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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms – step 7

Marketing research
Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
The questionnaire development process

Marketing research
Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Developing questions
“Did you see the broken headlight?” Don’t
know
“Did you see a broken headlight?” Yes
Question Bias refers to the ability of a question’s wording or format to influence respondents’ answers

Marketing research
Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
The 5 “Shoulds” of question wording
The question should be focused on a single issue or topic
“What type of hotel do you usually stay in when on a trip?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
A more focused version is:
“When you are on a family vacation and stay in a hotel at your destination, what type of hotel do you typically use?”
Good questionnaires are very specific in terms of identifying issues for respondents

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
2. The question should be brief
“What are the considerations that would come to your mind while you are confronted with the decision to have some type of repair done on the automatic icemaker in your refrigerator assuming that you noticed it was not making ice cubes as well as it did when you first bought it?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Parsimony is important in questionnaire design!
A better, brief format would be:
“If your icemaker was not working right, how would you correct the problem?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
3. The question should be interpreted the same way by all respondents
- “How many children do you have?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
- “How many children under the age of 18 live with you in your home?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
4. The question should use the respondent’s core vocabulary.
“Did the premiums offered by the store attract you to it?”
“Was the offer of a free gift a reason for your last visit to The Village clothing store?”
Core vocabularies differ from subculture to subculture and from one profession to another.

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
5. The question should be a grammatically simple sentence if possible.
- “If you were looking for an automobile that would be used by the head of your household who is primarily responsible for driving your children to and from school, music lessons, and friends’ houses, how much would you and your spouse discuss the safety features of one of the cars you took for a test drive?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
“Would you and your spouse discuss the safety features of a family care?”
If “yes”
“Would you discuss safety ‘very little’, ‘some’, ‘a good deal’, or ‘to a great extent’?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
The 10 “Should Nots” of question wording
1. The question should not assume criteria that are not obvious
When questions require respondents judgments, those judgments assume criteria.
- “How important do you think it is for a Circle K convenience store to have a well-lighted parking lot?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
A well-designed questionnaire specifies criteria upon which judgments should be based.
The better approach is to phrase the question as,
“How important is it for you that a Circle K store has a lighted parking lot?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
2. The question should not be beyond the respondent’s ability or experience.
Questions should not transcend the respondent’s experience.

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
3. The question should not use a specific example to represent a general case.
“Do you recall any advertising for Sears in the last week such as the inserts that are sometimes placed in your newspaper?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
The problem with using a specific example to represent a general case is that respondents will concentrate on a specific example.
- “Did you notice any newspaper, TV, radio or mailed adv. for Sears in the last week?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
4. The Question should not ask the respondent to recall specifics when only generalities will be remembered.
- “How much was the price per gallon of gasoline when you last bought some at a convenience store?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Keep in mind that respondents do not have a perfect memory. Do not ask questions that require respondents to recall specifics that they are not likely to remember.
- “The last time you bought gasoline at a convenience store, do you recall it costing more, less or about the same per gallon as at a gasoline station?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
5. The question should not require the respondent to guess a generalization.
“When you buy fresh fish at the supermarket, do you worry about its freshness?
“If you bought a new 35-millimeter automatic focus camera at a catalog showroom store, would you ask the store clerk about its warranty?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Instead of requiring the respondent to guess a generalization, ask a question with greater specificity.
“In the last 5 times you bought fresh fish at the supermarket, how many times did you worry about its freshness?
“Would you be ‘unlikely’, ‘somewhat likely’, ‘likely’, or ‘extremely likely’ to ask the clerk about the camera’s warranty?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
6. The question should not ask for details that cannot be related
Avoid questions that ask for information that is too detailed to remember.
“How many total minutes you have used e-mail?”
“How many persons have you send e-mail?”
“The total number of minutes spend on average during a day on e-mail?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
7. The question should not use words that overstate the condition
An overstated question might be:
- “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?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Overstatements, either positive or negative, should be replaced with neutral statements.
A more acceptable question wording would be:
- “How much would you pay for sunglasses that will protect your eyes from he sun’s rays?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
8. The question should not have ambiguous wording
2 forms of ambiguous can occur:
1. The question designer might use a word that has several legitimate connotations for any one respondent.
“When your puppy has an accident, do you discipline it?”
2. The question designer might inadvertently select a word that has different interpretations for different subgroups of respondents. (клубника)

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
9. The question should not be “Double-barreled”
“Were you satisfied with the food and service?”
Sometimes double-barreled questions are not as obvious.
_________full-time employment
_________full-time student
_________part-time student
_________unemployed
_________retired

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
10. The question should not lead the respondent to a particular answer.
A leading question is worded in such a way as to give the respondent a clue as to how to answer.
“Don’t you see some danger in the new policy?”
Rephrasing the question as:
- “ Do you see any danger in the new policy?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Cadillac owners will be satisfied car owners, won’t they?
Have you heard Celine Dion’s new CD everyone is talking about?
Closed-ended questions can be leading as well.
“How well do you like the Holiday Host Online Reservation Service?”
______extremely well
______very well
______pretty well
______not too well

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Discussion question:
Using a ____________ as the topic of a survey, define and give examples of questions that
Are leading
Are doubled-barreled
Use assumed criteria

Five Functions of Introduction
Identification of the surveyor/respondent
Undisguised
Disguised
Purpose of survey
Explanation of respondent selection
Request for participation/provide incentive
Incentives
Anonymity
Confidentiality
Screening of respondent
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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Typical question sequence
The organization of sets of questions should follow some understandable logic.
Question types:
Screens
- “Have you shopped a Gap in the past month?”
- “Is this your first visit to this store?”

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
2. Warm-up.
“How often do you go shopping?”
Sex ____m ____f
Name ______

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
3. Transitions (statements and questions)
“Now, for the next few questions, I want to ask about your family’s TV viewing habits”
“Next I am going to read several statements and, after each, I want you to tell me if you agree or disagree with this statement”
A skip question – is one whose answer affects which question will be answered next.

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
4. Complicated and difficult-to-answer questions
“Rate each of the following 10 stores on the friendliness of their sales-people on a scale of 1 to 7”.
“How likely are you to purchase each of the following items in the next three month?.

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
5. Classification and demographic questions
“What is the highest level of education you have attained?”
Questions about income level

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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms
Approaches to question flow
The funnel approach
The work approach
The section approach

Precoding the Questionnaire
Precoding: placement of numbers on the questionnaire to facilitate data entry after the survey has been conducted
Numbers are preferred for two reasons:
Numbers are easier and faster to keystroke into a computer file
Computer tabulation programs are more efficient when they process numbers
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Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms

Designing Observation Forms
Observation forms: prepared for the researchers to record the behaviors observed by researchers in observation studies
Structuring observational studies
Build-up and break-down approaches
Build-up: perform observations first, then build categories
Break-down: categories are created before observation and provided on observation forms
Marketing research
Chapter 10 – Designing data collection forms