DESIGNING OF QUESTIONNAIRE- PART II

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A QUESTIONNAIRE

The decision on which form of questions to use must be based on the objective set for the particular question. There are three main types of questions which are commonly used in market surveys:

1. Open-ended questions 
2.  Multiple Choice Questions 
3. Dichotomous Questions

Open  Ended Question                   

An open-ended question calls for a response of more than a few words. In open-ended questions, respondents are free to express 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 washing machines?” allows respondents almost total freedom to express their views on particular brands, advertising slogans, convenience and other issues.

Advantages

1. It avoids persuading the respondent with a pre-stated set of response categories. 
2. It is helpful for exploratory and problem-identification research.
3. Open-ended questions provide the basis for the researcher to judge the actual values and views of the respondents.

Disadvantages

1. It is more time-consuming. 
2. Interviewers will vary in their ability to record the respondents’ answers, in terms of probing and objectivity.
3. The responses obtained may be so varied that it may be impossible to arrive at any conclusion.
4. Coding or categorizing the respondents’ answers in open-ended questions is a very costly and laborious act.

Other disadvantages include the implicit extra weight given to respondents who are more articulate and tend to raise more points in their answers. Also, open-ended questions are less suited for self-administered questionnaires. The reason is that respondents tend to write more briefly than they speak, and there is also the problem of illegible handwriting.

In general, open-ended questions are most appropriate for exploratory research purposes and for research designed to develop more structured questions. While the cost of developing effective structured questions can be high, it must be weighted against the disadvantages of open-ended questions.

Multiple Choice Questions: Questions for which we have a number of choices as answers are termed multiple-choice questions. There may be a fixed number of choices or in case the number of alternatives or choices is more, the respondents have to rank the alternatives according to their choices.
 Advantages

It is easier for both the interviewer and respondents.
Multiple, choice questions tend to reduce interviewer bias and bias caused by varying levels of respondents articulation.  The tabulation and analysis in multiple-choice questions is much simpler.

Disadvantages include:

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 :This is an extreme form of the multiple choice questions, which allows only two responses such as-’Yes-No’, ‘Agree-Disagree’, ‘Male-Female’ and ‘Did-Did not’. Often these two categories are supplemented by a neutral category such as ‘Don’t know’, ‘No opinion’, ‘Both’ or ‘Neither’,
Advantages: The advantages of dichotomous questions are similar to those of the multiple choice questions. These questions are well suited to clean-cut issues on which respondents are likely to hold very clear and concise views. 
Disadvantage:The choice between just two alternatives might be too restricting for respondents. For example, the question “Do you plan to purchase a new car within the next three months?” may result in “Yes” from one individual and “No” from another. If both the individuals have the purchasing capacity then appropriate alternatives would be (a) May be (b) Probably (c) Yes (d) No. 
Wording of the Questions: Questions for which the answer is very obvious or which indicate the researcher’s own point of view should be avoided. The questions should be either subjective or objective on the type of information required. Questions stating or focusing directly on personal information such as income, expenditure level and bad habits, are usually not asked outright. Instead, a series of questions leading up to the relevant issue should be asked. A combination of negative and positive statements should be used to avoid any bias towards certain attitudes. For example:

1. Do you think the quality of the cheaper washing-machine is not as good as that of the more expensive one-negative attitude? 
2.  Frequently advertised brands of washing machines are of a higher quality-positive attitude.

Following are eight general guidelines that you should consider in designing the wording of a question:Use simple words,  Use clear words,  Avoid leading questions,  Avoid biased questions, Avoid implicit alternatives, Avoid implicit assumptions, Avoid estimates 
Sequence of Questions:The specific order, in which the respondents receive the questions, is a potential source of error. However, a number of general guidelines may be helpful in avoiding errors:

1. The opening question should be simple, objective and interesting, thus, arousing the curiosity of the respondent towards the subject matter of the questionnaire. 
2. The overall pattern of the questionnaire should be in a logical manner moving from one topic to another. Difficult questions should be placed towards the end of the questionnaire.
3. Initial questions should avoid providing a biased frame of reference or suggesting answers to following questions.

LAYOUT OF QUESTIONNAIRE In mail surveys, the physical appearance of the questionnaire is very important as the data collection instrument is self-administered. So, the questionnaire should encourage the respondents’ cooperation. It should not appear to be a long one and especially, questions : should be short and simple. 

Reproduction of the questionnaire should be done neatly on quality grade of paper. In general, a self-administered questionnaire should be printed on quality paper using an open format and type that is easy to read. The questions should be in sequence so that there is an ease of administration. 

Finally, the response should be tabulated and subjected to computer analysis. Every response must be coded so that it facilitates-in the final tabulation and analysis. 

Pre-test 

On a small selected sub-sample of the population, which the researcher is interested in, it is very useful to administer the questionnaire. This can result in valuable insight that might otherwise be expensive and difficult to obtain. A number of factors may be apparent at this stage, such as;

1. Whether the subject needs additional information regarding a question; 
2. The time consumed during the entire questionnaire;
3. Whether the initial question has generated interest;
4. Whether the questions are interpreted correctly;
5. To reduce the alternatives, some options might have to be dropped.
6. Do the answers require a pre-meditated thought;
7. Are there any unnecessary questions.

Pre-testing a questionnaire has many benefits, including the opportunity to experiment with various approaches to a given question or topic, examination of the effect of different question sequences and potential insight into the existence of position bias in the location of either the questions or their possible answers. Such experimentation may be carried out by using alternative forms of the questionnaire and then comparing the responses obtained through each approach.

Final Draft of the Questionnaire:After the pre-testing process, some questions may 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. Thus, the final structure given to the questionnaire may serve the researcher’s purpose.

Types of Questionnaires

Primary sources of data collection usually facilitate more detailed information than the secondary sources partly because methods of data collection and the tools can be tailored more precisely to the informational needs of the researcher. A questionnaire may take any form, but generally they are categorized according to the structure and directness. Structure implies the degree to which the questions and possible responses are formed and standardized.

Electronic Mail (E-Mail) Surveys
This is a new method by which researchers collect data, with the arrival of fibre-optics technology and interactive multimedia computing, paper-and-pencil method of data collection may well become obsolete in the near future. Researchers will be able to e-mail the questionnaires into the respondents’ computers and get their responses back into their own computers without any human interference at all. With the use of the internet becoming more prevalent globally, e-mail surveys can be used for international surveys. Fax and e-mail surveys will increase as other countries become more industrialized. They are bound to become important data collection methods in the future. The following table explains the importance of E-mail surveys:
Concluding the Interview
Classification of data is needed to finish the interview effectively. There are essentially three reasons for this:

• To ensure the right person is collected for the sample being researched 
• To validate the interview in quality control procedures as laid down in the Codes of Conduct of the survey research sector
• To collect factors which can be used as variables for analysis.

What is increasingly important about classification data is that it must be used to develop more information on the habits and lifestyle of the informants. This is used to analyze and explain the answers given to the rest of the questionnaire.