Research Methodology 35

Unit 4 - Questionnaire designing

Notes
Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Questionnaire Design Process
a) Information needed
b) Construction of the questionnaire
c) Content of the questionnaire
d) Types of the questions
e) Wording of the questions
f) Sequence of the questions
g) Layout of the questionnaire
h) Pre-testing of the questionnaire
i) Final draft of the questionnaire
4.3 Ethical issues related to the questionnaire
4.4 Summary

Objectives
 To understand what is questionnaire and its objectives
 To understand the various steps involved in the questionnaire designing including
content of the questionnaire, wording , sequence ,whom to ask ,what to say etc
 To consider the guidelines that must be followed at each step.
 To understand the ethical issues involved in questionnaire design

4.1 Introduction
A questionnaire is a formalized set of questions for obtaining information from
respondents. It is the basic research tool and can be described as a collection of formalized
set of questions - drawn up with the research problem in mind - used for obtaining
information from the respondents for finding solutions to the research problem.

4.2 Questionnaire Design Process

a)Information needed : Before designing a questionnaire ,one should always focus on
the type of the information needed for example whether the motive of the research is find
the consumer perception or is to study the marketing strategies of a particular company
.The questionnaire for both the cases will be different .

b )Construction of the questionnaire : the analysis of the content of the each

question results in construction of the questionnaire ; why is it been included ,types of
questions ,their sequence, their wording, the final layout of the questions and final output
in the form of the questionnaire .

c) Contents of the questionnaire: Only those questions seeking the required

information should be used. So, if we require specific information regarding a
profession, or, if we are targeting children /adults we should ask relevant questions
pertaining to adults or children as the case may be, questions may be used keeping
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in mind the target respondents .The respondents should at least know the type and
the level of expected questions expected .Questions seeking specific details about
Notes the data and time of events should be avoided. Care must be taken in designing the
questions seeking information or personal facts such as sex, life, bad habits or status
symbol .A single question may be split into multiple questions for better response from
the respondents.

Thus, following points must be considered while deciding on the content of the
questionnaire:

1) Is the Question Necessary?

2) Are Several Questions Needed Instead of One?

Sometimes, several questions are needed to obtain the required information in an
unambiguous manner. Consider the question,

“Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft drink?” (Incorrect)

Such a question is called a double-barreled question, because two or more questions

are combined into one. To obtain the required information, two distinct questions should
be asked:

“Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty soft drink?” and

“Do you think Coca-Cola is a refreshing soft drink?” (Correct)

3) Overcoming the inability to answer

 In situations where not all respondents are likely to be informed about the topic
of interest, filter questions that measure familiarity and past experience should be
asked before questions about the topics themselves.
 A “don’t know” option appears to reduce uninformed responses without reducing
the response rate.
How many gallons of soft drinks did you consume during the last four weeks?
(Incorrect)

How often do you consume soft drinks in a typical week? (Correct)

1. ___ Less than once a week

2. ___ 1 to 3 times per week

3. ___ 4 to 6 times per week

4. ___ 7 or more times per week

4) Overcoming Unwillingness to answer; Effort required of the Respondents

Most respondents are unwilling to devote a lot of effort to provide information. This
may be because of the following reasons:

Context
 Respondents are unwilling to respond to questions which they consider to be
inappropriate for the given context.
 The researcher should manipulate the context so that the request for information
seems appropriate.

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Legitimate Purpose
 Explaining why the data are needed can make the request for the information
seem legitimate and increase the respondents’ willingness to answer.
Notes

Sensitive Information
 Respondents are unwilling to disclose, at least accurately, sensitive information
because this may cause embarrassment or threaten the respondent’s prestige or
self-image.
 Please list all the departments from which you purchased merchandise on your
most recent shopping trip to a department store. (Incorrect)
 In the list that follows, please check all the departments from which you purchased
merchandise on your most recent shopping trip to a department store.
1. Women’s dresses ____

2. Men’s apparel ____

3. Children’s apparel ____

4. Cosmetics ____

16. Jewelry

17. Other (please specify) ____ (Correct)

To Increase the willingness of the respondents, the following points should be

considered:
1. Place sensitive topics at the end of the questionnaire.
2. Preface the question with a statement that the behavior of interest is common.
3. Ask the question using the third-person technique phrase the question as if it
referred to other people.
4. Hide the question in a group of other questions which respondents are willing to
answer. The entire list of questions can then be asked quickly.
5. Provide response categories rather than asking for specific figures.
6. Use randomized techniques.

d ) Types of the Questions

There are basically three types of questions that are generally used in the market
surveys:

1. Open-ended questions
2. Multiple choice Questions
3. Dichotomous Questions
Open -ended questions : It requires the respondents to express freely their views/
ideas in their own words .the degree of openness varies from question to question .For
example ,the question “What do you think about the ice cream ?” gives the respondents
total freedom to talk about on any brand ,flavor etc .

Advantages:
1. It avoids persuading the respondents with a pre -stated set of response categories.

2. It is helpful for problem identification and exploratory research.

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3. Open-ended questions provide the basis for the researcher to judge the actual
Notes values and the views of the respondents.

Disadvantages:
1. It is more time -consuming
2. The response obtained maybe so varied that it may be impossible to arrive at a
conclusion
3. Coding or categorizing the respondent’s answers is a very costly and laborious
act
Multiple Choice Questions: The questions for which we have a number of choices
as answer are called multiple choice questions. The question may be provided with two or
more options and the respondents is to select any one of them which he thinks is the best.

Advantages:
1. It is easier for both the interviewer and the respondents
2. It tends to reduce the interviewer bias and bias caused by varying levels of
respondents articulation
3. The tabulation and analysis in multiple choice questions is much simpler.

Disadvantages:
1. To develop a sound set of multiple choice questions considerable effort is required
2. The list of potential answers can cause several types of distortions in the resulting
data
3. Too many questions and choices make the questionnaire monotonous.

Dichotomous Questions:
A question having two possible responses is considered to be dichotomous.
Dichotomous questions are often used in surveys that ask for a Yes/No, True/False or
Agree/Disagree response. Often, the two alternatives of interest are supplemented by a
neutral alternative, such as “no opinion,” “don’t know,” “both,” or “none.”

 Please enter your gender

Male Female

e) Wording of Questionnaire
Question wording can be defined as the translation of the desired question content
and structure into words that the respondent can clearly and easily understand. Question
wording is the most complex, critical and difficult task in designing a questionnaire

1) Errors due to Wording:

 Item Non-Response: Error arising due to poor question wording and subsequent
low quality response from the respondent.
 Response Error: Error arising due to divergence in interpretation of the question
by the respondent and the interviewer

2) Typical Wording Issues

Define the Issues As Clearly As Possible. The issues or the objectives should be
defined as clearly as possible, for example--

 Which brand of shampoo do you use?( Issue not defined, vague)

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Research Methodology 39
 Which brand or brands of shampoos have you personally used at home during
the last one month? In case of more than one brand, please list all the brands that Notes
apply?( Issue defined, explicit)

Use ordinary words

The wording of the questions should be as simple as possible so that the respondents
can easily understand .Always avoid usage of the technical terms or the jargons

 Do you think that the distribution of soft drink is adequate? (Incorrect)

 Do you think that the soft drinks are readily available when you want to buy?
(Correct)

Use unambiguous words

Ambiguity always leads to the confusion and thus should always be avoided, for
example--

 In a typical month how often do you shop in a departmental store?

1. Never
2. Occasionally
3. Sometimes
4. Often
5. Regularly

 In a typical month how often do you shop in a departmental store?

1. Once a month
2. Twice a month
3. 3 to 5 times in a month
4. More than 5 times

In the above example we can see, in the first question the options given can be
misinterpreted by the responded as each responded can have a different meaning to the
words given like sometimes, often regularly but in the second question the options are
specific and measureable and doesn’t lead to any ambiguity or confusion.

f) Sequence of the Questionnaire

 The order in which questions are put in a questionnaire may significantly affect
the response rate
 The opening questions should be interesting, simple, and non-threatening.
 Asking questionnaires which require resondents to give personal details at the
beginning of the questionnaire is generally not recommended
 Qualifying questions should serve as the opening questions.
 Basic information should be obtained first, followed by classification, and, finally,
identification information.
 Difficult, sensitive, or complex questions should be placed late in the sequence.
 General questions should precede the specific questions.
 Questions should be asked in a logical order.
 Branching questions should be designed carefully to cover all possible
contingencies.

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 The question being branched should be placed as close as possible to the question
causing the branching, and (2) the branching questions should be ordered so that
Notes
the respondents cannot anticipate what additional information will be required.

g) Layout of the Questionnaire

The layout of questions can also influence the answers of the respondents. Good,
simple and visually appealing layouts are a must for mail surveys, but also can be useful
in personal and telephone interviews.

Factors to consider in questionnaire layout:

 Don’t overcrowd the questionnaires
 Use margins of adequate size
 Use white space if needed to seperate sections of the questionnaire
 Keep questionnaires as brief as possible
 Use a booklet instead of stapled form
 Use good quality paper
 Ensure that the title and subtitles of the questionnaire and questionnaire sections
are carefully phrased and captures the respondents attention
 Include a privacy and confidentiality mention.

h) Pre-testing of the questionnaire

 Pretesting is a very useful method for determining whether respondents have any
difficulty understanding the questionnaire and wther the questions are ambiguous
or can lead possibly to biased answers
 Pretesting ensures that costly errors in questionnaires which are given to a large
number of respondents is avoided and that damage to the image of the researchers
is avoided
 The respondents involved in a pretest should be similar in essence to the target
respondents of the research
 Personal interviewers are often used for pretesting in order to ascertain why
questions appear ambiguos or confusing etc. to respondents, and to solicit their
comments
 Pretesting provide answers to important questions for the business researcher,
such as:
 Can the questionnaire format be followed by the interviewers?
 Does the questionnaire flow naturally and conversationally?
 Can respondents answer the questions easily?
 Which alternative forms of questions work best?

i) Final draft of the Questionnaire

After the pretesting process ,some questions can be eliminated from the questionnaire
,some close - ended questions may be changed to multiple choice questions or the
sequence may be changed .Wording may also be changed and extra questions may be
added to ensure a good questionnaire .

4.3 Ethical Issues Related to Designing the Questionnaire

Several ethical issues related to the researcher respondent relationship and the
researcher client relationship may have to be addressed in designing the questionnaire.
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Research Methodology 41
1. Respondents are volunteering their time and should not be overburdened
by soliciting too much information .the researcher should avoid overly long
Notes
questionnaires.
2. Sensitive questions deserve special attention .On one hand, candid and honest
responses are needed to generate meaningful findings .On the other hand, the
researcher should not invade respondents privacy or cause them undue stress .
3. An important researcher -client issue is piggybacking, which occurs when a
questionnaire contains questions pertaining to more than one client .this is often
done in omnibus panels that different clients can use to field their questions
.in these cases, all clients must be aware of and consent to the arrangement
.Unfortunately, it is sometimes used without the knowledge of the client which is
something unethical.
4. Finally, the researcher has the ethical responsibility of designing the questionnaire
so as to obtain the required information in an unbiased manner.

Summary
Questionnaire is one of the most important tools to collect the quantitative data. It
must translate the information needed into a set of specific questions that the respondents
can and will answer. It must motivate the respondents to respond and must also help in
reducing the errors. The designing of a questionnaire is an art .The first and the foremost
step is to analyze the information needed and the type of the interviewing method .the next
step is to decide on the content of the questionnaire. The question should overcome the
respondent’s inability and unwillingness to answer. Then comes the decision regarding
the structure of the questions .The questions can be structured or unstructured.

Determining the wording of the questions involves defining the issues, using ordinary
words, using unambiguous words and using the dual statements. Once the questions
have been worded, the order in which they will be asked should be decided. Special
considerations should be given to the opening questions, type of the information, difficult
questions, and the effect of the subsequent questions. A logical order should be maintained.

Next step is of determining the form and the layout of the questionnaire .The
questionnaire should be easy to read and well formatted. Last step is the pretesting.
Moreover, several ethical issues related to the researcher-respondent relationship and
the researcher-client relationship may have to be addressed. Use of IT can also help the
researcher in designing a sound questionnaire

Check your progress

1. Which type of questionnaire is helpful for problem identification and exploratory

research?
a) Open-ended questions
b) Multiple choice Questions
c) Dichotomous Questions
d) Close ended question

2. Which type of questionnaire tends to reduce the interviewer bias and bias caused by
varying levels of respondent’s articulation, also the simplest to analyze data?
a) Open-ended questions
b) Multiple choice Questions

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c) Dichotomous Questions
Notes d) Close ended question

3. A question having two possible responses is considered to be______________.

a) Open-ended questions
b) Multiple choice Questions
c) Dichotomous Questions
d) Close ended question

4. _____________ is one of the most important tools to collect the quantitative data.
a) Sampling technique
b) Scaling method
c) Questionnaire
d) Experimental method

5. Before designing a questionnaire, what is the prime thing one should considered?
a) Content of the questionnaire
b) Structure of the questionnaire
c) Type of the questionnaire
d) Information needed

6. When two or more question combine together to form a question is ____________________

a) Filter questions
b) Barreled question
c) Multiple choice
d) Double-barreled question

7. Which type of questionnaire is more time consuming and very costly?

a) Open-ended questions
b) Multiple choice Questions
c) Dichotomous Questions
d) Close ended question

8. What is the most complex, critical and difficult task in designing a questionnaire
structure?
a) Sequence of questionnaire
b) Words of questionnaire
c) Layout of questionnaire
d) Pre-testing of questionnaire

9. ______________is a very useful method for determining whether respondents have

any difficulty understanding the questionnaire and wther the questions are ambiguous.
a) Sequence of questionnaire
b) Words of questionnaire
c) Layout of questionnaire

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Research Methodology 43
d) Pre-testing of questionnaire
Notes
10. Which is most important factor to be considered in questionnaire layout?
a) Basic information should be obtained first, followed by classification, and, finally,
identification information.
b) The order in which questions are put in a questionnaire may significantly affect
the response rate
c) The opening questions should be interesting, simple, and non-threatening.
d) Ensure that the title and subtitles of the questionnaire and questionnaire sections
are carefully phrased and captures the respondents attention

Questions &Exercises

1. How will you determine the type of questions to be used in preparing the questionnaire?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the open-ended questions?

3. What are the common mistakes made in the construction of the questionnaire? Explain
how that can be avoided?

4. How will you decide the content of the individual questions?

5. Develop a questionnaire for determining how the students select the restaurants. Use
the randomized sampling technique.

6. Design an open-ended question to determine whether households engage in gardening

also develop a multiple-choice and a dichotomous question to obtain the same
information .which form is most desirable?

7. Formulate five questions that ask respondents to provide generalizations or estimates.

For Further Reading:

 Paul E. Green, Donald D.Tull and Gerald Albaum: Research For Marketing
Decisions, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall Of India
 Harper W Boyd, Ralph Westphal and Stanley F Stasch: Marketing Research-Text
and Cases, Latest Edition, Richard D Irwin, Inc.
 Naresh K. Malhotra: Marketing Research-An Applied Orientation, Third Edition,
Pearson Education Asia ( Indian edition)
 Rajendra Nargundkar: Marketing Research-- Text & Cases; Tata McGraw- Hill
publishing Company Limited.
 Marketing research: G C Beri; Tata McGraw- Hill publishing Company Limited

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