Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation

Seventh Edition

Chapter 10
Questionnaire & Form
Design

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Questionnaire Definition
• A questionnaire is a formalized set of questions for
obtaining information from respondents.

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Questionnaire Objectives
• 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.

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Youth Research Achieves Questionnaire
Objectives (1 of 3)
Youth research (YR) of Brookfield, Connecticut, conducts an
omnibus survey of children every quarter. Typically, YR
interviews 150 boys and girls between ages 6 and 8, along
with 150 boys and girls between ages 9 and 12. YR uses
mall intercepts of mothers to recruit for its one-on-one
interviews, which last eight minutes. The study obtains
children’s views on favorite snack foods, television shows,
commercials, radio, magazines, buzzwords, and movies.

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Youth Research Achieves Questionnaire
Objectives (2 of 3)
YR intentionally keeps its questionnaire to eight minutes because
of attention span limits of children. YR President Karen Forcade
notes that some clients attempt to meet all their research
objectives with one study, instead of surveying, fine-tuning
objectives, and re-surveying. In doing so, these clients overlook
attention limits of young respondents when developing
questionnaires.
“The questionnaires keep going through the approval process and
people keep adding questions, ‘Well let’s ask this question, let’s
add that question, and why don’t we talk about this also,’” Forcade
said. “And so you end up keeping children 25 minutes in a central
location study and they get kind of itchy.” The response error
increases and the quality of data suffers.

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Youth Research Achieves Questionnaire
Objectives (3 of 3)
Forcade notes other lessons from interviewing children. When asking
questions, interviewers should define the context to which the question
refers. “It involves getting them to focus on things, putting them in a
situation so that they can identify with it,” Forcade said. “For example,
when asking about their radio listening habits, we said, ‘What about
when you’re in Mom’s car, do you listen to the radio?’ rather than, ‘How
often do you listen to the radio? More than once a day, once a day, more
than once a week?’ Those are kind of big questions for little children.”

Questionnaires designed by Youth Research to obtain children’s views

on favorite snack foods, television shows, commercials, radio,
magazines, buzzwords, and movies attempt to minimize response error.

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Questionnaire Design Process
Figure 10.1 Questionnaire
Design Process

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Effect of Interviewing Method on
Questionnaire Design (1 of 4)
Department Store Project
Mail 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. Nordstrom ____________
2. Macy's ____________
.
.
10. Wal-Mart ____________

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Effect of Interviewing Method on
Questionnaire Design (2 of 4)
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 Preferred Greatly Preferred
1. Nordstrom 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. Macy's 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
.
.
.
10. Wal-Mart 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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Effect of Interviewing Method on
Questionnaire Design (3 of 4)
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 the Store
1. 1 __________________
2. 2 __________________
.
10. 10 __________________

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Effect of Interviewing Method on
Questionnaire Design (4 of 4)
Electronic and Mobile Questionnaires
• This question for e-mail, Internet, and mobile questionnaires will be
very similar to that for the mail questionnaire.
• In all these methods, the questionnaire is self-administered by the
respondent.

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Individual Question Content – Is the
Question Necessary?
• If there is no satisfactory use for the data resulting from a
question, that question should be eliminated.

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Individual Question Content – Are Several
Questions Needed Instead of One?
• 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-barreled 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)
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Overcoming Inability to Answer – Is the
Respondent Informed?
• In situations where not all respondents are likely to be
informed about the topic of interest, filter questions that
measure familiarity 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.

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Overcoming Inability to Answer – Can the
Respondent Remember?
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

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Overcoming Inability to Answer – Can the
Respondent Articulate?
• Respondents may be unable to articulate certain types of
responses, e.g., describe the atmosphere of a department
store.
• Respondents should be given aids, such as pictures,
maps, and descriptions to help them articulate their
responses.

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Overcoming Unwillingness to Answer –
Effort Required of the Respondents
• Most respondents are unwilling to devote a lot of effort to
provide information.

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Overcoming Unwillingness to Answer (1 of 2)
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)

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Overcoming Unwillingness to Answer (2 of 2)
Context
• Respondents are unwilling to respond to questions which they
consider to be inappropriate for the given context.
• The researcher should manipulate the context so that the
request for information seems appropriate.
Legitimate Purpose
• Explaining why the data are needed can make the request for
the information seem legitimate and increase the respondents'
willingness to answer.
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.
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Overcoming Unwillingness to Answer –
Increasing the Willingness of Respondents
• Place sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire.
• Preface the question with a statement that the behavior of
interest is common.
• 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.
• Use randomized techniques.
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Choosing Question Structure – Unstructured
Questions
• Unstructured questions are open-ended questions that
respondents answer in their own words.

What is your occupation?

Who is your favorite actor?
What do you think about people who shop at high-end
department stores?

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Choosing Question Structure – Structured
Questions
• Structured questions specify the set of response
alternatives and the response format. A structured question
may be multiple-choice, dichotomous, or a scale.

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Choosing Question Structure –
Multiple-Choice Questions
• In multiple-choice questions, the researcher provides a
choice of answers and respondents are asked to select
one or more of the alternatives given.

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

____ Definitely will not buy

____ Probably will not buy
____ Undecided
____ Probably will buy
____ Definitely will buy
____ Other (please specify)
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Choosing Question Structure –
Dichotomous Questions
• 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
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Choosing Question Structure – Scales
• 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

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Choosing Question Wording – Define the
Issue
• Define the issue in terms of who, what, when, where, why,
and way (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)

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Choosing Question Wording
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 Unclear
At home, at the gym, on the road?

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Choosing Question Wording – Use Ordinary
Words
“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)

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Choosing Question Wording – Use
Unambiguous Words
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)

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Choosing Question Wording – Avoid
Leading or Biasing Questions
• 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)
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Choosing Question Wording – Avoid
Implicit Alternatives
• 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)

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Choosing Question Wording – Avoid
Implicit Assumptions
• 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)

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Choosing Question Wording – Avoid
Generalizations and Estimates
• “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)

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Choosing Question Wording Dual
Statements: Positive and Negative
• Questions that are in the form of statements should be
worded both positively and negatively.

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Determining the Order of Questions (1 of 3)
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.
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Determining the Order of Questions (2 of 3)
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?”

Q2: “In selecting a department store, how important is

convenience of location?”
(Correct)

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Determining the Order of Questions (3 of 3)
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.

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Flow Chart for Questionnaire Design
Figure 10.2 Flowchart
for Questionnaire
Design

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Form and Layout
• 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.

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Example of a Precoded Questionnaire
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

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Reproduction of the Questionnaire
• 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 that
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.
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Pretesting (1 of 2)
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.

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Pretesting (2 of 2)
• 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.

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Observational Forms
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.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (1 of 8)
Table 10.1 Questionnaire Design Checklist
Step 1 Specify the information needed.
Blank 1. Ensure that the information obtained fully addresses all the
components of the problem.
Review components of the problem and the approach, particularly the
research questions, hypotheses, and the information needed.
2. Prepare a set of dummy tables.
3. Have a clear idea of the target population.
Step 2 Specify the type of interviewing method.
1. Review the type of interviewing method determined based on
considerations discussed in Chapter 6.
Step 3 Determine the content of individual questions.
Blank 1. Is the question necessary?
Blank 2. Are several questions needed instead of one to obtain the required
information in an unambiguous manner?
Blank 3. Do not use double-barreled questions.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (2 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
Step 4 Design the questions to overcome the respondent’s inability and
unwillingness to answer.
1. Is the respondent informed?
2. If respondents are not likely to be informed, filter questions that
measure familiarity, product use, and past experience should be
asked before questions about the topics themselves.
3. Can the respondent remember?
4. Avoid errors of omission, telescoping, and creation.
5. Questions that do not provide the respondent with cues can
underestimate the actual occurrence of an event.
6. Can the respondent articulate?
7. Minimize the effort required of the respondents.
8. Is the context in which the questions are asked appropriate?
9. Make the request for information seem legitimate.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (3 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
blank 10. If the information is sensitive:
a. Place sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire.
b. Preface the question with a statement that the behavior of
interest is common.
c. Ask the question using the third-person technique.
d. Hide the question in a group of other questions that
respondents are willing to answer.
e. Provide response categories rather than asking for specific
figures.
f. Use randomized techniques, if appropriate.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (4 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
Step 5 Decide on the question structure.
1. Open-ended questions are useful in exploratory research and as
opening questions.
2. Use structured questions whenever possible.
3. In multiple-choice questions, the response alternatives should
include the set of all possible choices and should be mutually
exclusive.
4. In a dichotomous question, if a substantial proportion of the
respondents can be expected to be neutral, include a neutral
alternative.
5. Consider the use of the split ballot technique to reduce order bias
in dichotomous and multiple-choice questions.
6. If the response alternatives are numerous, consider using more
than one question to reduce the information-processing demands
on the respondents.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (5 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
Step 6 Determine the question wording.
1. Define the issue in terms of who, what, when, where, why, and way
(the six Ws).
2. Use ordinary words. Words should match the vocabulary level of
the respondents.
3. Avoid ambiguous words: usually, normally, frequently, often,
regularly, occasionally, sometimes, etc.
4. Avoid leading questions that clue the respondent to what the
answer should be.
5. Avoid implicit alternatives that are not explicitly expressed in the
options.
6. Avoid implicit assumptions.
7. Respondents should not have to make generalizations or compute
estimates.
8. Use positive and negative statements.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (6 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
Step 7 Arrange the questions in proper order.
1. The opening questions should be interesting, simple, and
nonthreatening.
2. Qualifying questions should serve as the opening questions.
3. Basic information should be obtained first, followed by
classification, and, finally, identification information.
4. Difficult, sensitive, or complex questions should be placed late in
the sequence.
5. General questions should precede the specific questions.
6. Questions should be asked in a logical order.
7. Branching questions should be designed carefully to cover all
possible contingencies.
8. The question being branched should be placed as close as
possible to the question causing the branching, and the branching
questions should be ordered so that the respondents cannot
anticipate what additional information will be required.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (7 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
Step 8 Identify the form and layout.
1. Divide a questionnaire into several parts.
2. Questions in each part should be numbered.
3. The questionnaire should be precoded.
4. The questionnaires themselves should be numbered serially.
Step 9 Reproduce the questionnaire.
1. The questionnaire should have a professional appearance.
2. Booklet format should be used for long questionnaires.
3. Each question should be reproduced on a single page (or double-
page spread).
4. Vertical response columns should be used.
5. Grids are useful when there are a number of related questions that
use the same set of response categories.
6. The tendency to crowd questions to make the questionnaire look
shorter should be avoided.
7. Directions or instructions for individual questions should be placed
as close to the questions as possible.

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Questionnaire Design Checklist (8 of 8)
[Table 10.1 Continued]
Step 10 Eliminate bugs by pretesting.
1. Pretesting should be done always.
2. All aspects of the questionnaire should be tested, including question
content, wording, sequence, form and layout, question difficulty, and
instructions.
3. The respondents in the pretest should be similar to those who will be
included in the actual survey.
4. Begin the pretest by using personal interviews.
5. Pretest should also be conducted by mail, telephone, electronic, or mobile
interviewing if those methods are to be used in the actual survey.
6. A variety of interviewers should be used for pretests.
7. The pretest sample size is small, varying from 15 to 30 respondents for the
initial testing.
8. Use protocol analysis and debriefing to identify problems.
9. After each significant revision of the questionnaire, another pretest should
be conducted, using a different sample of respondents.
10. The responses obtained from the pretest should be coded and analyzed.

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International Marketing Research (1 of 2)
• The questionnaire or research instrument should be designed to
be sensitive to cultural differences encountered in international
research.
• Although personal interviewing is the dominant survey method
in international marketing research, different interviewing
methods might be used in different countries. Therefore, the
questionnaire must be adaptable to a variety of administration
methods.
• In countries with lower levels of education or product
experience, two or more simple questions rather than a single
complex question should be used.

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International Marketing Research (2 of 2)
• Unstructured questions are more sensitive to differences in
educational levels than are structured questions, and should be
used with caution in countries with high illiteracy rates.
• In addition to design considerations, the researcher must also
pay close attention to translation issues.
• Two sets of pretests are recommended. The
translated questionnaire should be pretested
on respondents who speak only their native
language, as well as on bilingual subjects.
• The pretest data from administering the
questionnaire in different countries or
cultures should be analyzed, and the pattern
of responses compared, to detect any
cultural biases.

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Marketing Research & Social Media
• Analysis of social media can help in developing questions
that are appropriate in terms of content, structure, and
wording, and deciding on the order of questions.
• The general principles and guidelines remain the same for
questionnaires to be used in surveys to be conducted in
social media.

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Mobile Marketing Research (1 of 2)
• The general recommendation seems to be to limit the survey to
no more than 15 questions.
• The use of unstructured questions should be limited to 1 or 2,
and if possible eliminated altogether.
• The number of response options to multiple choice questions or
scales should be limited.
• Slider-type or star-based rating questions can be very engaging.
• The issue should be clearly defined and ordinary and
unambiguous words should be used. The general
recommendation is to limit each question to 140 characters, the
size of a tweet.

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Mobile Marketing Research (2 of 2)
• In terms of form and layout, the questionnaire should be at
least mobile-friendly and preferably optimized for mobile.
• One approach to pretesting that is commonly used is to
test the survey thoroughly on one mobile platform and then
test that it works and ‘looks right’ on the other platforms.
The goal is to develop a questionnaire that is device
agnostic.

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Ethics in Marketing Research
• In consideration of the respondents, questions that are
confusing, that exceed the respondents’ ability, that are
difficult, or that are otherwise improperly worded should be
avoided.
• When asking sensitive questions, researchers should attempt
to minimize the respondents’ discomfort.
• Overly long questionnaires should be avoided. Overly long
questionnaires are a burden on the respondents and adversely
affect the quality of responses.
• The researcher has the ethical responsibility to design a
questionnaire that obtains the required data in an unbiased
manner.
• If the questionnaire is not thoroughly pretested, an ethical
breach has occurred.
Copyright © 2019, 2010, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright

Copyright © 2019, 2010, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.