Other Considerations in Questionnaire Development

1. Other Considerations in Questionnaire Development

2. Open-Ended Questions • Open-ended questions are analyzed as nominal data • Wording of the question should facilitate free response What are your feelings about PBS? vs. • Do you like PBS or not?

3. Other Considerations • Stay in an “active” voice • Avoid ‘leading’ questions • Don’t you believe SUVs are good for off-road driving? vs. • Do you believe SUVs are good vehicles for off-road driving?

4. Other Considerations • Avoid double barreled questions • What do you think about the image and advertising for the Pontiac Aztek? • Avoid ambiguity, be specific • How would you categorize your public television usage? • Sometimes, often, regular, irregular, infrequent

5. Other Considerations • Avoid making assumptions about the respondent’s state of mind • Explain what you like about PBS… vs. • What, if anything, do you like about PBS?

6. Other Issues In Question Development • Loaded questions • Implies a socially desirable responses Where did you rank academically in your high school graduating class? __ Top quarter __ 2nd quarter __ 3rd quarter __ 4th quarter

7. Other Issues In Question Development • Loaded words • To what extent do you believe global warming affects the planet’s environment? Vs. • To what extent do you believe climate change affects the planet’s environment?

8. Other Issues In Question Development • Burdensome Questions (overtaxing to the memory) • How often have you gone to a sporting event since the World Series? • How often did you watch sports on ESPN last week?

9. Other Issues in Question Development • Avoid jargon, technical language, abbreviation • Which marketing attributes contribute to how you feel about the brand? Vs. • Which of the following influence how much you like the brand? (check all that apply)

10. Other Issues in Question Development • Negatively phased questions • Do you agree that it is not the job of the government to make decisions about social security? Vs. • To what extent do you agree or disagree with the idea that the government should make decisions about social security?

11. Other Issues In Question Development • Order bias • Responses influenced by the order of question presentation Solution • Funnel questions - Asking brand specific questions after general questions

12. Other Issues in Question Development • Filter [or qualifying] questions • Maximizes the chance of asking appropriate questions for the respondent in question • Which Bank of America location has the best customer service? Vs. • Are you familiar with Bank of America’s customer service?

13. Other Considerations: Structure • Does it flow well? • How are we going to administer it? • Does it have a structure? • A start, a middle, an end?

14. Dos and don’ts: main body • Begin easy • Start general, then get more specific • Complete a topic before you move to the next

15. Other Considerations: Structure • Visual appearance • Interviewer script • Interviewer directions • Open, airy format (coding accessible)

16. Other Considerations: Structure • Clarity • Clear directions • Logical transitions • “If no, go to” filter questions • Clear questions, logical response categories

17. Other Considerations: Structure • Justify the need for personal information • Classification questions come near the end • Conciseness • Keep it to the point, as brief as possible