OBJECTIVES
• To explain the types of the questions
• To introduce the general guidelines about
writing questions
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Two basic types of questions:
•
Open-ended- requires respondents to generate their own answers.
Ex. What type of television program do you prefer to watch most often?
__________________________________________________________________________
•
Closed-ended- respondents select an answer from a list provided by the researcher.
Ex. What type of television program do you prefer to watch most often?
____ Soap opera
_____reality show
____game show
_____ talk show
_____ news
OPEN-ENDED QUESTION
Pros
Give freedom in answering questions
Allow for answers that researchers did not foresee e.g. “ I
have no idea.”
Cons
• Amount of time to collect and analyze the responses.
(content analysis groups common responses into
categories
1. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: DICHOTOMOUS
• Provides a dichotomous response, usually
“agree/disagree” or “yes/no.”
Local television stations should have longer weather
reports in the late evening news.
____ Agree
____ Disagree
Provide enough info.
About the purpose of the
research?
2. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: MULTIPLECHOICE
Allows respondents to choose an answer from several options.
In general, televisions commercials tell the truth.
__ All of the time__ Most of the time___ Some of the time___ Rarely___Never
EXAMPLE: NOT ALL POSSIBLE ANSWERS
Ex. What is your favorite television stations?
____ TV 3
____ TV 5
____ TV 7
Not covered all
possible answers
EXAMPLE: MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Ex. How many years have you been working in the
newspaper industry?
____ less than 1 year
____ 1 year to 3 years
____ 3 years or more
The respondent can
choose two options
which is not good.
EXAMPLE: GOOD
Ex. How many years have you been working in the
newspaper industry?
____ less than 1 year
____ 1 year to 3 years
____ 4 years or more
It should have one
response option per
question.
3. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: RATING SCALE
They can be arranged horizontally or vertically.
____ Strongly agree
(coded as 5)
____ Agree
(coded as 4)
____Neutral
(coded as 3)
____Disagree
(coded as 4)
____Strongly disagree
(coded as 5)
4. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: RATING
SCALE (SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALES)
Ex. What is your opinion of the local news on Channel 9?
Fair ___ ____ ____ ____ ____ Unfair
(5) (4) (3) (2)
(1)
Ex. How do you perceive the term public television?
Uninteresting ___ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Interesting
Good ____ _____ _____ ______ _____ ____ ______ Bad
5.CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION:
RANK-ORDERING TECHNIQUE
Ex. Please rank your most favorite television station with 1 and least
favorite station with 5.
____ channel 3
____ channel 5
____ channel 7
____ channel 9
____ channel 11
____ Thai PBS
____ The nation
- The list is alphabetical to avoid
presentation bias.
-Not recommended to let the
respondents rank a dozen
objects. Use checklist question
in the pilot first.
1. MAKE QUESTIONS CLEAR
• What might be perfectly clear to researchers might
be perfectly clear to the respondents.
Ex. Why have you been listening more lately to Click
radio?
Ex. How many times do you visit MK restaurant?
2. KEEP QUESTIONS SHORT
• Short, concise, and clear questions are best.
Especially, for the respondents who are in a hurry
to complete a questionnaire.
3.REMEMBER THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
• What is the media do you consume most last week?
___ TV___Radio____Magazine___Billboard___Poster
• How much do you like the jingle?
But you want to know
about the online
media!!
___1___2__3__4__5__6__7__8__9__10
But you want to know
about the poster
element!!
4. DO NOT ASK DOUBLE-BARRELED QUESTIONS.
• It means the question that asks two or more questions in
the same sentence.
Ex.
-Consider “The ABC network has programs that are funny and
sexually explicit. Do you agree or disagree?
-Have you ever seen and liked the new COCA advertising?
5. AVOID BIASED WORDS OR TERMS
• In your free time, would you rather read a book or just
watch television?
The word ‘just’ injects
a pro-book bias
• Where did you hear the news about the president’s new
economic program?
The word ‘ hear’ injects
a bias against the
newspaper
6. AVOID LEADING QUESTIONS
• A leading questions suggests a certain response (either
literally or by implication) ore contains a hidden premise.
EX.
-Like most American, do you read a newspaper everyday?
-As online media is the most popular media, do you play
Facebook everyday?
7. DO NOT USE QUESTIONS THAT ASK FOR
HIGHLY DETAILED INFO.
• Few respondents could answer this question.
EX.
-In the past 30 days, how many hours of television have you
viewed with your family?
-How many hours did you spend watching television with your
family yesterday?
8. AVOID POTENTIALLY EMBARRASSING
QUESTIONS
• Most surveys need to collect some form of confidential or
personal data, but an overly personal question may cause
embarrassment and inhibit respondents from answering
honestly.
Ex. How much is your income?
REFERENCE
Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (2011). Mass Media Research: An Introduction (9th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.
IN-CLASS EXERCISE
• Design 6 questions for the questionnaire for the chosen research topic.
Requirement:
1 question (filter/screening) if have
2 questions about demographics
2 questions about your topic