Questionnaire Design

In: Marketing Research

Survey Research Methodology
Survey Research:
Surveys are a quantitative research
methodology that consists of a set of
questions with predetermined answer
choices from which participants must
chose.
 Features of survey research

• It can either be open-ended or close ended..

• It can be administered by a researcher either
in phone or over the phone.
• It can also be self – administered whereby it
could be sent via the postal service or put
online.
 Purpose of survey research

Marketing Mix Element Possible Research Issues

• Customer • Satisfaction of current segment toward
product
• Find new customer segment to target
• Product with product
• Preferred benefits of current product
• Promotion • Benefits desired from new product
• Awareness of promotional campaign to
• Price motivate purchase
• Appropriate pricing level
• Effect of price increase on purchase
behaviour
• Place
• Location where product should be sold
• Ease of purchase process
Questionnaire development needs
• The development of a survey should be a joint
undertaking between management and
marketing researchers.
• Both participants and data entry clerks should
also be considered when designing a
questionnaire.
• Questionnaire should also include questions on
demographic and geographic characteristics of
consumers.
• Questions should be simple and easy to
understand.
The Questionnaire Design Process
• Meet with management to determine
question topic areas
• Write draft survey
• Review draft with management
• Write coding into answers and lay out
questionnaire
• Test survey
 Survey issues
• Management – that it asks the right questions
• Participants – that it includes questions that
can be easily answered
• Surveyor administrator – that the questions
are clearly written
• Data entry clerk – that the form makes it
simple to enter data
 1.Question topic areas
• Management and the marketing researchers to work
together during the process.

• It is also the researchers’ responsibility to explain that the

questions suggested by the management is too broad or
too complex to be answered.

• Any questions needed to qualify participants for the study

and any demographic questions need to be discussed.

• For example, a survey designed to answer the question of

what factors motivate young people when purchasing a car
might include question topic areas on preferred price,
design and power.
 2.Writing the draft and management
review
GUIDELINES:
• Once the topic outline and sample questions have been
approved a draft survey needs to be created.
• Drafts of the survey form are created and reviewed until
everyone is satisfied .
• The exact wording of the questions also needs to be
reviewed.
• This process might to be repeated any number of times.
• Translation issues that must be addressed for country
surveys.
• The organization and design of the physical layout of the
form also need to be discussed.
 3. Coding the question answers
• At this stage, answers in words will need to be converted into
numbers referred to as ‘coding’.
• It should be designed as part of the survey form and not
added later.
• It will save time and effort when the data are entered into a
computer software program.
Coding example:
AGREE NEITHER AGREE DISAGREE
NOR DISAGREE
THE PRODUCT IS WELL 1 2 3
DESIGNED
THE PRODUCT COLOR IS 1 2 3
ATTRACTIVE
 4. Pretesting the survey form

• All survey forms should be pretested by

examining the content and wording of questions
• Each question should be one that the participant
can and is willing to answer.
• Besides the questions, the answers should also
be examined.
• The form of each question should be examined
• The instructions should be tested to ensure that
they are written in an easily understood format.
 Pretesting the survey form
TYPES:

• PARTICIPANT TESTING
• METHODOLOGY TESTING
• DATA ENTRY TESTING
• TESTING OF QUESTIONNAIRE FORM
 Writing the Questions and Answers
General guidelines for question writing:
1. The questions should not be hypothetical as
some people will have difficulty imagining
such situations.
For example:
Problem Question:. How should manufacturers
change cars so that they get better gas mileage?
Rewritten Question:. How important is high gas
mileage to you when you purchase a car?
 General guidelines for question
writing:
2. Use simple terms
Researchers should always write the question using
words that are commonly understood.

For example:

• Problem Question: What means of transport did

you use to visit this establishment?
• Rewritten Question: How did you get to the store
today?
 General guidelines for question
writing:
3. Reading level:.
Reading level involves the number of words in a
sentence, the sentence's grammatical structure, and the
length of the words used.

FOR EXAMPLE:
• Problem Question: In terms of motivational desires,
what would you consider of primary importance?
• Rewritten Question: What was the most important
reason why you bought our product?
 General guidelines for question
writing:
4. Ask one question at a time
Researchers should not ask two questions
simultaneously as well as should try to keep the
survey form short and simple.
For example:
Problem Question: How did you travel to the store
today and did you encounter any difficulty?
Rewritten Question: How did you travel to the
store today? How convenient was this method of
transportation?
 General guidelines for question
writing:
5. Avoid the passive voice
Researchers should try to ask the respondents
about their own activities rather than questions
that ask when ‘a person’ or ‘someone’ has done
something.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Problem Question: How enjoyable is a visit to the
theatre?
Rewritten Question: Did you enjoy your visit to the
theatre this evening?
 General guidelines for question
writing:
6. Writing questions in more than one language
• Utmost care should be taken when the
questionnaire has to be translated in more than
one language.
• Translation may be necessary even when a
questionnaire is being used in only one country
For example:
Simple words such as ‘miserable’, ‘disgusted’, or
‘thrilled’ will be difficult to translate.
 Writing the answers
There are several ways that participants can be
instructed to answer a question. These are as
follows:
• Fill-in-the-blank,
• Dichotomous,
• Forced choice,
• Multiple choice,
• Checklist, rating and
• Ranking responses
 Writing the answers
1.Fill-in-the-blank
These are Open-ended questions, where
respondents are only provided with a blank line, are
used when researchers do not wish to lead
participants.

For example:
Question: Why did you enroll in this course?
Answer: ____________
 Writing the answers
2. Dichotomous choice
A dichotomous choice answer allows respondents
to choose one of two responses that are usually
opposite.

For example:

Question: Is love of learning one of the reasons

why you enrolled in this course?
Answer: ____________Yes ____________No
 Writing the answers
3. Forced choice
• A forced choice question asks respondents to choose
between two responses whereby, the responses do not
need to be opposites.
• They are used to determine which of the two responses is
more important.

FOR EXAMPLE:
• Question: Which of these reasons more strongly motivated
you to enroll in this course?
• Answer: ____________Like to take mid-afternoon class
____________Heard the professor was friendly
 Writing the answers
4.Multiple choice
Researchers can choose MCQ’s , when they have a number of
variables that might affect the choice . The answers would then
list the motivations that were uncovered during earlier
exploratory research.
For example:
Question: What was the main reason you enrolled in this course?
Answer:
____________The right amount of outside classwork is given
____________The professor is friendly
____________It will help me get a job
____________It was scheduled at a convenient time
____________None of the above
____________Other: ____________
 Writing the answers
5. Checklist choice
A checklist can include many more possible answers by
allowing participants to choose as many variables as apply.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Question: Which of the following were reasons why you enrolled in this
course?
Answer:
____________The right amount of outside classwork is given
____________The professor is friendly
____________It will help me get a job
____________It was scheduled at a convenient time
____________I love learning about marketing
____________My friend enrolled on the course
____________I heard the professor gave good grades/marks
 Writing the answers
6. Ranking choice
It allows participants to indicate not only which of the reasons
apply, but also the relative importance of each reason.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Question: Of the reasons listed below, chose the top three that affected your
decision to enroll on this course. (Use 1 to indicate ‘most important’, 2 to
indicate ‘second most important,’ 3 to indicate ‘third most important’.)
Answer:
____________The right amount of outside classwork is given
____________The professor is friendly
____________It will help me get a job
____________It was scheduled at a convenient time
____________I love learning about marketing
____________My friend enrolled on the course
 Writing the answers
7. Rating question:
A rating question will allow respondents to choose more than
one answer and also to rank the importance of each.
For example:
Question: Rate how each of the following reasons influenced
your decision to enroll in this course?
Answer:
Agree No effect Disagree
The professor is friendly ____ ____ ____
It will help me get a job ____ ____ ____
It was scheduled at a convenient time ____ ____ ____
I love learning about marketing ____ ____ ____
 Question sequence

• The questionnaire's layout should ensure the

form is easy to use and to read.
• It should look attractive so that people will be
motivated to read the questions.
• The routing of the participant through the
questionnaire should be clearly explained.
 Question sequence
Following sequence should be followed while
formulating the questionnaire:

• Qualifying questions
• Demographic questions
• Easy to answer questions
• In-depth questions
• Sensitive questions
 Electronic Survey Forms
• If a form is to be administered online, the same
development process must take place as with the
case of traditional survey research.
• The form can be designed so that only one
question can be seen at a time and routing can
be automatic .
• The answers can be constructed using graphics
and drop down boxes.
• Radio buttons can be used for answers and
photos or products and logos can be shown
instead of words.
 Rules For Designing The Online
Survey Form
RAND is a nonprofit organization that sponsors research and
analysis. RAND decided to take a look at best practice in the
new area of online surveying. They developed the following
criteria for a successful online form.
1. List only a few questions per screen
2. Eliminate unnecessary questions
3 .Use graphics sparingly
4. Be aware of how respondents may interpret questions in
light of accompanying graphics
5 .Use matrix questions sparingly
6. Reduce response errors by restricting response choices
7. Force answers only on rare occasions
 Rules For Designing The Online
Survey Form
8. Make error/warning messages as specific as possible
9. Always password protect Web surveys
10.Ensure that respondents’ privacy and their perception
of privacy are protected
11. Provide some indication of survey progress
12.Allow respondents to interrupt and then re-enter the
survey
13. Carefully handle respondents who fail a screening test
14. Give respondents something in return
Thank you!!!