Using Questionnaires and Observations

1. Using Questionnaires and Observations Chapter 13

2. Chapter Objectives • Learn: • When and how questionnaires can be used. • How to develop a questionnaire. • How scales apply to questionnaires. • Questionnaire design concepts. • How to use observation.

3. Purpose of Questionnaires • Questionnaires are one tool you can use to gather information. They allow you to study: • Attitudes • What people say they want • Beliefs • What people think is actually true • Behaviors • What the organizational members do • Characteristics • Properties of people or things

4. Planning for Questionnaire Use • Questionnaires can collect vast amounts of data. • To make most efficient use of a questionnaire, consider the following: • Are the individuals who you need to interview widely dispersed geographically? • Are there a large number of people involved in the project and you need information about a smaller segment of the group? • Are you in an exploratory phase for a project? • Do you need to know all the problems with the current system so you can follow-up in interviews?

5. Writing Questions • Effective questions and questionnaires should: • Be transparently clear • Have an appropriate flow of questions • Have an understanding of potential respondent answers • Have well planned details on how to administer the questionnaire

6. Writing Questions • Open-ended questions on a questionnaire: • Should be written narrow enough to guide responses in a certain direction of optional answers. • Can provide additional information for exploratory situations. • Closed questions • Should be used when • The list of possible answers can be identified • The potential answers are all mutually exclusive. • Choice of words • Should use the language of the respondents as possible. • Reflect the business’s terminology for easier understanding.

7. Scales • Scales are used to provide a measurement or judgement. • Measurements can take the form of: • Nominal • Ordinal • Interval • Ratio • There are two performance measures in scales: • Validity • Reliability

8. Scale Problems • Scales may experience some problems. • Leniency • Occurs when respondents are easy raters. • Central tendency • Occurs when respondents rate everything average • Halo effect • Occurs when one question influences the answer to the next question.

9. Design Concepts • A well-designed questionnaire should: • Provide plenty of white space. • Allow appropriate space for responses. • Ask respondents to circle their answers. • Use the questionnaire objectives to help determine the format. • Be consistent with the questionnaire style. More...

10. Design Concepts • A well-designed questionnaire should order questions: • So the most important questions are listed first. • To cluster similar content questions together. • Anticipate the kinds of associations the respondents may make on the questions. • To list less controversial questions before divisive or inflammatory items.

11. Questionnaire Administration • Once the questionnaire is designed, the next steps are: • Identify the respondents • Determine how to distribute the questionnaire • Bring all respondents together at once. • Hand out questionnaires and take back completed forms. • Self-administration with a centrally-located drop-off. • Mail questionnaires with a stated deadline, instructions, and return postage. • Administer electronically

12. Observation • Observation can provide insight into additional analysis information. • It can confirm or negate information found from interviews, questionnaires, or other data gathering methods. • The process must be structured with a systematic approach to provide interpretable results. • To perform an observation: • The purpose of the observation activity must be clearly defined. • The level of observation details must be established. • Categories can be used to capture key activities. • Use appropriate scales, checklists, and other observation materials. • Decide when to observe.

13. Time and Event Sampling • Time Sampling • Allows for specific observation intervals to occur at various times. • Biases can be reduced from “just anytime” observations • It also provides a sample of representative view of activities. • Event Sampling • Allows for observation of an event in its entirety. • Reduces concerns of piecemeal data collection. • Combination • A combination of both time and event sampling may provide the best observation data.

14. Summary • Questionnaires are a tool for information gathering. • The questionnaire design should consider: • Question development concepts • How scales can be used on the questionnaire • How to minimize or eliminate problems when constructing scales • Good formatting guidelines • Questionnaire administration allows for several alternatives. • Observation is another tool to gather additional data possibly not available through other methods.