MARKETING
Marketing Research and
the Questionnaire
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 1
MARKETING
Steps in Designing and
Administering Questionnaire
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Define the Objective(s) of the Survey
Determine the Sampling Group
Design and Write the Questionnaire
Pilot the Questionnaire
Administer the Questionnaire
Tabulate the Results
Interpret the Results
Write the Report.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 2
MARKETING
Defining the Objective
• The importance of a well-defined objective can not be
overstated
• A questionnaire that is written without a clear goal and
purpose is going to:
– Overlook important issues
– Waste participants’ time by asking useless questions
• Goal:
– To find out if there is a gender difference in people’s
attitudes to the media
– To find out how the work and study habits of students relate
to their academic success
• Rule of thumb:
– If you are finding it hard to write the questions, you haven’t
spent enough time defining the objective(s) of the
questionnaire.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 3
MARKETING
Validity and Reliability
• Questionnaires should provide data that is both valid and
reliable
• Validity:
– Exists when the questions asked measure what was intended to
be measured
– Poorly written questions will NOT have validity
• Reliability
– Exists when a research technique produces nearly identical
results in repeated trials
– Questions must ask the same type of information from all
respondents
– Questions that are unclear and poorly written do NOT give
reliable results.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 4
MARKETING
Writing Questions
• Survey questions can either be open ended or forced choice.
• Open Ended Questions
– Questions that ask respondents to construct their own
response to a question
– Open ended questions generate a wide variety of responses
– Generally hard to categorize and tabulate
• Forced Choice
– Questions that ask respondents to choose from possibilities
given on the questionnaire
– These are the simplest to write and easiest to tabulate
– These can be either:
• Two Choice
• Multiple Choice
• Rating or Ranking Scales
• Level of Agreement Scales.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 5
Two Choice Questions
MARKETING
• Two-choice questions give the respondent only two options
– Yes/No
• Should only be used when looking for a response on ONE
issue
1. Were our facilities clean
Yes
No
2. Was your server courteous
Yes
No
• Sometimes Yes/No questions are used as filter questions
4.
Have you for any reason been suspended from
school last year
Yes
No – ( go to question 8).
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 6
MARKETING
Multiple Choice Questions
•
•
•
Multiple choice questions give the respondent several options
Multiple choice questions must be comprehensive enough to
include all possible responses
Many multiple choice questions include a final option of OTHER
– Increases reliability
•
An outdoor equipment manufacturer might use the following
type of question
5.
What is your primary intended use for this product?
(check only one)
A.
Backpacking/Hiking
B.
Camping
C.
Fishing
D.
Hunting
E.
Other _________________________ .
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 7
MARKETING
Rating Scale Questions
• Rating Scale questions ask respondents to rank a product
based on a scale
• A variety of scales may be used
– Very Satisfied to Very Dissatisfied
– Excellent to Poor
6.
Please rate the following:
Reservations
Excellent Good Average Fair Poor
Check-In Process Excellent Good Average Fair Poor
Parking
Excellent Good Average Fair Poor.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 8
Level of Agreement Questions
MARKETING
• When assessing attitudes or opinions:
–
it is a good idea to write statements that reflect those
attitudes or opinions
– Then ask respondents for their level of agreement
• Commonly used options include
–
–
–
–
–
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
[SA]
[A]
[N]
[D]
[SD]
7. “I am extremely health conscious”
SA
A
N
D
SD
• When using this type of question the full words would appear
above each column to avoid confusion.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 9
MARKETING
Guidelines for Writing
Questions
• Each question should be clearly written, and as brief as
possible
• Use the same rating or ranking question for all similar
questions
• Do not ask leading questions or suggest an answer
– Introduces bias into the survey
• An unintended influence on the data gathering method
• Avoid questions that require the respondent to guess at
the meaning of your question
• Always pretest the wording of your question.
Business Studies and Computer Science Department
Prepared by: T. Nephin
Page 10