Preparation
and Analysis

Report Preparation
and Presentation

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 2

 A questionnaire (called a schedule, interview form
or measuring instrument) is a formalized set of
questions for obtaining information from respondents.

 A questionnaire might include

› Fieldwork procedures (instructions for selecting,
approaching, and questioning respondents)

› Some reward, gift or payment offered to respondents

› Communication aids (maps, pictures, ads and

products)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 3

 It must translate the information needed into a set of
specific questions that the respondents can and will
answer.

 A questionnaire must uplift, motivate, and encourage the

respondent to become involved in the interview, to
cooperate, and to complete the interview.

 A questionnaire should minimize response error.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 4

 Specify the Information Needed

Specify the Type of Interviewing Method

Determine the Content of Individual Questions

Design the Question to Overcome the Respondent’s

Inability and Unwillingness to Answer

Decide on the Question Structure

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 5

 Determine the Question Wording

Arrange the Questions in Proper Order

Identify the Form and Layout

Reproduce the Questionnaire

Eliminate Bugs by Pretesting

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 6

Department Store Project
Mail, E-mail, or Internet Questionnaire
Please rank order the following department stores in order of your preference to shop at these
stores. Begin by picking out the one store that you like most and assign it a number 1. Then
find the second most preferred department store and assign it a number 2. Continue this
procedure until you have ranked all the stores in order of preference. The least preferred store
should be assigned a rank of 10. No two stores should receive the same rank number.

Store Rank Order

1. Lord & Taylor
2. Macy’s
.
.
.
10. Walmart

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 7

 Telephone Questionnaire
I will read to you the names of some department stores. Please rate them in terms of your
preference to shop at these stores. Use a ten point scale, where 1 denotes Not So Preferred
and 10 denotes Greatly Preferred. Numbers between 1 and 10 reflect intermediate degrees of
preference. Again, please remember that the higher the number, the greater the degree of
preference. Now, please tell me your preference to shop at .......(READ ONE STORE AT A
TIME)

Store Not so Greatly

Preferred Preferred
1. Lord & 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Taylor
2. Macy’s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
.
.
.
10. Walmart 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 8

Personal Questionnaire
(HAND DEPARTMENT STORE CARDS TO THE RESPONDENT.) Here is a set of department
store names, each written on a separate card. Please examine these cards carefully. (GIVE
RESPONDENT TIME). Now, please examine these cards again and pull out that card which has
the name of the store you like the most, i.e., your most preferred store for shopping. (RECORD
THE STORE NAME AND KEEP THIS CARD WITH YOU). Now, please examine the remaining
nine cards. Of these remaining nine stores, what is your most preferred store for shopping?
(REPEAT THIS PROCEDURE SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL THE RESPONDENT HAS ONLY ONE
CARD LEFT.)
Store Rank Name of Store

1. 1 _________________

2. 2 _________________

.
.
.
10. 10 _________________
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 9
 If there is no satisfactory use for the data resulting
from a question, that question should be eliminated.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 10

 Sometimes, several questions are needed to obtain
the required information in an unambiguous manner.
Consider the question:
“Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft drink?”
(Incorrect)

 Such a question is called a double-barrelled

question, because two or more questions are
combined into one. To obtain the required
information, two distinct questions should be asked:
“Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty soft drink?” and
“Do you think Coca-Cola is a refreshing soft drink?”
(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 11

 Why do you shop at Nike Town? (incorrect)
› Possible answers could be “to buy athletic shoes”, “it
is more conveniently located than other stores” or “it
was recommended by one my friends”

 What do you like about Nike Town as compared to other

stores? (correct)
 How did you first happen to shop at Nike Town?
(correct)
 Most why questions have 2 aspects
› Attributes of the product
› Influences leading to knowledge of it
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 12
 In situations where not all respondents are likely to be
informed about the topic of interest, filter questions
that measure familiarity, product use and past
experience should be asked before questions about the
topics themselves.

 A “don't know” option appears to reduce uninformed

responses without reducing the response rate.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 13

How many gallons of soft drinks did you
consume during the last four weeks? (Incorrect)

How often do you consume soft drinks in a

typical week? (Correct)
1. ___ Less than once a week
2. ___ 1 to 3 times per week
3. ___ 4 to 6 times per week
4. ___ 7 or more times per week

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 14

 Omission is the inability to recall an event that
took place
 Telescoping takes place when an individual
telescopes or compresses time by remembering
an event as occurring more recently than it did
› A respondent reports three trips to supermarket
in the last 2 weeks, when one of the trip was
made 18 days back
 Creation error takes place when a respondent
remembers an event that did not take place

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 15

 Respondents may be unable to articulate certain
types of responses, e.g., describe the
atmosphere of a department store.

 If respondents are provided with alternative

descriptions of store atmosphere, then they will
indicate the store they like the best.

 Respondents should be given aids, such as

pictures, maps, and descriptions to help them
articulate their responses.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 16

 Most respondents are unwilling to devote a lot of
effort to provide information.

 Researcher should minimize the effort required

of the respondents.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 17

Please list all the departments from which you purchased
merchandise on your most recent shopping trip to a department
store. (Incorrect)

In the list that follows, please check all the departments from
which you purchased merchandise on your most recent shopping
trip to a department store.

1. Women's dresses ____

2. Men's apparel ____
3. Children's apparel ____
4. Cosmetics ____
.
.
.
16. Jewelry ____
17. Other (please specify) ____ (Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 18

Context
 Respondents are unwilling to respond to questions which
they consider to be inappropriate for the given context.
› Questions regarding personal hygiene habits may be
appropriate when asked by Pakistan Medical Association
rather than by a fast food restaurant
 The researcher should manipulate the context so that the
request for information seems appropriate. For example,
for a fast food restaurant, a researcher should mention
“As a fast food restaurant, we are very much concerned
about providing a clean and hygienic environment for our
customers. Hence we want to ask questions about
personal hygiene”

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 19

Legitimate Purpose
 Explaining why the data are needed can make
the request for the information seem legitimate
and increase the respondents' willingness to
answer.
› For example, why a firm making cereals wants to
know about age, income and occupation of
respondents?
› To determine how the consumption of cereals
and preferences for different brands change vary
amongst people with different age, income and
occupation.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 20

Sensitive Information
 Respondents are unwilling to disclose, at least
accurately, sensitive information because this
may cause embarrassment or threaten the
respondent's prestige or self-image.
 Sensitive topics include money, family life,
political and religious beliefs and involvement in
accidents or crimes.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 21

 Place sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire. This creates
rapport and legitimacy of project is established.
 Preface the question with a statement that the behavior of interest is
common. E.g. “Recent studies show that most Americans are in debt”
 Ask the question using the third-person technique (see Chapter 5):
Phrase the question as if it referred to other people.
 Hide the question in a group of other questions which respondents
are willing to answer. The entire list of questions can then be asked
quickly.
 Provide response categories rather than asking for specific figures.
E.g. Family income per month under Rs. 20,000, 20,001 – 40,000,
40,001 – 60,000, above 60,000
 Use randomized techniques. E.g. Is you birthday in March?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 22

 Questions

Unstructured Structured

Multiple
Dichotomous Scales
Choice

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 23

 Unstructured questions are open-ended
questions that respondents answer in their own
words.

Do you intend to buy a new car within the next

six months?
__________________________________

What is your favourite political figure?

__________________________________

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 24

 Structured questions specify the set of
response alternatives and the response format.
A structured question may be multiple-choice,
dichotomous, or a scale.
 Order or position bias is the respondent’s
tendency to check an alternative merely
because it occupies a certain position or is listed
in a certain order. Respondents tend to check
the first or the last statement in the list,
particularly the first.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 25

 In multiple-choice questions, the researcher
provides a choice of answers and respondents
are asked to select one or more of the
alternatives given.

Which mobile service do you use for making

calls?
____ UFone
____ Jazz
____ Telenor
____ Zong
____ Other (please specify)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 26

 A dichotomous question has only two response
alternatives: yes or no, agree or disagree, and so on.
 Often, the two alternatives of interest are
supplemented by a neutral alternative, such as “no
opinion,” “don't know,” “both,” or “none.”

Do you intend to buy a new car within the next six

months?
_____ Yes
_____ No
_____ Don't know

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 27

 Scales were discussed in detail in Chapters 8 and 9:

Do you intend to buy a new car within the next six months?

Definitely Probably Undecided Probably Definitely

will not buy will not buy will buy will buy
1 2 3 4 5

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 28

Question Type Advantages Disadvantages Comments
Unstructured Good as first Potential for Useful for
questions interviewer bias exploratory research
Responses are less Coding is costly and
biased time consuming
Can provide rich Greater weight to
insights articulate
respondents
Unsuitable for self-
administered
questionnaires

Multiple-Choice Interviewer bias is Order or position Responses should

reduced bias be mutually
Easy to code and Difficult to design exclusive and
analyze response options collectively
Improved respondent exhaustive
co-operation Useful in large
surveys
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11-29
Question Type Advantages Disadvantages Comments
Dichotomous Same as multiple-choice Wording can bias Use split ballot
the responses technique

Scales Same as multiple-choice Difficult to design Scales should be

multi-item scales evaluated for
reliability, validity,
and generalizability

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11-30

 Define the issue in terms of who, what, when, where,
why, and way (how) (the six Ws). Who, what, when,
and where are particularly important.

Which brand of shampoo do you use? (Incorrect)

Which brand or brands of shampoo have you

personally used at home during the last month?
In case of more than one brand, please
list all the brands that apply. (Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 31

The W's Defining the Question
Who The Respondent
It is not clear whether this
question relates to the individual
respondent or the respondent's
total household.
What The Brand of Shampoo
It is unclear how the respondent is to
answer this question if more than one
brand is used.
When Unclear
The time frame is not specified in this
question. The respondent could
interpret it as meaning the shampoo
used this morning, this week, or over
the past year.
Where Not Specified
At home, at the gym, on the road?
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11-32
“Do you think the distribution of soft drinks is adequate?”

(Incorrect)

“Do you think soft drinks are readily available when you
want to buy them?”
(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 33

In a typical month, how often do you shop in department stores?
_____ Never
_____ Occasionally
_____ Sometimes
_____ Often
_____ Regularly (Incorrect)

In a typical month, how often do you shop in department stores?

_____ Less than once
_____ 1 or 2 times
_____ 3 or 4 times
_____ More than 4 times (Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 34

A leading question is one that clues the respondent to
what the answer should be, as in the following:
Do you think that patriotic Americans should buy imported automobiles
when that would put American labor out of work?
_____ Yes
_____ No
_____ Don't know
(Incorrect)

Do you think that Americans should buy imported automobiles?

_____ Yes
_____ No
_____ Don't know
(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 35

An alternative that is not explicitly expressed in the options
is an implicit alternative.

1. Do you like to fly when traveling short distances?

(Incorrect)

2. Do you like to fly when traveling short distances, or

would you rather drive?
(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 36

Questions should not be worded so that the answer is
dependent upon implicit assumptions about what will
happen as a consequence.

1. Are you in favor of a balanced budget?

(Incorrect)

2. Are you in favor of a balanced budget if it would

result in an increase in the personal income tax?
(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 37

“What is the annual per capita expenditure on groceries in
your household?” (Incorrect)

“What is the monthly (or weekly) expenditure on groceries in

your household?”

and

“How many members are there in your household?”

(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 38

 Questions that are in the form of statements should
be worded both positively and negatively.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 39

Opening Questions
 The opening questions should be interesting, simple,
and non-threatening.

Type of Information
 As a general guideline, basic information should be
obtained first, followed by classification, and finally,
identification information.

Difficult Questions
 Difficult questions or questions which are sensitive,
embarrassing, complex, or dull, should be placed late
in the sequence.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 40

Effect on Subsequent Questions
 General questions should precede the specific
questions (funnel approach).

Q1: “What considerations are important to you in

selecting a department store?” (Incorrect)

Q2: “In selecting a department store, how

important is convenience of location?”
(Correct)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 41

Broad or General Questions

Narrow or Specific Questions

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 42

Logical Order
The following guidelines should be followed for branching
questions:

 The question being branched (the one to which the

respondent is being directed) should be placed as close
as possible to the question causing the branching.

 The branching questions should be ordered so that the

respondents cannot anticipate what additional
information will be required.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 43

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 44
Question
Nature Function Example
Type
Qualifying/ Focus on respondent To determine if Who in your
Screening inclusion criteria a respondent is household does
Questions eligible to most of the
participate in shopping for
the survey groceries?
Introductory Broad, easy questions To break the ice How often do
Questions/ and put the you shop for
warm-ups respondent at groceries?
ease

Main Related to the To focus on the How important

Questions: information needed survey topic and Is each of the
Easy but easy to answer reassure the following factors
respondent that in selecting a
survey is easy supermarket?
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11-45
Question Type Nature Function Example
Main questions: Related to the To obtain the rest How would you
More difficult information needed but of the information rank order the
may be difficult to needed following eight
answer supermarkets in
terms of your
preference to
shop?
Psychographics Not relevant in all To obtain Please indicate
/Lifestyles surveys personality your degree of
related dis/agreement
information with the following
statements
Demographics Personal information To classify the What was your
respondents household’s total
annual last year?
Identification Name, address, To identify the Name:
Information telephone respondent
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 46
 Divide a questionnaire into several parts.

 The questions in each part should be numbered,

particularly when branching questions are used.

 The questionnaires should preferably be precoded.

 The questionnaires themselves should be numbered

serially.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 47

 The American Lawyer
A Confidential Survey of Our Subscribers

(Please ignore the numbers alongside the answers. They are only to help us
in data processing.)

1. Considering all the times you pick it up, about how much time, in total,
do you spend reading or looking through a typical issue of THE
AMERICAN LAWYER?

Less than 30 minutes................... -1 11/2 hours to 1 hour 59 minutes....... -4

30 to 59 minutes........................... -2 2 hours to 2 hours 59 minutes......... -5

1 hour to 1 hour 29 minutes........ -3 3 hours or more................................ -6

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 48

 The questionnaire should be reproduced on good-quality
paper and have a professional appearance.
 Questionnaires should take the form of a booklet rather than
a number of sheets of paper clipped or stapled together.
 Each question should be reproduced on a single page (or
double-page spread).
 Vertical response columns should be used for individual
questions.
 Grids are useful when there are a number of related
questions which use the same set of response categories.
 The tendency to crowd questions together to make the
questionnaire look shorter should be avoided.
 Directions or instructions for individual questions should be
placed as close to the questions as possible.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 49
 Pretesting refers to the testing of the questionnaire on a
small sample of respondents to identify and eliminate
potential problems.
 A questionnaire should not be used in the field survey without
adequate pretesting.
 All aspects of the questionnaire should be tested, including
question content, wording, sequence, form and layout,
question difficulty, and instructions.
 The respondents for the pretest and for the actual survey
should be drawn from the same population.
 Pretests are best done by personal interviews, even if the
actual survey is to be conducted by mail, telephone, or
electronic means, because interviewers can observe
respondents' reactions and attitudes.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 50
 After the necessary changes have been made, another
pretest could be conducted by mail, telephone, or electronic
means if those methods are to be used in the actual survey.
 A variety of interviewers should be used for pretests.
 The pretest sample size varies from 15 to 30 respondents for
each wave.
 Protocol analysis and debriefing are two commonly used
procedures in pretesting.
 Finally, the responses obtained from the pretest should be
coded and analyzed.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 51

Department Store Project
 Who: Purchasers, browsers, males, females, parents with
children, or children alone.
 What: Products/brands considered, products/brands purchased,
size, price of package inspected, or influence of children or
other family members.
 When: Day, hour, date of observation.
 Where: Inside the store, checkout counter, or type of
department within the store.
 Why: Influence of price, brand name, package size, promotion,
or family members on the purchase.
 Way: Personal observer disguised as sales clerk, undisguised
personal observer, hidden camera, or obtrusive mechanical
device.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 52
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 63
 What is the favourite brand of your toothpaste?
_________________
 The question fails to answer who, what, when and
where
 Who—you or your household?
 What—what if more than one brand is the favorite?
 Where—at home?
 When—currently, last month, last year?
 Which of the following is your personal favourite brand
of toothpaste at home currently?
› Colgate Sensodyne Pepsodent Other

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11 - 64

 Do you consume orange juice? Yes/No
 This question fails to answer who, where and
when
 Who—you or your family?
 Where—at home, at work, at a friend’s house?
 When—every day, every week, every month?
 Does your family consume orange juice at
home daily? Yes/No

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 65

 Incorrect:
› Do you fly PIA more often than AirBlue or
AirSial?

 Correct:
› Do you fly PIA more often than AirBlue?
› Do you fly PIA more often than AirSial?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 66

 Incorrect: Your Age ____________
 Correct: Your Age
› Less than 21
› 21-30
› 31-40
› 41-50
› 51 and above
 Incorrect: Gender _____________
 Correct: Gender  Male  Female

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 67

 Incorrect: Your age
› Less than 21
› 21-30
› 30-40
› 40-50
› 50 and above

 This is not mutually exclusive

 Correct: Your age
› Less than 21
› 21-30
› 31-40
› 41-50
› 51 and above

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 68

 Incorrect: Your age
› Less than 21
› 21-30
› 31-40
› 41-50

 This is not collectively exhaustive

 Correct: Your age
› Less than 21
› 21-30
› 31-40
› 41-50
› 51 and above

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 11- 69