Designing and Using Questionnaires,common ways to get information,literature searches talking with people focus groups personal interviews telephone surveys and mail surveys.,Advantages of Written Questionnaires,Questionnaires are very cost effective Questionnaires are easy to analyze Questionnaires are familiar to most people Questionnaires reduce bias Questionnaires are less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys,Disadvantages Of Written Questionnaires,the possibility of low response rates the inability to probe responses By allowing frequent space for comments, the researcher can partially overcome this disadvantage Gestures and other visual cues are not available with written questionnaires the respondent may not be who you think it is questionnaires are simply not suited for some people,Selecting Your Sample,decide what kind of people to interview. Avoid a Biased Sample (English & non-English majors) decide how many people you need to interview Quotas A Quota is a sample size for a sub-group. For example, men and women have somewhat different opinions in many areas.,Questionnaire Design - General Considerations,Well-defined goals are the best way to assure a good questionnaire design Formulate a plan for doing the statistical analysis during the design stage of the project Include other experts and relevant decision-makers in the questionnaire design process Use professional production methods for the questionnaire-either desktop publishing or typesetting and keylining,Questionnaire Design - General Considerations,Make the envelope unique Provide a well-written cover letter Provide incentives as a motivation for a properly completed questionnaire. Give your questionnaire a title that is short and meaningful to the respondent Keep your questionnaire short Include clear and concise instructions on how to complete the questionnaire If a questionnaire is more than a few pages and is held together by a staple, include some identifying data on each page,Questionnaire Design - General Considerations,Use simple and direct language Make it convenient. Always consider the layout of your questionnaire. Leave adequate space for respondents to make comments. Leave a space at the end of a questionnaire entitled “Other Comments.“ Try to keep your answer spaces in a straight line, either horizontally or vertically. .,Questionnaire Design - General Considerations,Begin with a few non-threatening and interesting items Place the most important items in the first half of the questionnaire If you have used a particular scale before and need to compare results, use the same scale. Always present agree-disagree choices in that order. Positive to negative and excellent to poor scales should be presented in those orders. When using numeric rating scales higher numbers should mean a more positive or more agreeing answer. The final test of a questionnaire is to try it on representatives of the target audience.,Question Types,Qualities of a Good Question,1. Evokes the truth. Questions must be non-threatening. 2. Asks for an answer on only one dimension. Were you satisfied with the quality of our food and service? 3. Can accommodate all possible answers. What brand of computer do you own? _ A. IBM PC B. Apple,3. There are two ways to correct this kind of problem. The first way is to make each response a separate dichotomous item on the questionnaire. For example: Do you own an IBM PC? (circle: Yes or No) Do you own an Apple computer? (circle: Yes or No) Another way to correct the problem is to add the necessary response categories and allow multiple responses. This is the preferable method because it provides more information than the previous method. What brand of computer do you own? (Check all that apply) _ Do not own a computer _ IBM PC _ Apple _ Other,Qualities of a Good Question,4. Has mutually exclusive options. Where did you grow up? _ A. country B. farm C. city 5. Produces variability of responses. What do you think about this report? A. Its the worst report Ive read B. Its somewhere between the worst and best C. Its the best report Ive read Are you against campus love? (circle: Yes or No),Qualities of a Good Question,6. Follows comfortably from the previous question. Grouping questions that are similar will make the questionnaire easier to complete, and the respondent will feel more comfortable. 7. Does not presuppose a certain state of affairs. Are you satisfied with your current auto insurance? (Yes or No) One of the most common mistaken assumptions is that the respondent knows the correct answer to the question. What percent of your budget do you spend on direct mail advertising ? _,Qualities of a Good Question,8. Does not imply a desired answer. Wouldnt you like to receive our free brochure? Dont you think the Congress is spending too much money? 9. Does not use emotionally loaded or vaguely defined words. Quantifying adjectives (e.g., many) 10. Does not use unfamiliar words or abbreviatio