3 data collection methods and questionnaire design

7/27/2019 3 Data Collection Methods and Questionnaire Design

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Data collectionmethods andquestionnaire

design

Dr James Abdey

Data collection methods

Qualitative methods

Questionnaire design

Choosing question wording

Applied Marketing

(Market Research Methods)

Topic 3:

Data collection methodsand questionnaire design

Dr James Abdey
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Consideration should be given to the contact

method

The most common methods of contact are

face-to-face interview, telephone interview and

online/postal/mail (so-called self-completion)

interview

In most countries you can assume the following:

An interviewer-administered face-to-face

questionnaire will be the most expensive to carry out Telephone surveys depend very much on whether

your target population is on the telephone (and howgood the telephone system is)

Self-completion questionnaires can have a low

response rate
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Face-to-face interview:

Advantages: Good for personal questions; allow for

probing issues in greater depth; permit difficultconcepts to be explained; can show samples (suchas new product designs)

Disadvantages: (Very) expensive; not always easy to

obtain detailed information on the spot
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Face-to-face interviewer a survey of shopping

patterns

Here you need to be able to contact a sample of thewhole population

You can assume that a large proportion would notbother to complete a postal questionnaire after all,the subject matter is not very important and it takestime to fill in a form!

Using a telephone would exclude those (for example,the poor and the elderly) who either do not haveaccess to a telephone or are unwilling to talk tostrangers by telephone
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Telephone interview:

Advantages: Easy to achieve a large number ofinterviews; easy to check on quality of interviewers

(through a central switchboard perhaps)

Disadvantages: Not everyone has a telephone so thesample can be biased; cannot usually show samples;although telephone directories exist for landlinenumbers, what about mobile numbers? Also, youngpeople are more likely to use mobiles rather thanlandlines, so are more likely to be excluded
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Telephone interviewer a survey of

businessmen and their attitude to a new item of

office equipment

All of them will have a telephone, and also thequestions should be simple to ask

Here, booking time for a telephone interview at work(once it has been agreed with the administration)

should be much more effective than waiting for aform to be filled in, or sending interviewers to disruptoffice routine
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Self-completion interview:

Advantages: Most people can be contacted this way(there will be little non-response due to not-at-homereasons); allows time for people to look up details

such as income, tax returns etc.

Disadvantages: High non-response rate itrequires effort to complete the questionnaire;answers to some questions may influence answers toearlier questions since the whole questionnaire isrevealed to the respondent this is important wherethe order of a questionnaire matters; you have nocontrol over who answers the questionnaire


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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Postal/mail questionnaire a survey of teachers

about their pay and conditions

Here, on-the-spot interviews will not elicit the level ofdetail needed

Most people do not remember their exact pay andtaxation, particularly if they are needed for earlieryears

We would expect a high response rate andgood-quality data the recipients are motivated toreply, since they may be hoping for a pay rise!

Also, the recipients come from a group of people whofind it relatively easy to fill in forms without needingthe help, or prompting, of an interviewer
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Remember that it is always possible to combine

methods

The Family Expenditure Survey in the UK, for

example, combines the approach of using aninterviewer three times over a fortnight (to raise

response and explain details) while the respondent

household is required to fill in a self-completion diary

(showing expenditure, which could not be obtained

by interview alone)
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Similarly, telephone interviews may be combined

with a mail-shot sub-sampled individual survey, in the

case of offices and businesses faxing additional

information

In the case of the telephone survey of businessmen

described above, a description of the new equipment

could be faxed to the businessmen in advance, or as

they are telephoned


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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Remember also that email surveys are already

widespread and becoming increasingly popular,

although they are only appropriate when the

population to be studied uses them heavily and is

likely to reply to your questions, such as employees

in your office

An obvious advantage is that this method is very

cheap to administer
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Qualitative methods

Subtle form of investigation which seeks to

understand factors explaining buyer behaviour

mainly diagnostic

Consumer motives for product selection

Functions: Generate language, hypotheses for subsequent

quantitative research Check, sort and prioritise potential advertising,

product, pack concepts

Find out new trends in product usage

Forms: In-depth interviews Focus groups (groups of people with similar

characteristics)
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Qualitative research

Principal methods of researching consumer products

Gap analysis looking at perceptual map;

brainstorm about a new product or brand

Action studies case studies; diaries

Brainstorming solutions to problems (generate

different ideas)

Synectics see problems in a new light; do not

describe a specific problem
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Focus groups

Focus groups use 8 to 15 people in a discussion

group can be used for testing products

Good for developing ideas for new products

Good for developing questions for use in a

questionnaire

D ll i


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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Quantity of focus groups

How many focus groups should be conducted?

Factors to consider:

The extent to which comparisons are sought

The different types of participant to be targeted andhow well they mix together

The geographic spread of participants

The paradigm that underpins the choice of a focusgroup

The time and budget available

D t ll tiM h i
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Mystery shopping

Mystery shopping involves the researcher carrying

out an activity rather than asking about it

Question: How long do you generally queue in post

office X?

Or mystery shopping interviewer A is to go to post

office X and measure how long s/he has to wait to be

served

Data collectionE l f h i
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Example of mystery shopping

In the UK the Post Office uses mystery shopping

nationwide to test services in post offices from the

point of view of

Time spent in queues and being served

Efficiency of service

Helpfulness and politeness of staff

Data collectionE l f t h i
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Example of mystery shopping

In a post office survey over each year a national

sample is obtained by stratifying by area and type of

region

Mystery shoppers sent to named post offices in

their area anonymously

Mystery shoppers given tasks, for example

Queue at 11:00, 13:00 and 17:00 Ask how much it costs to send a 1kg parcel to Japan Ask about social security benefits Ask to renew driving licence
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Data collectionQ estionnaire design


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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




A questionnaire is a method of obtaining specific

information about a defined problem

Highly structured with formal questions Unstructured with free-style questions Mix

Five classes of information

Facts and knowledge Opinions Motives Past behaviour Future behaviour

Data collectionQuestionnaire requirements
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Questionnaire requirements

Respondents must understand the question

They must be able to provide the information

requested

They must be willing to provide it

Simple words short and specific questions

Facts are preferable to opinions

Information sought should be within ability of people

to recall accurately

Checklists may introduce bias

Data collectionQuestionnaire design
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methods andquestionnaire

design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Questionning approach

Funnel technique

Inverted funnel technique

Types of questions

Open-ended

Closed

Data collectionIndividual question content
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Individual question content

Sometimes, several questions are needed to obtain

the required information in an unambiguous

manner

Consider the question: Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty and refreshing soft

drink? (Incorrect)

Such a question is called a double-barrelled

question, because two or more questions are

combined into one

To obtain the required information, two distinctquestions should be asked:

Do you think Coca-Cola is a tasty soft drink? and Do you think Coca-Cola is a refreshing soft drink?

(Correct)
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Data collectionh d dOvercoming unwillingness to answer


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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Overcoming unwillingness to answer

Please list all the departments from which you

purchased merchandise on your most recentshopping trip to a department store (Incorrect)

In the list that follows, please tick all the departmentsfrom which you purchased merchandise on yourmost recent shopping trip to a department store

1. Womens dresses _____2. Mens clothing _____ 3. Childrens clothing _____4. Cosmetics _____

...16. Jewellery _____ 17. Other (please specify) _____ (Correct)

Data collectionth d dMultiple choice questions
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Multiple choice questions

In multiple choice questions, the researcherprovides a choice of answers and respondents are

asked to select one or more of the alternatives given

Do you intend to buy a new car within the next sixmonths?

_____ Definitely will not buy_____ Probably will not buy_____ Undecided_____ Probably will buy

_____ Definitely will buy_____ Other (please specify)

Data collectionmethods andDichotomous questions
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



Dichotomous questions

A dichotomous question has only two responsealternatives: yes or no, agree or disagree, and so on

Often, the two alternatives of interest are

supplemented by a neutral alternative, such as

no opinion, dont know, both, or none

Do you intend to buy a new car within the next sixmonths?

_____ Yes_____ No_____ Dont know

Data collectionmethods andChoosing question wording
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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Define the issue in terms of who, what, when, where

and why

Who, what, when and where are particularly

important

Which brand of shampoo do you use? (Incorrect)

Which brand or brands of shampoo have you

personally used at home during the last month?

In case of more than one brand, please list all thebrands that apply (Correct)

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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




Use ordinary words

Do you think the distribution of soft drinks isadequate? (Incorrect)

Do you think soft drinks are readily available whenyou want to buy them? (Correct)

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design

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Qualitative methods




In a typical month, how often do you shop in a health

shop?_____ Never_____ Occasionally_____ Sometimes_____ Often

_____ Regularly (Incorrect)

In a typical month, how often do you shop in a healthshop?

_____ Less than once

_____ 1 or 2 times_____ 3 or 4 times_____ More than 4 times (Correct)



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design

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods




A leading question is one that nudges the

respondent to what the answer should be, as in thefollowing:

Do you think that patriotic people should buyimported cars when that would put domestic workers

out of employment?_____ Yes_____ No_____ Dont know (Incorrect)

Do you think that people should buy imported cars?_____ Yes_____ No_____ Dont know (Correct)



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questionnairedesign

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



g q g

An alternative that is not explicitly expressed in the

options is an implicit alternative

Do you like to fly when travelling short distances?(Incorrect)

Do you like to fly when travelling short distances, or

would you rather drive? (Correct)



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questionnairedesign

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



g q g

Questions should not be worded so that the answer

is dependent upon implicit assumptions about

what will happen as a consequence

Are you in favour of a balanced budget? (Incorrect)

Are you in favour of a balanced budget if it would

result in an increase in personal income tax?

(Correct)

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questionnairedesign

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



g q g

What is the annual per capita expenditure ongroceries in your household? (Incorrect)

What is the monthly (or weekly) expenditure on

groceries in your household?

and

How many members are there in your household?

(Correct)

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questionnairedesign

Dr James Abdey


Qualitative methods



g q g

Effect on subsequent questions:

General questions should precede specific questions(funnel approach)

Q1: What considerations are important to you inselecting a coffee shop?

Q2: In selecting a coffee shop, how important isconvenience of location? (Correct)

3 data collection methods and questionnaire design

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