King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Department of Management and Marketing MKT 345 Marketing Research Dr. A

1. King Fahd University of Petroleum & MineralsDepartment of Management and MarketingMKT 345 Marketing ResearchDr. Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin Questionnaire DesignReference: Zikmund, Chapter 15

2. Learning Objectives At the end of the discussion you should be able to: • Identify and explain the key factors that determine what to ask in the questionnaire • Identify the different ways in which questions can be phrased and explain the characteristics of alternative question phrasings • Summarize key guidelines in “the art of asking questions” • Describe the issues to consider in determining question order • Describe alternative ways to improve questionnaire layout • Describe the importance and approaches to questionnaire pre-testing and revision

3. What Should be Asked • What to ask in questionnaire depends on: • The research problem definition/objectives • The communication medium to be used – E.g. some questions cannot be asked in personal interviews • The type of statistical analysis to be performed – E.g. if you plan to do regression analysis, you may need to ask about, say, overall evaluations to use as dependent variable • Two important guidelines are: • Relevancy  ask only questions that are relevant to the • research objective. • 2. Accuracy  ask only questions that will provide accurate • information.

4. Question Phrasing • Need to decide how “what is to be asked” should be phrased • Alternative question formats are shown below • Each format has its advantages and disadvantages Open ended Simple dichotomy Question type Closed ended Multiple choice Check-list Determinant choice

5. Alternative Question Formats • Open-ended – Questions in which the respondent answers in his own words • Closed-ended (or Fixed Alternative) – Question in which respondent selects one or more options from pre-determined set of responses • Simple dichotomy Closed ended question with only two response alternatives • Multiple Choice Closed ended question with more than two response alternatives • Determinant choice – Multiple choice question in which respondent must select only one of the response alternatives • Checklist question - Multiple choice question in which respondent can select more than one of the response alternatives

6. Requirements for Close-Ended Questions • Response categories provided for each close-ended question should be mutually exclusive and exhaustive • Mutually Exclusive Response categories must be such that the same respondent cannot be classified into more than one category; e.g. the categories SR1,000-5,000 and SR5,000-10,000 are not mutually exclusive. • Mutually Exhaustive – Response categories should include all possible response options. Sometimes this is achieved by including a response option like “Other (Please specify)….”

7. THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS • Avoid complexity: use simple, conversational language. • Avoid leading and loaded questions. • Avoid ambiguity: be as specific as possible. • Avoid double barreled items. • Avoid making assumptions. • Avoid burdensome questions.

8. Leading & Loaded questions Leading question: a question that suggests or implies a certain answer. • Causes: • The bandwagon effect – e.g. Most Saudis have stopped eating junk food. Do you eat junk food? • Partially mentioning some alternatives – e.g. which fast food restaurant do you prefer, Al-Tazaj or others? • Questions with the phrase: “ Don’t you think that ..” • Phrasing question to reflect negative or positive aspect of issue  use split ballot technique.

9. Loaded Question • A question that is designed to suggest a socially desirable answer. Usually it is emotionally charged. • Causes: • Choice of words; e.g. using emotionally-charged words, such as in: In your opinion is it fair that the Security Dept should be harassing students with parking tickets? • Framing question such that honest answer is painful or embarrassing  use counter biasing statement.

10. Question Sequence • Two related issues: • Order of questions in questionnaire. • Order of answer alternatives for specific questions. • Both can lead to order bias.

11. Order of Questions • Use simple, interesting opening questions  e.g asking for respondent’s opinion on an issue. • Ask general questions before specific questions  funnel approach • Use branching questions (filter & pivot) with care. • Ask for classification information last. • Place difficult or sensitive questions late in questionnaire. • Finish asking questions on one topic before moving to another.

12. Questionnaire layout • Keep questionnaire short if possible, but not too short that you sacrifice needed information • Do not over crowd questionnaire • Provide decent margin space • Use multiple- grid layout for questions with similar responses • Use good quality print paper. • Use booklet form if possible • Carefully craft the questionnaire title: • Captures respondent’s interest. • Shows importance of the study. • Shows interesting nature of the study.

13. Questionnaire Pre-testing • Pretesting Process • Seeks to determine whether respondents have any difficulty understanding the questionnaire and whether there are any ambiguous or biased questions. • Preliminary Tabulation • A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help determine whether the questionnaire will meet the objectives of the research.

14. Questionnaire Translation • Back Translation • Taking a questionnaire that has previously been translated into another language and having a second, independent translator translate it back to the original language. • A questionnaire developed in one country may be difficult to translate because equivalent language concepts do not exist or because of differences in idiom and vernacular.