DESIGNING QUESTIONNAIRE

Introduction:
The questionnaire is a structured technique for collecting primary data in a marketing survey.
It is a series of written or verbal questions for which the respondent provides answers. A welldesigned questionnaire motivates the respondent to provide complete and accurate
information.
The survey questionnaire should not be viewed as a stand-alone tool. Along with the
questionnaire there is field work, rewards for the respondents, and communication aids, all of
which are important components of the questionnaire process.

Steps to Developing a Questionnaire:

The following are steps to developing a questionnaire - the exact order may vary somewhat.

Determine which information is being sought.

Choose a question type (structure and amount of disguise) and method of
administration
(for example, written form, email or web form, telephone interview, verbal interview).
Determine the general question content needed to obtain the desired information.
Determine the form of response.
Choose the exact question wording.
Arrange the questions into an effective sequence.
Specify the physical characteristics of the questionnaire (paper type, number of
questions per page, etc.)
Test the questionnaire and revise it as needed.

Required Information:
To determine exactly which information is needed, it is useful to construct tables into which
the data will be placed once it is collected.
The tables will help to define what data is needed and what is not needed.

Question Type and Administration Method:

Some question types include fixed alternative, open ended, and projective:

Fixed-alternativequestions provide multiple-choice answers.

These types of questions are good when the possible replies are few and clear-cut, such as
age, car ownership, etc.

Open-endedquestions allow the respondent to better express his/her answer, but are more
difficult to administer and analyze.
Often, open-ended questions are administered in a depth interview.
This technique is most appropriate for exploratory research.

Projective methodsuse a vague question or stimulus and attempt to project a person's

attitudes from the response.
The questionnaire could use techniques such as word associations and fill-in-the-blank
sentences.
Projective methods are difficult to analyze and are better suited for exploratory research than
for descriptive or causal research.
There are three commonly used rating scales: graphic, itemized, and comparative.
Graphic - simply a line on which one marks an X anywhere between the extremes with an
infinite number of places where the X can be placed.
Itemized - similar to graphic except there are a limited number of categories that can be
marked.
Comparative - the respondent compares one attribute to others.
Examples include the Q-sort technique and the constant sum method,
which requires one to divide a fixed number of points among the alternatives.
Questionnaires typically are administered via a personal or telephone interview or via a mail
questionnaire.
Newer methods include e-mail and the Web.

Question Content:
Each question should have a specific purpose or should not be included in the
questionnaire.The goal of the questions is to obtain the required information.This is not to say
that all questions directly must ask for the desired data.In some cases questions can be used to
establish rapport with the respondent, especially when sensitive information is being sought.
Sensitive questions can be posed in ways to increase response likelihood and to facilitate
more honest responses.Some techniques are:

Place the question in a series of less personal questions.

State that the behavior or attitude is not so unusual.
Phrase the question in terms of other people, not the respondent.
Provide response choices that specify ranges, not exact numbers.

Use a randomized response model giving the respondent pairs of questions with a
randomly assigned one to answer.
The interviewer does not know which question the person is answering,but the overall
percentage of people assigned to the sensitive question is known and statistics can be
calculated.

Ten steps to design a Questionnaire:

1. What are you trying to find out?
A good questionnaire is designed so that your results will tell you what you want to find out.
Start by writing down what you are trying to do in a few clear sentences, and design your
questionnaire around this.
2. How are you going to use the information?
There is no point conducting research if the results arent going to be used make sure you
know why you are asking the questions in the first place.
Make sure you cover everything you will need when it come to analysing the answers. e.g.
maybe you want to compare answers given by men and women. You can only do this if
youve remembered to record the gender of each respondent on each questionnaire.
3. Telephone, Postal, Web, Face-to-Face?
There are many methods used to ask questions, and each has its good and bad points. For
example, postal surveys can be cheap but responses can be low and can take a long time to
receive, face-to-face can be expensive but will generate the fullest responses, web surveys
can be cost-effective but hit and miss on response rates, and telephone can be costly, but will
often generate high response rates, give fast turnaround and will allow for probing.
4. Qualitative or Quantitative?

Do you want to focus on the number e.g. 87% of respondents thought this, or are you more
interested in interpreting feedback from respondents to bring out common themes?
The method used will generally be determined by the subject matter you are researching and
the types of respondents you will be contacting.
5. Keep it short. In fact, quite often the shorter the better.
We are all busy, and as a general rule people are less likely to answer a long questionnaire
than a short one.
If you are going to be asking your customers to answer your questionnaire in-store, make sure
the interview is no longer than 10 minutes maximum (this will be about 10 to 15 questions).

If your questionnaire is too long, try to remove some questions. Read each question and ask,
How am I going to use this information? If you dont know, dont include it!
6. Use simple and direct language.
The questions must be clearly understood by the respondent. The wording of a question
should be simple and to the point. Do not use uncommon words or long sentences.
7. Start with something general.
Respondents will be put-off and may even refuse to complete your questionnaire if you ask
questions that are too personal at the start (e.g. questions about financial matters, age, even
whether or not they are married).
8. Place the most important questions in the first half of the questionnaire.
Respondents sometimes only complete part of a questionnaire. By putting the most important
items near the beginning, the partially completed questionnaires will still contain important
information.
9. Leave enough space to record the answers.
If you are going to include questions which may require a long answer e.g. ask someone why
they do a particular thing, then make sure you leave enough room to write in the possible
answers. It sounds obvious, but its so often overlooked!
10. Test your questionnaire on your colleagues.
No matter how much time and effort you put into designing your questionnaire, there is no
substitute for testing it. Complete some interviews with your colleagues BEFORE you ask the
real respondents. This will allow you to time your questionnaire, make any final changes, and
get feedback from your colleagues.