BBI 2420

Survey (Questionnaire and Interview)

Survey

Choose a good topic

Determine the objectives

Decide on the target-group and target-number

Narrow down your topic

“So What?”

The first question is one you should ask yourself:

"What do I hope to learn from asking the questions?"

This defines your objective:

The purpose, or why you are conducting the survey?

What are you trying to discover?

What actions do you want to take as a result of the survey?

Specific objectives of

questionnaire

Have clarity

Framed in simple language

Error-free in grammar and spelling

Convey the same meaning to all readers

Use direct question rather then ambiguous ones

Questionnaire

Advantages

Cheapest

Large number

Statistical analysis

Anonymous

Convenient

Disadvantages

Biased result

Inaccurate

Not detailed

There are nine steps involved in

the development of a good

questionnaire:

1. Decide the information required.

2. Define the target respondents.

3. Choose the method(s) of reaching your target respondents.

4. Decide on question content.

5. Develop the question wording.

6. Put questions into a meaningful order and format.

7. Check the length of the questionnaire.

8. Pre-test the questionnaire.

9. Develop the final survey form.

Quick Facts in designing

questionnaire

Start with simple questions first

Follow a logical sequence

Do not ask irrelevant questions

Keep them simple and short

Give different options/alternatives

Introduction

They need as much motivation as possible to spend their precious time filling in your questionnaire.

So always include a short introduction which makes clear:

- the purpose of the questionnaire

- why it is important for you (and why it could be useful for the respondent)

- how long it should take to complete

- what will happen to the results

- complete contact details (optional)

- final date for reply (optional)

Types of Questions

A survey question can be:

Open-ended (the person can answer in any way they want), or

Closed-ended (the person chooses from one of several options)

Closed ended questions are much easier to total up later on, but may stop people from giving an answer that they really want to share.

Example: "What is your favorite color?“

Open-ended: Someone may answer "dark fuchsia", in which case you will need to have a category "dark fuchsia" in your results.

Closed-ended: With a choice of only 12 colors your work will be easier, but they may not be able to pick their exact favorite color.

It is also helpful to have an “other” category in case none of the choices are satisfactory for the person answering the question.

Look at each of your questions and

decide if they should be open-ended

or closed ended

Example: "What do you think is the best way to clean up the river?“

Make it Open-ended: the answers won't be easy to put in a table or graph, but you may get some good ideas, and there may be some good quotes for your report.

Example: "How often do you visit the river?“

Make it Closed-ended with the following options: Nearly every day At least 5 times a year 1 to 4 times a year Almost never

You will be able to present this data in a neat bar graph.

Neutral Questions

Your questions should also be neutral, allowing the person to think their own thoughts about the question.

In the question "Do you love nature?" ... this is a bad question because it is almost forcing the person to say "Yes, of course.“

Try rewording it to be more neutral, for example:

Example: "How important is the natural environment to you?"

Not Important

Some Importance

Very Important

But you can also make statements and see if people agree

Keep your language simple

Phrase your questions in simple, unambiguous language, which will be instantly understood.

Don’t use any jargon or abbreviations which might be unknown to some of your target sample.

Check over your grammar and spelling very carefully, and if necessary get someone else to do this as well.

Mistakes look very unprofessional and give the impression that you are not very serious about what you’re doing.

If you couldn’t be bothered, why should someone else be bothered to reply?

Rated Items

For this type of answer the person gets to rate or rank each option.

Don't have too many items though, as that makes it too hard to answer.

Example: Please rank the following activities from 1 to 5, putting 1 next to your favorite through to 5 for your least favorite.

___ Fishing

___ Football

___ Golf

___ Shopping

___ Sleeping

Interview Introduction

Interview is a technique used to understand the experiences of others.

It stems from the desire to know more about the people around us and to better understand how the people around us view the world we live in.

Interviews are among the most challenging and rewarding forms of measurement.

They require a personal sensitivity and adaptability as well as the ability to stay within the bounds of the designed protocol.

The Role of the Interviewer

Locate and enlist cooperation of respondents

Motivate respondents to do good job

Clarify any confusion/concerns

Observe quality of responses

Conduct a good interview

Avoid…

1. Biased questions Biased questions are questions that encourage your participants to

respond to the question in a certain way.

They may contain biased terminology or are worded in a biased way.

Biased question: Don't you agree that campus parking is a problem?

Revised question: Is parking on campus a problem?

2. Questions that assume what they ask

These questions are a type of biased question and lead your participants to agree or respond in a certain way.

Biased question: There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?

Revised question: Do you agree or disagree that campus parking is a problem?

3. Double-barreled questions

A double-barreled question is a one that has more than one question embedded within it. Participants may answer one but not both, or may disagree with part or all of the question.

Double-barreled question: Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?

Revised question: Is campus parking a problem? (If the participant responds yes): Should the administration be responsible for solving this problem?

4. Confusing or wordy questions Make sure your questions are not confusing or wordy. Confusing

questions will only lead to confused participants, which leads to unreliable answers.

Confusing questions: What do you think about parking? This is confusing because the question isn't clear about what it is

asking— Parking in general? The person's ability to park the car? Parking on campus?

Do you believe that the parking situation on campus is problematic or difficult because of the lack of spaces and the walking distances or do you believe that the parking situation on campus is ok? (This question is both very wordy and leads the participant.)

Revised question: What is your opinion of the parking situation on campus?

5. Questions that do not relate to what you want to learn

Be sure that your questions directly relate to what it is you are studying.

A good way to do this is to ask someone else to read your questions or even test your survey out on a few people and see if the responses fit what you are looking for.

Unrelated questions: Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?

How Will I Show the Results?

Go over each question and think how you want the answers to go into your report:

in a table,

a bar graph,

a pie chart,

or just explained in words