5. Questionaires Flashcards
What is a Questionnaire?
A questionnaire a method of gaining specific information about a defined problem
The type of questionnaire depends on?
sample population and size
method of sampling
nature of problem
Questionnaires structure can be?
highly structured, unstructured or a mixture
2 Rules of Questionaires
- Questions must be designed to attract respondents to give valid and reliable information
- Wherever possible a pilot should be used
What 5 basic divisions of information needs are there?
- Facts and knowledge
- Opinions
- Motives
- Past behaviour
- Likely future behaviour
Why is buying behaviour complex?
- influences from; economic, psychological, cultural, sociological factors etc.
- Specific information may be needed according to nature of product/service and buying habits
What conditions are there for ensuring true response to questions?
- Respondents must understand
- Respondents must be able
- Respondents must be willing
- Questions should be carefully designed & posed in a language readily understood by the people being interviewed
- Should assist when asking 9 months ago for example say around Christmas time
What Bias is there in questions?
Biased questions generally consequence of
one or more of following:
-leading questions (nowadays or making assumption e.g. have you bought a dvd past week- may not have a dvd player i nthe first place)
-check lists (other, dont know, N/A option)
-multi-choice questions
-social expectations/values/norms
-threatening/taboo subject matter (interveiw may not be the best way, would need anonimity so phone or on paper would be preferred)
-brand sensitivity - If you mentioned do you use lynx deoderant then say whats your favourite deoderant later they would most likely say lynx. Say who it is you are working for at the end
-question sequence - You need a logical sequence
Questioning Approach: Key Points
- Introduce nature of survey
- Show letter/card of identity/authorisation
- Invite respondent’s co-operation
- Don’t coerce respondents - be tactful
- Ensure opening question is interesting/easy to answer
- Succeeding questions should open up discussion pleasantly/logically (“funnelling technique”)
- Don’t adopt a judgmental attitude towards responses/respondents
- Be polite, tactful, persistent
- Thank respondents for co-operation and ensure them of confidentiality
Open ended responses charachteristics
- allow respondents to reply as they think fit
- interviewers must record answers ad verbatum
- often useful in opening up questioning
- special training needed to handle open questions
closed response characteristics
- simple alternatives (eg. “yes/no”)
- multi-choice options (special care needed)
- always allow for “don’t know”
- follow up questions (eg. “why?”), must be carefully -handled
Pilot testing
- Understandable
- Specific
- Do you think anything should be done to make it easier for people to pay hospital or doctor bills. 82% ‘YES’
- Do you think anything could be done to make it easier for people to pay hospital or doctor bills. 77% ‘YES’
- Do you think anything might be done to make it easier for people to pay hospital or doctor bills. 63% ‘YES’
- Answerable
- Unbiased
- Sampling size, cost, time, experiment on length (fatigue), presentation
Mail Questionnaires
- Impersonal - special care needed in drafting
- Instructions should be clear, so that response can be made easy
- Qualify terms like “week”, “month”
- Response may be influenced by questionnaire presentation eg. Layout, colour, paper etc.
- Enclose covering letter, giving survey objectives and —sampling method
- Stress confidentiality
- Supply pre-paid envelope
- Incentive
Telephone Questionnaires: Advantages
- It is convenient
- It is imperative (people will ussualy pick up)
- It confers anonymity
- It attracts a freer response
- It can be used at precise times
- It is easily controlled/supervised
Telephone Questionnaires: Disadvantages
- Limited to verbal communication
- Tends to be restricted in time and confined to structural interviews
- Interviewers cannot see/assess impact of their enquiries (cant see reactions)
Telephone Questionnaires: Summary
- Rapidly growing in both consumer and business-to-business research
- Pre-planning of interview vital for success - use script for introduction
- Centralised telephone supervision has raised interviewing standards considerably
- Virtual saturation of UK domestic telephone coverage, but problems of unlisted telephones and mobiles
Developments in Telephone Surveys and other Technologies
- Central Location Telephone Interviewing (CLTI)
- Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)
- Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
- Computer-Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI)
- Disk-by-Mail (DBM)
- Computer-Assisted Panel Research (CAPR)
- Electronic Mail Survey (EMS)
- Internet Survey
Electronic survey
Data set (are becoming more easily avaliable to get the information of contacts) Easy to reach some audiences Easy to analyse Cheap Fast
Summary
Vital element of total market research design
Demands considerable skill in composition
Various methods of application:
telephone, post, personal interview, email
Careful planning needed to cover specific research objectives
Bias must be avoided (eg. leading questions)
Favoured technique is “funnelling” - going from general to specific
Two main types of questions: “open” or “closed”
“Closed” questions can be dichotomous (simple alternatives), or multi-choice
Pilot testing of questionnaires is imperative
Must be clearly worded and self-contained
