Questionnaire Design

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Chapter 11

• Questionnaire Design

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Opinions

• Four men, a Saudi, a Russian, a North Korean, and
  a New Yorker are walking down the street. A
  marketing researcher says to them, Excuse me,
  what is your opinion on the meat shortage? The
  Saudi says, Whats a shortage? The Russian
  says, Whats meat? The Korean says, Whats an
  opinion? and the New Yorker says, Excuse me?
  Whats an excuse?

3

• Questionnaire
• Questionnaire is the vehicle of communication
  between researcher and survey respondents
• Questionnaires make it possible to quantify
  various aspects of the research that are being
  studied.
• Researchers follow a specific sequence of steps
  to design a questionnaire

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Designing the Questionnaire
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Designing the Questionnaire

• Questionnaire building
• is an art!

A questionnaire is always custom-built!
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Designing the Questionnaire (Contd.)

• Formatting the Question
• Decision to be made regarding the degree of
  freedom to be given to the respondents in
  answering the questions
• Alternatives
• Open ended with no classification
• Open ended where the interviewer uses precoded
  classifications to record the response
• Close ended or structured format in which a
  question or a supplementary card presents the
  responses to be considered

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• Factors that need to be considered when
  developing a questionnaire
• Respondent should understand the question
• Respondent must have adequate knowledge to answer
  the question
• Respondent should be willing to participate
  without any external coercion

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• Information collected by questionnaire
• Demographic data
• Respondent information based on age, sex,
  income, education, etc.
• Psychographic data
• Based on VALS (Values, Attitude, and Lifestyle)
• Eg Attitude of people towards credit
• Behavioral data
• Tracks the actual action taken by the consumer
  in terms of buying the product and the different
  ways in which the product is put to use

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Organization of a Typical Questionnaire
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• Question Format
• Open Vs Close ended
• Close-ended questions offer a set of choices,
  while open-ended questions give the respondent
  the freedom to provide his/her response.
• Close ended questions have the advantage of easy
  analysis,
• They also have a drawback in the sense that a
  thorough research has to be conducted and all
  possible options must be included in the response
  set.

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Question Format (contd)

• Direct vs. Indirect
• Direct questions avoid ambiguity regarding the
  question content and meaning while indirect
  questions probe the respondent by asking them to
  list choices of their friends or peers rather
  than their own.
• Examples It is common to discuss sexual
  preferences in the United States, but this is
  taboo in a lot of Asian cultures.

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Question Format (contd)

• Verbal vs. Non-verbal
• Most questionnaires are designed such that
  questions can be read out to respondents. E.g.
  Interviews, Mail Surveys Sometimes non-verbal
  cues become necessary. For E.g. Target sample
  consists of children or in countries where
  literacy levels are low.
• Examples of non verbals are Picture cards and
  other visual aids
• Note Visual aids can also be used in countries
  where literacy levels are high. This is usually
  done to ensure that the translation of the
  questionnaire has been done correctly.

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Types of Questions

• 1. Open-response question
• People look for different things in a job. What
  would you prefer most in a job?
• 2. Close-response question
• People look for different things in a job. What
  would you prefer most in a job?
• Work that pays well
• Work that gives a sense of accomplishment
• Work where you make most decisions by yourself
• Work that is steady with little chance of being
  laid off.

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Closed-response Questions

• What type of fast-food restaurant do you visit
  most often?
• ?Burger ?Mexican
• ?Chicken ?Pizza
• ?Seafood ?Chinese
• ?Dont know ?Other (please specify)

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Issues in Questionnaire Design

• Ideally, the multiple choices should be mutually
  exclusive.
• How many long-distance calls do make in a week?
• ? less than 5
• ? 5-10
• ? More than 10.

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Number of Response Categories

• Generally five to seven categories
• Ideally the multiple choices should be mutually
  exclusive

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Order of Response Categories

• Responses are likely to be affected by the order
  in which they are presented.
• What factor influences your fast-food restaurant
  choice most ?
• ? Convenient location
• ? Quality of food
• ? Menu selection
• ? Fast service
• ? Reasonable prices
• ? Brand name
• ? Cleanliness

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Order of Response Categories

• To prevent order bias, place the average or
  expected response at various positions in the
  sequence of categories

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Range of Response Categories

• Respondents who do not know the answer might take
  categories as cues.
• How many long-distance calls do make in a week?
• ? less than 5 ? less than 10
• ? 5-10 or ? 10-20
• ? More than 10. ? More than 20.

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Handling uncertainty

• Should respondents be provided with aDont know
  or No opinion option?
• Sometimes this is an easy way out
• Sometimes it is the true fact
• Error is introduced either way!

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• Wording
• Respondent base should decide wording
• Questions should be short and precise
• Break questions into smaller topics
• Keep questions free of bias and ambiguity

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Question Wording

• Avoid ambiguous words
• How many times per month do you visit a fast-food
  restaurant?
• ? Never
• ? Occasionally
• ? Sometimes
• ? Often

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Question Wording

• Are any questions "double-barreled?
• Are you satisfied with the price and the service
  of Taco Bell?

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Question Wording

• Is the question applicable to all respondents?
• Why do you like fast-food?
• Assumes that respondent likes fast-food.

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Pretesting and Correcting Problems

• Pretest Design
• Pretesting Specific Questions For
• Variation
• Meaning
• Task difficulty
• Respondent interest and attention
• Pretesting the Questionnaire
• Flow of the questionnaire
• Skip patterns
• Length
• Respondent Interest and Attention

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Tips on Questionnaire Design

• Designing a questionnaire for international
  marketing research involves a lot of preparation
  by the researcher. Following are some of the
  pitfalls to avoid when designing questionnaires
• Avoid using complicated words and long, complex
  sentences.
• Do not use words or phrases that are specific to
  one country or culture. They may not be
  understood by all respondents. This is
  particularly true of diverse cultures where the
  people speak many languages and dialects.
• Do not use double-barreled questions. A
  double-barreled question is one that combines two
  questions into one and creates ambiguity for the
  respondent. An example would be to ask
  respondents if they are satisfied with the price
  and quality of a product. Respondents who are
  satisfied with one but not the other will not be
  able to answer this question.

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Tips on Questionnaire Design (cont..)

• Do not use questions that are leading or loaded.
  These questions convey the opinion of the
  researcher and force the respondent to answer one
  way or another. Consider the question, Dont
  you agree that the Internet is a good source of
  information? This is a leading question that
  forces the respondent to answer in a manner that
  is acceptable to the researcher. A loaded
  question introduces a very subtle bias. What do
  you think is a good source of information---the
  Internet or some other medium? Is an example of
  a loaded question. Avoid using words and phrases
  that convey strong emotions to the respondent.

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Tips on Questionnaire Design (cont.)

• Instructions should not confuse the respondents.
  Keep the instructions short and precise.
• Avoid asking questions that are not applicable to
  respondents. Asking college students about
  desktop or laptop computer ownership in the
  United States is relevant. Asking the same
  question to college students in many developing
  countries may induce bias in the results

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• Translation
• Important for both verbal and non-verbal
• stimuli
• Translation-back-translation useful
• May not be possible to translate all words
• and phrases
• Pretesting helps ensure quality of translation

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• Cultural Issues
• Pay attention to social, psychological and
• ethnic aspects of society
• Concept should be familiar to the
• respondent

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• Construct Equivalence
• Functional equivalence
• Involves establishing that given concept of
  behavior serves the same purpose or function
  from country to country.
• Example In the United States bicycles are
  primarily used for recreation, but in several
  developing countries they serve as a mode of
  transportation. Hence in the U.S., the relevant
  competing products would be other recreational
  sports items. In other countries, the competing
  products could be other modes of transportation.

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Construct Equivalence

• Conceptual equivalence
• Deals with individual interpretation of objects
  and stimuli. The focus is on individual
  variations in attitudes and behavior rather than
  societal norms and behavior.( as was the case
  with functional equivalence)
• People from different cultures exhibit
  personality traits, such as aggression,
  authoritanism, or need for affiliation.
• Example In the U.K., engagement implies
  commitment to marry, whereas in Italy or Spain,
  it merely means having a boyfriend or girlfriend.

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Construct Equivalence

• Category equivalence
• Relates to categories in which relevant objects
  or other stimuli are placed.
• For Example In many countries beer is considered
  a soft drink.
• A lot of countries differ in the way they
  classify soft drinks, carbonated sodas, powdered
  or liquid concentrates, etc.
• Occupations are placed in different categories
  in different countries.

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Whats in a Name?

• Chevrolet launched its Nova in the Mexican
  market without giving any thought to the
  implications of the name, which, in Spanish,
  translated to does not go. There were no
  takers for a car that was called does not go.
• A sign in a zoo in Hungary had the following to
  say Please do not feed the animals. If you
  have any suitable food, give it to the guard on
  duty.
• Coors translated its slogan, Turn it loose,
  into Spanish, which read Suffer from Diarrhea.
• Nik Nak potato chips failed dismally in the
  United Arabic Emirates because the word means
  aphrodisiac in Arabic
• A restaurant in Switzerland had the following
  sign Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

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Whats in a Name? (cont.)

• Clairol introduced its Mist Stick, a curling
  iron, in Germany, only to find that mist is
  slang for manure in German.
• Pepsis Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation
  translated into Pepsi brings you ancestors back
  from the grave in Chinese.
• Dress shop in Hong Kong Ladies have fits
  upstairs.
• Cool-Piz and Pokari Sweat tried to penetrate
  the soft drink market in Korea and failed for
  obvious reasons.
• Online airline ticket office in Denmark proudly
  advertised We take your bags and send them in
  all directions.
• Sign in a hotel in Romania The lift is being
  fixed for the next day. During that time we
  regret that you will be unbearable.

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Randomized Response Technique

• PYes PYesS.Q PS.Q PYesI.Q
  PI.Q
• where
• S.Q Sensitive Question
• I.Q Innocent Question

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Exercises

• Why did you purchase a Sony brand Walkman?
• ? Price was lower than other alternatives
• ? Feel it represents the highest quality
• ? Availability of local service
• ? Sound is better
• ? Warranty is better
• ? Looks good

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Exercises

• Have you ever listened to a Long John Silvers
  radio commercial?
• Which of the following restaurants do you visit
  frequently?
• ? Burger King
• ? Pizza Hut
• ? James Coney Island

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Exercises

• Do you agree that, since fast-food restaurants
  produce a disproportionate amount of waste, they
  should be subject to an additional environmental
  tax?
• ? Yes
• ? No

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Exercises

• How often do you eat fast food?
• ? Daily
• ? Every second day
• ? Once a week
• ? Every two weeks