Session – 5

Questionnaire Designing
Schedule Designing
Case Study Method
Interviewing Method

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 1

 “It is not every question that
deserves an answer.”
Publius Syrus
(Roman,1st century B.C.)

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 2

 A QUESTIONNAIRE
IS ONLY AS GOOD
AS THE QUESTIONS
IT ASKS

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 3

 A Good Questionnaire Appears
• As easy to compose as a good poem
• But, it is usually the result of long, painstaking
work

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 4

 The Major Decisions in
Questionnaire Design
1. What should be asked?
2. How should each question be phrased?
3. In what sequence should the questions be
arranged?
4. What questionnaire layout will best serve the
research objectives?
5. How should the questionnaire be pretested?
Does the questionnaire need to be revised?

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 5

 What Should Be Asked?
• Questionnaire relevance
if no unnecessary information is collected
if the information that is needed to solve the
business problem is obtained
• Questionnaire accuracy
Accuracy means that the information is
reliable and valid

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 6

 Phrasing Questions
• Open-ended questions
• Fixed-alternative questions

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 7

 Developing a Questionnaire
• No hard and fast rules
• Only guidelines

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• 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

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 1. Do you believe that private citizens have the right to
own firearms to defend themselves, their families, and
property from violent criminal attack?

Yes No Undecided

2. Do you believe that a ban on the private ownership

of firearms would be significantly reduce the number of
murders and robberies in your community?

Yes No Undecided

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 10

 1a. How many years have you been playing tennis on a regular basis?
Number of years: __________

b. What is your level of play?

Novice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1 Advanced . . . . . . . -4
Lower Intermediate . . . . . -2 Expert . . . . . . . . . -5
Upper Intermediate . . . . . -3 Teaching Pro . . . . -6

c. In the last 12 months, has your level of play improved, remained the
same or decreased?

Improved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1 Decreased. . . . . . . -3
Remained the same . . . . . -2

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2a. Do you belong to a club with tennis facilities? Yes . . . . . . . -1
No . . . . . . . -2

b. How many people in your household - including yourself - play tennis?

Number who play tennis ___________

3a. Why do you play tennis? (Please “X” all that apply.)

To have fun . . . . . . . . . . -1
To stay fit. . . . . . . . . . . . -2
To be with friends. . . . . . -3
To improve my game . . . -4
To compete. . . . . . . . . . . -5
To win. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -6

b. In the past 12 months, have you purchased any tennis instructional

books or video tapes? Yes . . . . . . . -1
No . . . . . . . -2

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 12

 Dear Passenger:

American Airlines is pleased to have you on board today.

To help us provide the best service possible, we need to know

more about you and your opinions of our service. If you are
over 11 years old, we would appreciate it if you would complete
this questionnaire.

Your flight attendant will pick up your completed questionnaire

shortly.

Thank you.

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1. Please indicate: Flight number ___________ Date_____________

2a. At the city where you boarded this particular plane, did you make a
connection from another flight?
Yes, from American . . . . 1
Yes, from Other Airline . . 2
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

b. Did you board this plane at the airport from which it just took off, or
were you a through passenger for which that was an intermediate stop?

Boarded here . . . . . . . . . . 1
Through passenger. . . . . . 2

3. How would you rate the overall service from American for this flight,
all things considered, from your arrival at the airport terminal until now?

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Overall
2:53:05 PM
Service . . . . . . . . . . Dr. S. Jain
1 2 3 4 14
4. Please rate each of the following with regard to this flight, if applicable.
Excellent Good Fair Poor
1 2 3 4
Courtesy and Treatment from the:
Skycap at airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Airport Ticket Counter Agent . . . . .
Boarding Point (Gate) Agent . . . . .
Flight Attendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your Meal or Snack. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Beverage Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seat Comfort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Carry-On Stowage Space. . . . . . . .
Cabin Cleanliness . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Video/Stereo Entertainment . . . . . .
On-Time Departure . . . . . . . . . . . .

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 15

 Questionnaire Design
• Question sequence
– Order bias
the influence of earlier question in a questionnaire
– Funnel technique
General question before specific question from
unbiased response
– Filter bias
it screens out respondents not qualified to answer to
a second question
• Question layout

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 16

 Pretesting is Important

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 17

 Schedule

The schedule is nothing more than a list of

question which it seems necessary to test the
hypothesis.

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 18

Schedules (proforma containing a set of
questions) are being filled by the researcher or
enumerator.
Enumerator along with schedule, go to the
respondent and record the replies in the
proforma.
Researcher may handed over the schedule to
respondent and may help them in recording
their answers.

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 19

 Case Study Method
A case study presents an account of what
happened to a business or industry over a
number of years. It records the events that
managers had to deal with, such as changes in
the competitive environment, and charts the
managers’ response, which usually involved
changing the business- or corporate-level
strategy.
Seperich, Woolverton, Beierlein and Hahn, 1996

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 20

 Case Study Research Method
… an empirical inquiry that investigates a
contemporary phenomenon within its real-life
context; when the boundaries between
phenomenon and context are not clearly
evident; and in which multiple sources of
evidence are used.
Yin, 1984

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 21

 Features of Case Study Method
• Uses multiple sources of evidence
• “Real life” context
• Empirical
• Progress of a company or industry
• Focus on competitive environment and
strategic/operational
• changes

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Advantages
• Use small data sets (such as
one or two companies)
• Generalizes about trends in
relevant industries
• “Real life” in the sense that a
company or companies have
been chosen as the source of
the data
• Only method possible in some
areas of inquiry
2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain
Disadvantages
• Does not ensure reliability or
generality of findings.
• Intense exposure to study of
the case biases the findings.
• Useful only as an exploratory
(not explanatory) tool.
• “Small-n” data and therefore
conventional empirical
techniques cannot be used—
or where they are used they
have limited application.
• May lack methodological rigor
• Contextual nature of evidence
is limiting
23
 Case Study Analysis
If asked to analyze a case study:
• Need to select case carefully (this may be
given to you)
• Analyze the problem with the company or
industry
• Write a report based on findings.
• Once again, no “right way” but some common
things need to be included
2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 24
 Surveys

Surveys as a respondent for information

using verbal or written questioning

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 25

 Communicating with Respondents
• Personal interviews
• Door-to-door
• Shopping mall intercepts
• Telephone interviews

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 Personal Interviews

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 27

 Good Afternoon, my name is
_________. I am with _________
survey research company. We are
conducting a survey on_________

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 Door-to-Door Personal Interview
• Speed of data collection
– Moderate to fast
• Geographical flexibility
– Limited to moderate
• Respondent cooperation
– Excellent
• Versatility of questioning
– Quite versatile

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 29

 Door-to-Door Personal Interview
• Questionnaire length
– Long
• Item nonresponse
– Low
• Possibility of respondent misunderstanding
– Lowest

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 30

 Door-to-Door Personal Interview
• Degree of interviewer influence of answer
– High
• Supervision of interviewers
– Moderate
• Anonymity of respondent
– Low

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 31

 Door-to-Door Personal Interview
• Ease of call back or follow-up
– Difficult
• Cost
– Highest
• Special features
– Visual materials may be shown or demonstrated;
extended probing possible

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 32

 Mall Intercept Personal Interview
• Speed of Data Collection
– Fast
• Geographical Flexibility
– Confined, urban bias
• Respondent Cooperation
– Moderate to low
– Versatility of Questioning
– Extremely versatile

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 33

 Mall Intercept Personal Interview
• Questionnaire length
– Moderate to long
• Item nonresponse
– Medium
• Possibility of respondent misunderstanding
– Lowest

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 34

 Mall Intercept Personal Interview
• Degree of interviewer influence of answers
– Highest
• Supervision of interviewers
– Moderate to high
• Anonymity of respondent
– Low

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 35

 Mall Intercept Personal Interview
• Ease of call back or follow-up
– Difficult
• Cost
– Moderate to high
• Special features
– Taste test, viewing of TV commercials possible

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 36

 Telephonic Interview

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 37

 Telephone Surveys
• Speed of Data Collection
– Very fast
• Geographical Flexibility
– High
• Respondent Cooperation
– Good
• Versatility of Questioning
– Moderate

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 38

 Telephone Surveys
• Questionnaire Length
– Moderate
• Item Nonresponse
– Medium
• Possibility of Respondent Misunderstanding
– Average
• Degree of Interviewer Influence of Answer
– Moderate

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 39

 Telephone Surveys
• Supervision of interviewers
– High, especially with central location WATS
interviewing
• Anonymity of respondent
– Moderate
• Ease of call back or follow-up
– Easy

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 40

 Telephone Surveys

• Cost
– Low to moderate
• Special features
– Fieldwork and supervision of data collection are
simplified; quite adaptable to computer
technology

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 41

 There is no best form of survey;
each has advantages and
disadvantages.

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 Selected Questions to Determine the
Appropriate Technique
• Is the assistance of an interviewer necessary?
• Are respondents interested in the issues being
investigated?
• Will cooperation be easily attained?

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 43

 Selected Questions to Determine the
Appropriate Technique
• How quickly is the information needed?
• Will the study require a long and complex
questionnaire?
• How large is the budget?

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 44

 “Practice is the best of all
instructors.”

Publius Syrus

2:53:05 PM Dr. S. Jain 45