1. 1 Collecting primary data: questionnaires Week 7 lecture 2

2. 2 Agenda Questionnaire introduction When to use questionnaire Types of questionnaire Identify data to be collected by questionnaire Design individual questions in questionnaire

3. 3 Questionnaire Used extensively in survey research Can be used in experiment and case study research strategies Strict definition Surveys where the person answering the question actually records their own answers. Broad view Include all techniques of data collection in which each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions in a predetermined order.

4. 4 Important design issues It is far harder to produce a good questionnaire than you might think Issues to maximize response rates, validity and reliability Careful design of individual questions (item) Clear layout of the questionnaire form Lucid explanation of the purpose of the questionnaire Pilot testing

5. 5 When to use questionnaires Not particularly good for exploratory study or other research that requires large number of open-ended question What would be the most suitable data collection method for exploratory study? Is questionnaire a good way to collect user requirements? Work best with standardized questions that you can be confident will be interpreted the same way by all respondents. Descriptive or explanatory research

6. 6 When to use questionnaire Descriptive research Opinion, attitude and experience of something Eg. End-user satisfaction of a new system Explanatory research Cause-and-effect relationship between variables Eg. Would color scheme of an e-commerce website affect customers’ purchasing behavior Multi-method Eg. A questionnaire to discover customers’ attitudes followed by in-depth interviews to explore and understand these attitudes.

7. 7 When to use questionnaire To collect self-reported beliefs or behaviors. Behavior Attitudes/beliefs/opinions Expectations Self-classification Knowledge Data are usually quantified and analysed by computer program

8. 8 Types of questionnaire Self-administered questionnaires Completed by the respondents On-line questionnaires Postal or mail questionnaires Delivery and collection questionnaires Interviewer-administered questionnaires Responses are recorded by the interviewer Telephone questionnaires Structured interviews Interviewers physically meet respondents and ask the questions face to face.

9. 9 The choice of questionnaire Characteristics of the respondents from whom you wish to collect data Importance of reaching a particular person as respondent Importance of respondents’ answers not being contaminated or distorted Size of sample you require for your analysis Types of questions you need to ask to collect your data Number of questions you need to ask to collect your data. Available resources

10. 10 The choice of questionnaire It is difficult to know the actual respondents from online or postal questionnaire Possible contamination of respondents’ answers In telephone or structured interview, interviewer might lead to some certain response In self-administered questionnaire, respondents might discuss answers with others

11. 11 The choice of questionnaire Telephone or structure interview usually get high response rate (50%-70%) Postal or delivery and collection questionnaire can get moderate response rate (30%-50%) Online questionnaire usually get lowest response Hard to measure 30% within organization; 10% or lower for public Internet survey

12. 12 Deciding what data need to be collected Example Problem: towards the end of your information system project, you need to measure the satisfaction of your client Naïve solution: Email your client a short questionnaire contains two questions  1. Are you satisfied with the system we developed? YES/NO  2. Are you going to use the system in the future? YES/NO Declare success to course coordinator because client answer “yes” to both questions What’s the problem?

13. 13 Deciding what data need to be collected Theory Suggest constructs of questionnaire How do we measure End – User “satisfaction” of computer system?  Content, Accuracy, Format, Ease of Use, Timeliness How do we measure perception of adoption?  Voluntariness, Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Image, Ease of use, Result Demonstrability, Visibility, Trialability www.isworld.org is an excellent source for Information system survey instruments! www.isworld.org http://www.isworld.org/surveyinstruments/tutor.htm

14. 14 Type of data we collect through questionnaire Attribute Respondents’ generally background or some special characteristics Opinion Eg. Do you think the workload of this course is too high? Behavior What do respondents do? Eg. How often do you visit your dentist?

15. 15 Ensuring that essential data are collected What question (s) you want to answer from the questionnaire? What might influence a consumer to purchase online? What constructs you might need to answer those questions Online payment, Internet product choice, Internet customer relation, … What variables you need to collect data for those constructs Customer relation Want to know consumer’s opinion on: It is important to provide an easy return process It is important to provide quality after-sale service. How you might measure those variables Rating or scaling

16. 16 Using the data requirements table Research Objective: find student bloggers’ experience of using blog ConstructsVariables requiredDetail in which data measured Check included in questionnaire

17. 17 Designing the questionnaire Designing individual questions (items) Adopt questions used in other questionnaires See survey instruments in ISworld Lots of instruments (questions) reported in academic paper Adapt questions used in other questionnaires Develop your own

18. 18 Individual question style Open-ended question Respondents answer in their own words Closed-ended question Respondents choose a response from those provided Examples Why do you blog? (OPEN) Which one of the reason make you start your first blog () share daily activities as well as pictures with family member () share information on a particular hobby () it makes me look cool () other reasons

19. 19 Open vs. Closed Open-ended question Great freedom for respondent to answer Responses may be ambiguous Coding is time-consuming and costly which usually results in some degree of error Entail more work from respondents Closed-ended question Require less effort and less facility with words Difficult to develop good closed questions Recommendation for designing closed-end question: use open questions in preliminary interviews or pretests

20. 20 Closed question style List The respondent is given a list of choices, any of which may be selected Category Only one response can be selected Rank Respondent is asked to place something in order Rating or Scale (Likert style) A rating device is used to record response Quantity Response is a number giving the amount

21. 21 List questions Eg. Please choose all communication tools you ever used in campus. Internal Message Board WebCT E-mail Other ___________

22. 22 Category question Each respondent’s answer can only fit one category Eg. How often do you visit this shopping center Once a week Twice a week or more Less than once a week What’s wrong with this responses?

23. 23 Ranking question Should not ask respondent to rank more than four levels OK to offer more responses than being ranked In telephone questionnaire, should not ask respondent to rank more than four responses Rank-order the three most important things you want in the job you make your life’s work? (1 indicates the most important one 4 the least important one) ______Making a lot of money ______Being creative ______Being free from supervision ______Having opportunities for advancement

24. 24 Rating or Scale question Likert-style question Ask respondents how strongly they disagree or agree with a statement or a series of statements Odd number or even number scales Odd number offers a neutral choice Even number force respondents to make choice For the following statement please circle the number that matches your view most closely I feel that employee’s views have influenced the decisions taken by management. 12345 Strongly Disagree DisagreeNeutralAgreeStrongly Agree

25. 25 Quantity question Eg. When did you start writing blog? ________