Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 1 Basic Marketing Research: Using Microsoft Excel Data Analysis, 3 rd edition Alvin C. BurnsLouisiana State University Ronald F. BushUniversity of West Florida

Types of Data Collection Forms There are two types of data collection forms: Survey Questionnaires: used when collecting responses to surveys Observation Forms: used to collect data in observation studies Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 2

6 Functions of a Questionnaire It translates research objectives into specific questions. It standardizes those questions and response categories. It fosters cooperation and keeps respondents motivated. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 3

6 Functions of a Questionnaire, Continued... They serve as permanent records of the research. A questionnaire may speed up the process of data analysis. They may be used in reliability assessments and respondent participation validation. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 4

Questionnaire Design Process Questionnaire design is a systematic process in which the researcher contemplates various question formats, considers a number of factors characterizing the survey at hand, ultimately words the various questions very carefully, and organizes the questionnaire’s layout. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 5

Steps in the Questionnaire Development Process– See page 177 Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 6

Developing Questions Question development is the practice of selecting appropriate response formats and wording questions so that they are understandable, unambiguous, and unbiased. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 7

How Wording Affects Answers Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 8 Did you see… A broken headlight? The broken headlight? Which generates more agreement?

Words to Avoid in Question Development Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 9

Words to Avoid in Question Development, Continued… Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 10

Question Evaluation Question evaluation refers to scrutinizing the wording of a question to ensure the question is not biased and is worded such that respondents understand it and can respond to it with relative ease. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 11

Four “Do’s” of Question Wording 1. The question should be focused on a single issue or topic. The researcher must stay focused on the specific issue or topic “What type of hotel do you usually stay in when on a trip?”, “Is it a business or pleasure trip?”, “Is the hotel at a place en route or at the final destination?” Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 12

Four “Do’s” of Question Wording, Cont. 2. The question should be brief. Brevity will help the respondent to comprehend the central question and reduce the distraction or wordiness 3. The question should be grammatically simple, if possible. The more complex the sentence, the greater the potential for respondent error Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 13

Four “Do’s” of Question Wording, Cont. 4. The question should be crystal clear. All respondents should see the question identically “How many children do you have?” is unclear because it can be interpreted in various ways. One respondent might think of only those children living at home, whereas another might include children from a previous marriage. A better question is “How many children under the age of 18 live with you in your home?” Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 14

Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording Questions should not be: Leading Loaded Double-barreled Overstated Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 15

Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording 1.Do not “lead” the respondent to a particular answer A leading question gives the respondent a strong cue or expectation as to how to answer, therefore biasing responses Questions can be leading based on structure, content, and/or delivery. See MRA 8.2 Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 16

Don’t you think fast foods have too many calories? is a leading question. Why? Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 17

Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording 2.Do not have “loaded” wording or phrasing. Loaded questions are biased but they differ from leading questions in that they contain wording elements that make reference to universal beliefs or rules of behavior “Since our founding fathers gave us the right to own guns, are you in favor of proposed laws restricting gun ownership?” Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 18

Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording 3.Do not use “double-barreled” questions A double-barreled question is really two questions posed in one question “Were you satisfied with the restaurant’s food and service?” Sometimes, double-barreled questions are not obvious How can someone who is retired and a full-time student answer if they can only choose one? See p Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 19

Four “Do Not’s” of Questionnaire Wording 4.Do not use words to overstate the condition. An overstated question is one that places undue emphasis on some aspect of the topic. It uses what might be considered “dramatics” to describe the topic “How much do you think you would pay for a pair of sunglasses that will protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, which are known to cause blindness?” Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 20

Do or Do Not Examples Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 21

Do or Do Not Examples, Continued... Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 22

Questionnaire Organization Questionnaire organization is the sequence of statements and questions that make up the questionnaire. It is important because the questionnaire appearance and ease of flow affect the quality of the information gathered. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 23

Questionnaire Organization- The Introduction If the introduction is written to accompany a mail survey or online survey, it is normally referred to as a cover letter If the introduction is to be verbally presented, as in the case of a personal interview, it may be referred to as the “opening comments” Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 24

Functions of the Questionnaire Introduction Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 25

Screening Questions Screening questions are used to ferret out respondents who do not meet research study qualifications. Research objectives should specify who should and should not be included in the research study. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 26

Question Flow Question flow pertains to the sequencing of questions or blocks of questions, including any instructions, on the questionnaire. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 27

Question Location on a Questionnaire is Logical Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 28

Skip Questions A skip question is one whose answer affects which question will be asked next If the researcher has a great number of transition and skip questions, it may be a good idea to create a flow chart of the questions to ensure that there are no errors in the instructions. Online questionnaires typically have a skip logic function that handles these transitions automatically Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 29

Classification Questions Classification questions, which almost always include demographic questions, are used to classify respondents into various groups for purposes of analysis The placement of classification questions such as these at the end of the questionnaire is useful because some respondents will consider certain demographic questions “personal” Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 30

Computer-Assisted Questionnaire Design Computer-assisted questionnaire design: refers to software programs that allow researchers to use computer technology to develop and disseminate questionnaires and, in some cases, to retrieve and analyze data gathered by the questionnaire. Functions include: Questionnaire creation Data collection and creation of data files Data analysis and graphs Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 31

Coding the Questionnaire Coding questions refers to the use of numbers associated with question response options to facilitate data analysis after the survey has been conducted Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 32

Basic Rules of Question Coding Every closed-ended question should have a code number associated with every possible response Use single-digit code numbers, beginning with 1, incrementing them by one and using the logical direction of the response scale Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 33

Basic Rules of Question Coding, Continued... Use the same coding system for questions with identical response options regardless of where these questions are positioned in the questionnaire When possible, set up the coding system before the questionnaire is finalized Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 34

Basic Rules of Question Coding, Continued... Remember that a “check all that apply” question is simply a special case of “yes” or “no” question, so use a 1 (yes) and 0 (no) coding system. You will want to consider each concept being tested as a separate question Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 35

Examples of Coding on the Final Questionnaire Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 36

Examples of Coding on the Final Questionnaire, Continued... Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 37

Performing the Pretest of the Questionnaire A pretest involves conducting a dry run of the survey on a small, representative set of respondents in order to reveal questionnaire errors before the survey is launched. It is important to pretest on respondents that are representative of the target population to be studied. Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 38

Copyright Protected Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8- 39