Essentials of
Marketing Research
Chapter 11:
Questionnaire Design
It is not every question that deserves
an answer.
Publilius Syrus
(Roman,1st century B.C.)
A QUESTIONNAIRE IS ONLY
AS GOOD AS THE QUESTIONS
IT ASKS
The Functions of a Questionnaire
• Translates research objectives into specific
questions
• Standardizes questions - every respondent
answers same questions
• Fosters cooperation
• Permanent records of research
• Speed up the process.
Determine Survey Objectives
Decide Data Collection Method
Question Development
Question Evaluation
Steps in the
Questionnaire
Development Process
Client Approval
Pretest
Revise as needed
Finalize and Duplicate
Gather Data
Tabulate and Report
Note that
this is an
iterative
process
A GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE
APPEARS
• AS EASY TO COMPOSE AS DOES A
GOOD POEM
• BUT IT IS USUALLY THE RESULT OF
LONG, PAINSTAKING WORK
The Major Decisions in
Questionnaire Design
1. What should be asked?
2. How should each question be phrased?
3. In what sequence should the questions be
arranged?
4. What questionnaire layout will best serve the
research objectives?
5. How should the questionnaire be pretested?
Does the questionnaire need to be revised?
WHAT SHOULD BE ASKED?
• QUESTIONNAIRE RELEVANCE
• QUESTIONNAIRE ACCURACY
PHRASING QUESTIONS
• OPEN-ENDED RESPONSES
– unprobed or probed
• FIXED-ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS
– Closed Ended
• dichotomous or multiple category
– Scaled Response
• unlabeled or labeled
DEVELOPING A QUESTIONNAIRE
• NO HARD AND FAST RULES
• ONLY GUIDELINES
• Avoid Complexity:
•use simple, conversational language
• Avoid leading and loaded questions
• Avoid ambiguity: be as specific as possible
• Avoid double-barreled items
• Avoid making assumptions
• Avoid burdensome questions
1. Do you believe that private citizens have the right to
own firearms to defend themselves, their families, and
property from violent criminal attack?
Yes
No
Undecided
2. Do you believe that a ban on the private ownership
of firearms would significantly reduce the number of
murders and robberies in your community?
Yes
No
Undecided
1a. How many years have you been playing tennis on a regular basis?
Number of years: __________ 5-6
b. What is your level of play?
Novice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lower Intermediate . . . . .
Upper Intermediate . . . . .
-1
-2
-3
Advanced . . . . . . .
Expert . . . . . . . . .
Teaching Pro . . . .
-4
-5
-6
c. In the last 12 months, has your level of play improved, remained the
same or decreased?
Improved. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Remained the same . . . . .
-1
-2
Decreased. . . . . . .
-3
2a. Do you belong to a club with tennis facilities?
Yes . . . . . . .
No . . . . . . .
b. How many people in your household - including yourself - play tennis?
Number who play tennis ___________
3a. Why do you play tennis? (Please “X” all that apply.)
To have fun . . . . . . . . . .
To stay fit. . . . . . . . . . . .
To be with friends. . . . . .
To improve my game . . .
To compete. . . . . . . . . . .
To win. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
b. In the past 12 months, have you purchased any tennis instructional
books or video tapes?
Yes . . . . . . .
-1
No . . . . . . .
-2
-1
-2
Dear Passenger:
American Airlines is pleased to have you on board today.
To help us provide the best service possible, we need to know
more about you and your opinions of our service. If you are
over 11 years old, we would appreciate it if you would complete
this questionnaire.
Your flight attendant will pick up your completed questionnaire
shortly.
Thank you.
1. Please indicate: Flight number ___________ Date_____________
2a. At the city where you boarded this particular plane, did you make a
connection from another flight?
Yes, from American . . . .
1
Yes, from Other Airline . .
2
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
b. Did you board this plane at the airport from which it just took off, or
were you a through passenger for which that was an intermediate stop?
Boarded here . . . . . . . . . .
Through passenger. . . . . .
1
2
3. How would you rate the overall service from American for this flight,
all things considered, from your arrival at the airport terminal until now?
Excellent Good Fair Poor
Overall Service . . . . . . . . . .
1
2
3
4
4. Please rate each of the following with regard to this flight, if applicable.
Excellent Good
Courtesy and Treatment from the:
Skycap at airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Airport Ticket Counter Agent . . . . .
Boarding Point (Gate) Agent . . . . .
Flight Attendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your Meal or Snack. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Beverage Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seat Comfort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Carry-On Stowage Space. . . . . . . .
Cabin Cleanliness . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Video/Stereo Entertainment . . . . . .
On-Time Departure . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
2
Fair
Poor
3
4
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
• QUESTION SEQUENCE
• ORDER BIAS
• FUNNEL TECHNIQUE
• FILTER BIAS
• QUESTION LAYOUT
Questionnaire Organization
• Introduction
• Screening Questions
• first questions asked
• used to select specific respondents
• ex. have you bought a classical music CD in the last
month?
• Warm-ups
• immediately after screening questions
• easy to answer, flows into other questions
• Ex. how often do you go shopping?
Questionnaire Organization
• Transitions
– Prior to major series of questions
– Can be used to branch respondents
• Complicated and Difficult to Answer
– Middle or close to end of questionnaire
• Classification and Demographic Questions
– Last section
– Could be sensitive questions
Questionnaire Organization
• Funnel Approach
– wide to narrow or general to specific
• Work Approach
– difficult to answer questions are placed deep in
the questionnaire
• Sections Approach
– arrange in logical sets
Very Important: the Pretest
• A pretest is a dry-run of the real thing
• Can reveal errors which need to be
corrected
• Look for common problems
• Can pretest both a representative sample
and a sample of experts
Five Desirable Qualities of
Question Writing
• The question should be focused on a single
issue or topic
• The question should be brief
• The question should be interpreted the same
way by all respondents
• The question should use the respondent’s
core vocabulary
• The question should be grammatically
simple
Errors to Avoid when Writing
Questions
• Should not assume criteria that are not
obvious
• Should not be beyond respondent’s ability
or experience
• Should not use a specific example to
represent a general case
• Should not request specific recall when
generalities will be remembered
Errors to Avoid when Writing
Questions
• Should not require respondents to guess a
generalization
• Should not ask for details that cannot be related
• Should not use wording that overstates a
condition
• Should not have ambiguous wording
Errors to Avoid when Writing
Questions
• Should not be double-barreled
• Should not lead the respondents to a particular
answer
• Should not have loaded wording or phrasing
Can you spot the sources of bias?
• Do you think a Porsche 911 is exorbitantly priced?
• Isn’t a Hyundai priced about as cheaply as a car can be?
• Should Americans buy a foreign car and hurt our economy or buy
American cars and help our economy?
• If you won a million dollar lottery, would you want to buy a rolls
Royce?
• The last time you saw a Cadillac ad, such as the ones that are
usually in the Sunday paper, what model was it promoting?
Precoding the Questionnaire
• Precodes are code numbers placed on the
questionnaire to facilitate data entry after
the survey has been conducted.
• Example
• Have you bought a pair of blue jeans in the
last three months?
• Yes (1)
No (2)
Unsure (3)
• The numbers in parenthesis are precodes
Cover Letters and Openers
• Cover letter and opening comments should
be tailored to specific groups
• Must interest respondent enough to fill out
survey
• Must overcome respondent’s concerns
about privacy
• Disguised surveys do not reveal client’s
name
Designing Observational Forms
• Observation form indicates what behavior is to be
watched and how it should be recorded
• Should achieve consistency, structure, and
completeness.
• Must pretest
• Build-Up Approach: observe, then decide on
categories
• Break-Down Approach: create categories first