COMMUNICATION ARTS RESEARCH A. PARICHART W. AND A. CHULAMANI C.

WRITING QUESTIONS IN QUESTIONNAIRE

OBJECTIVES To explain the types of the questions To introduce the general guidelines about writing questions

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

Two basic types of questions: Open-ended- requires respondents to generate their own answers. Ex. What type of television program do you prefer to watch most often? __________________________________________________________________________ Closed-ended- respondents select an answer from a list provided by the researcher. Ex. What type of television program do you prefer to watch most often? ____ Soap opera _____reality show ____game show _____ talk show _____ news

OPEN-ENDED QUESTION Pros Give freedom in answering questions Allow for answers that researchers did not foresee e.g. “ I have no idea.” Cons Amount of time to collect and analyze the responses. (content analysis groups common responses into categories

1. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: DICHOTOMOUS Provides a dichotomous response, usually “agree/disagree” or “yes/no.” Local television stations should have longer weather reports in the late evening news. ____ Agree ____ Disagree Provide enough info. About the purpose of the research?

2. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: MULTIPLE- CHOICE Allows respondents to choose an answer from several options. In general, televisions commercials tell the truth. __ All of the time__ Most of the time___ Some of the time___ Rarely___Never

EXAMPLE: NOT ALL POSSIBLE ANSWERS Ex. What is your favorite television stations? ____ TV 3 ____ TV 5 ____ TV 7 Not covered all possible answers

EXAMPLE: MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE Ex. How many years have you been working in the newspaper industry? ____ less than 1 year ____ 1 year to 3 years ____ 3 years or more The respondent can choose two options which is not good.

EXAMPLE: GOOD Ex. How many years have you been working in the newspaper industry? ____ less than 1 year ____ 1 year to 3 years ____ 4 years or more It should have one response option per question.

3. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: RATING SCALE They can be arranged horizontally or vertically. ____ Strongly agree (coded as 5) ____ Agree (coded as 4) ____Neutral (coded as 3) ____Disagree (coded as 4) ____Strongly disagree (coded as 5)

4. CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: RATING SCALE (SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALES) Ex. What is your opinion of the local news on Channel 9? Fair ___ ____ ____ ____ ____ Unfair (5) (4) (3) (2) (1) Ex. How do you perceive the term public television? Uninteresting ___ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Interesting Good ____ _____ _____ ______ _____ ____ ______ Bad

5.CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION: RANK-ORDERING TECHNIQUE Ex. Please rank your most favorite television station with 1 and least favorite station with 5. ____ channel 3 ____ channel 5 ____ channel 7 ____ channel 9 ____ channel 11 ____ Thai PBS ____ The nation - The list is alphabetical to avoid presentation bias. -Not recommended to let the respondents rank a dozen objects. Use checklist question in the pilot first. - The list is alphabetical to avoid presentation bias. -Not recommended to let the respondents rank a dozen objects. Use checklist question in the pilot first.

GENERAL GUIDELINES ABOUT WRITING QUESTIONS

1. MAKE QUESTIONS CLEAR What might be perfectly clear to researchers might be perfectly clear to the respondents. Ex. Why have you been listening more lately to Click radio? Ex. How many times do you visit MK restaurant?

2. KEEP QUESTIONS SHORT Short, concise, and clear questions are best. Especially, for the respondents who are in a hurry to complete a questionnaire.

3.REMEMBER THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH What is the media do you consume most last week? ___ TV___Radio____Magazine___Billboard___Poster How much do you like the jingle? ___1___2__3__4__5__6__7__8__9__10 But you want to know about the online media!! But you want to know about the poster element!!

4. DO NOT ASK DOUBLE-BARRELED QUESTIONS. It means the question that asks two or more questions in the same sentence. Ex. -Consider “The ABC network has programs that are funny and sexually explicit. Do you agree or disagree? -Have you ever seen and liked the new COCA advertising?

5. AVOID BIASED WORDS OR TERMS In your free time, would you rather read a book or just watch television? Where did you hear the news about the president’s new economic program? The word ‘just’ injects a pro-book bias The word ‘ hear’ injects a bias against the newspaper

6. AVOID LEADING QUESTIONS A leading questions suggests a certain response (either literally or by implication) ore contains a hidden premise. EX. -Like most American, do you read a newspaper everyday? -As online media is the most popular media, do you play Facebook everyday?

7. DO NOT USE QUESTIONS THAT ASK FOR HIGHLY DETAILED INFO. Few respondents could answer this question. EX. -In the past 30 days, how many hours of television have you viewed with your family? -How many hours did you spend watching television with your family yesterday?

8. AVOID POTENTIALLY EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS Most surveys need to collect some form of confidential or personal data, but an overly personal question may cause embarrassment and inhibit respondents from answering honestly. Ex. How much is your income?

REFERENCE Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (2011). Mass Media Research: An Introduction (9 th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.

IN-CLASS EXERCISE Design 6 questions for the questionnaire for the chosen research topic. Requirement: 1 question (filter/screening) if have 2 questions about demographics 2 questions about your topic

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