BUS I NE S S RE S E ARCH

QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTIONNAIRE
A set of questions on a topic or group of
topics designed to be answered by a
respondent
A questionnaire is a research instrument
consisting of a series of questions and other
prompts for the purpose of gathering
information from respondents.
Although they are often designed for
statistical analysis of the responses, this is not
always the case.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNING PROCESS
Specify the information needed.
Specify the type of interviewing method.
Determine the content of individual questions.
Design the question to overcome the respondents inability
and unwillingness to answer.
Decide on the question structure.
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNING PROCESS
Determine the question wording.
Arrange the questions in proper order.
Identify the form and layout.
Reproduce the questionnaire.
Eliminate bugs by pretesting.
TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRES
Structure/ Standardise questionnaire
Unstructured questionnaire

TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRES
Unstructured questionnaire
Open-ended questions that respondents answer in
their own words.
E.g. What is your occupation?
They are good as first questions on a topic. They
enable the respondents to express general attitudes
and opinions that can help the researcher interpret
their responses to structured questions.

TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRES
Structured questionnaire
Specify the set of response alternatives and the
response format.
(i) Multiple-Choice Questions Researcher provides a
choice of answers and respondents are asked to select
one or more of the alternatives given.
(ii) Dichotomous Questions Has only two response
alternatives: yes or no, agree or disagree, and so on.
(iii) Scales Scale can be used as :
Do you intend to buy a new car within the next six months?
Definitely will
buy
Probably will
buy
Undecided
Probably will
not buy
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
DESIGNING QUESTIONS

Effect of a given word
Balance in question wording
Dont know answers offered or volunteered?
Using scales
Question order
Pre-testing


11%
13%
33%
70%
21%
5%
3%
43%
To have a hotline For government to set up a hotline

The Effect of One Word
How important do you think it is
to have a hotline telephone
number people can call to get
help when they have problems
with their health plan?
How important do you think it is
for the GOVERNMENT to set up a
hotline telephone number
people can call to get help
when they have problems with
their health plan?
Very
Important
Somewhat Important Not too important Not at all
important
Whats wrong with these questions?
Do you support the India taking military action
against Pakistan?
If you heard that Candidate X supported stricter
reservation laws, would that make you more likely
to vote for her?
Did you happen to vote in the presidential election
in 2000?
BALANCE IN QUESTION WORDING
Bad questions, improved:
Do you support or oppose the India taking military
action against Pakistan?
If you heard that Candidate X supported stricter
reservation laws, would that make you more likely
to vote for her, less likely to vote for her, or
wouldnt it make much difference?
Did you happen to vote in the presidential election
in 2000, or not?
BALANCE IN QUESTION WORDING
4%
54%
42%
Do you favor or oppose the
government offering parents
money or "vouchers" to send
their children to private or
religious schools, or public
schools outside their district?
Do you favor or oppose the
government offering parents money or
"vouchers" to send their children to
private or religious schools, or public
schools outside their district, or havent
you heard enough about that to have
an opinion?
31%
36%
33%
Favor
Oppose
No opinion
Favor
Oppose
No opinion
DONT KNOW ANSWERS OFFERED OR VOLUNTEERED?
Making Medicare more financially sound for
future generations
Increasing the number of people covered by
health insurance
Helping states with the cost of Medical aid
Taking steps to lower medical malpractices
Percent saying very
important
Helping people age 65 and over pay for
prescription medicines
When forced to choose

Which of the following issues you say are very important do you
think is most important?*
11%
8%
27%
19%
27%
*Also includes those
who named only one
issue as very
important
USING SCALES
Now, Im going to read you some different health care issues. As I read
each one, please tell me how important you think it is for the Government
to deal with this issue very important, somewhat important, not too
important, or not important at all.
53%
64%
74%
81%
81%
Making Medicare more financially sound for
future generations
Increasing the number of people covered by
health insurance
Helping states with the cost of Medical aid
Taking steps to lower medical malpractices
Percent saying very
important
Helping people age 65 and over pay for
prescription medicines
USING SCALES
HOW QUESTIONS CAN AFFECT ONE
ANOTHER
Ask general questions before specific priority questions
in order to obtain unbiased responses
Pay attention to how one question might influence
answers to future questions:
Rank the following diseases in terms of their severity
HIV/AIDS, Polio, Leukemia, Cervical Cancer
In considering whether or not to vote for a political candidate,
how important is the candidates position on HIV/AIDS in
making your choice?
What do you think is the most important health care issues for
the government to address?
TESTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Pre-testing
The last step in questionnaire design is to test a
questionnaire with a small number of interviews before
conducting your main interviews. Ideally, you should test
the survey on the same kinds of people you will include
in the main study. This kind of test run can reveal
unanticipated problems with question wording,
instructions to skip questions, etc. It can help see if the
interviewees understand your questions and giving useful
answers.
If you change any questions after a pre-test, you should
not combine the results from the pre-test with the results
of post-test interviews.



IMPROVING THE RESPONSE RATE IN A
MAIL SURVEY
Quality printing
Covering letter
Advance information
Incentives
Follow-up-contacts
Larger sample size

DISTINCTION B/W SCHEDULES &
QUESTIONNAIRES
Questionnaires are mailed to the respondent
whereas schedules are carried by the investigator
himself.
Questionnaires can be filled by the respondent only
if he is able to understand the language in which it
is written and he is supposed to be a literate. This
problem can be overcome in case of schedule
since the investigator himself carries the schedules
and the respondents response is accordingly
taken.
A questionnaire is filled by the respondent himself
whereas the schedule is filled by the investigator.
QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION
Question types
Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of
questions that the respondent has to answer in a set
format.
An open-ended question asks the respondent to
formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended
question has the respondent pick an answer from a
given number of options.
The response options for a closed-ended question
should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive.
OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS
Advantages:
Freedom and spontaneity of the answers
Opportunity to probe
Useful for testing hypothesis about ideas
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming
Coding: very costly and slow to process
Demand more effort from the respondents

CLOSE ENDED QUESTIONS
Advantages:
No extended writing
Easy to process
Useful for testing specific hypothesis
Disadvantages:
Loss of spontaneous response
Bias in answer categories
May irritate respondents

CLOSE ENDED QUESTIONS
Four types of response scales for closed-ended
questions are distinguished:

Dichotomous, where the respondent has two
options E.g.: True/False questions; Yes/No
questions

Nominal-polytomous, where the respondent has
more than two unordered options

CLOSE ENDED QUESTIONS
Four types of response scales for closed-ended
questions are distinguished:

Ordinal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than
two ordered options

(bounded)Continuous, where the respondent is presented
with a continuous scale

A respondent's answer to an open-ended question
is coded into a response scale afterwards.


RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
Establish rapport with respondent. For this:
Reveal your identity and purpose of study
Give visiting card to the respondent
Show Authorization letter to the respondent
Indicate that respondents answers to questions are
valuable to you
Assure respondent that his responses will be kept
confidential
Go in formal dress
Have eye contact with respondent

START OF QUESTIONNAIRE
Good morning/afternoon/evening. I am
Mr./Ms. ___________ from __________. We are
conducting a survey on ___________. I would
be grateful if you can spare about ____
minutes for answering few questions. Your
feedback is valuable to us. We will keep
your feedback confidential.

RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
If possible, convince him about benefits that he will
derive by answering questions
Promise to reveal the identity of the sponsored
company (company for whom research is
conducted), if necessary, after the interview is over
and reveal it.

RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
Place filter questions at the beginning:
If the survey contains commercially sensitive
material, ask a "security" question to find whether
the respondent or any member of his family works in
the industry being surveyed. If so, terminate the
interview
Similarly, it is best to eliminate people in:
advertising, market research or media companies since
they may work for competing companies.
RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
Ask easy questions at the beginning
Sequence questions from general information to
specific information
Put questions asking ultimate opinion/decision at the
end
Place demographic questions at the end
Use switching statements. For e.g.
Now I will ask you about your familys details
RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
For sensitive questions:
Start such questions with I know. For e.g.:
I know this might appear a bit blunt, but .
I know this may sound like an odd question, but
Ask permission. For e.g.:
Do you mind if I ask you to tell me
Do you mind if I ask you a question about
I hope you wont object to telling me about


RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
Use categories for sensitive data. E.g. age, income
Include all relevant answers to a close ended
question:
Use Not Applicable, Do not know or Any other
options
Give mutually exclusive options to a question:
Less than 10000
10001 to 20000..

RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
Write instructions to interviewer at the beginning of
the question
Use capital letters for instructions
Give full form of abbreviation before it is used
Rotate the order of the statements in Likert scale,
attributes in semantic differential scale to avoid halo
effect

RULES FOR DESIGNING
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dos
Use checkboxes for recording answers
Use numbers to options given:
1. Yes 2. No
Provide other comments box at the end of
questionnaire
Use conversational language in writing questions
Each questionnaire should have unique serial number
and interviewers code no.
MEASUREMENT ERROR
Error that occurs when the measurement we obtain
is not an accurate portrayal of what we tried to
measure
The giving of inaccurate answers to the questions
Measurement error may also be affected by
question wording
respondents level of knowledge on the topic
whether or not the respondent has an opinion about
the topic
respondent having an accurate memory
respondent wanting to present a good image


PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Response rate
The percentage of the sample contacted that
actually participates in a study
Response rate is affected by
The number of people who cannot be reached
for the study (noncontacts)
The number who choose not to participate
(refusals)
The number who are incapable of performing the
tasks required of them
For example, due to illness or language barriers


PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Nonresponse error
Results from differences between non-responders
and responders to a survey

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
When participants and nonparticipants differ in
social characteristics, opinions, attitudes, values, or
behavior then generalization to a larger
population is much more difficult
Some researchers have questioned whether higher
rates of refusal automatically means more bias
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Stop and Think
Have you ever been asked to complete a
questionnaire or an interview?
What factors did you consider when deciding
whether or not to participate?
Think about what you would do if you were on the
other side. What would you do to try and
convince someone to participate in a survey?
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Participation in studies can best be
understood within a social exchange
context.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Respondents are asked to give up their time,
engage in interactions controlled by the
interviewer, think about issues or topics that might
cause discomfort, and take the risk of being asked
to reveal embarrassing information.
Potential participants might worry about privacy
and lack of control over the information
Conversely, participants might want to participate
because of an interest in a topic, a desire to share
their views, or knowledge that their information will
be useful to science and society

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Possible ways to increase participant rates
Advance mailings
Incentives
Giving small gifts
Token cash payments
Focusing on the interesting aspects of participation
Re-contacting participants to encourage
participation
Minimize the costs of participation
For example, time and possible embarrassment

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
Self-Administered Questionnaires
Group-Administered Questionnaires
PARTICIPANTS INVOLVEMENT
How to ask questions
Keep the questionnaire or interview as short as possible
Only the necessary questions planned for data
analysis should be asked
A preliminary draft or pilot test should be used with
a small sample
A pilot test is a preliminary draft of a set of questions
that is tested before the actual data collection.

PARTICIPANTS INVOLVEMENT
How to ask questions
Avoid loaded words words that trigger an
emotional response or strong association by their
use
Avoid ambiguous words words that can be
interpreted in more than one way
Dont use double negative questions questions
that can ask people to disagree with a negative
question
PARTICIPANTS INVOLVEMENT
How to ask questions
Dont use leading questions questions that
encourage the respondent to answer in a certain
way, typically by indicating which is the right or
correct answer
Avoid threatening questions, or questions that
make respondents afraid or embarrassed to give
an honest answer
PARTICIPANTS INVOLVEMENT
How to ask questions
Dont use double-barreled or compound
questions questions that ask two or more
questions in one
Ask question in the language of your respondents,
using the idioms and language appropriate to the
samples level of education, vocabulary of the
region, etc.
PARTICIPANTS INVOLVEMENT
How to ask questions
Question order & context
Consider a logical order that makes participation
easy
To encourage participation start with interesting,
no threatening questions, and save questions
about sensitive topics for the middle or end
Conclude with cool down to minimize
discomfort of participant