Introduction
Before applying definitively. The questionnaire requires good design, extensive and repeated analysis, and the preparation of preliminary tests.
The questionnaire is the form that contains the research questions or variables and in which the responses of the respondents are recorded. The design of the questionnaire is not simple and presents some difficulties.
While asking is relatively easy, asking good questions is an art that requires imagination and experience.
Characteristics of a good market research questionnaire
The questionnaire should be:
- Interesting, proposing the topics and writing the questions in a way that stimulates the interest of the respondent. Simple, respondents should understand the question without confusion. Precise, only one issue is asked at a time. The interview must be complete, without being too long so as not to bore the respondent. Discreet, this forces a newsroom that asks without offending. A practical example is to ask indirectly (eg, how much do you think an administrative person earns? Whoever has an administrative job is asked, that is, they do not ask directly, how much do you earn?).
Importance of the questionnaire as a technique for obtaining information within market research
The questionnaire is a basic component in any market research. Its function is to measure the behaviors, attitudes and / or characteristics of the interviewees. However, a potential problem in questionnaire design is measurement error.
The measurement error is the one that we can incur due to the wrong design of questions, in such a way that when summarizing the answers to these questions we find that the results are meaningless.
For example, if we ask the following question to a group of parents: Are you in favor of increasing the tuition and study materials, which range from 15 to 50%, for the next school year?
It is not difficult at all for a large percentage of those interviewed to oppose the increase. However, if we ask another similar group:
If the Institute had to choose between the alternative of sacrificing the quality of its education without making more expenses and the one of increasing its tuition to ensure the quality of the studies, which of these alternatives would it select?
Now it is not difficult at all for a significant percentage of those interviewed to lean due to the increase in tuition. When preference questions are written without offering realistic alternatives, the results may be meaningless.
What is a market research questionnaire
The Questionnaire is a formalized plan to collect data from respondents. It is the best known method for data collection and the most familiar.
The advantages of its use are:
- Diversity. An infinite number of tools and questions can be included in the questionnaire. Speed and cost. It is a much cheaper and faster method than observation.
Its disadvantages are:
- Reluctance to respond. Sometimes interviewees resist answering (accuracy and unambiguity). Lack of information. When the interviewee does not have the information; you have forgotten it or need to go through a series of processes to obtain it, we should not try to force it. Influence of the interrogation procedure. It is possible that there are alterations in the answers due to biases in the sample, poorly asked or biased questions, or the poor ability of the interviewer.
Steps to design a good questionnaire
Before starting to write questions, it is necessary to follow a series of steps that will help us prepare a good questionnaire:
- Determine what information we want to Correctly define the problem to be investigated. What is the Marketing objective of the investigation? What is the general objective of the investigation? What are the most relevant data that we wish to obtain (specific objectives)? Precisely formulate the hypothesis. Properly specify the variables and measurement scales. What are the complementary data? What will be the information necessary to test the hypothesis? We need to… Determine what type of questionnaire we are going to design. Determine the content of the individual questions. Question Decide on the wording of the questions
For the proper design of the questionnaire, it is essential to meet the following requirements:
- The questionnaire should be as short as possible, but a specific length cannot be established; It varies depending on the interest that the research topic has for the interviewer. The writing of the questionnaire must be made with a clear idea of the objectives, since after tabulating their responses, the data required to solve the problem will be obtained.
Types of questionnaire
In general, they can be classified according to their structure and direct character.
- The structure refers to the degree to which the questions and possible answers are formal and standardized (questions established beforehand, in an order, offer answer options).The direct character denotes the degree to which the subject knows the objective of the questionnaire (which can be disguised or also called indirect)
The direct and structured questionnaire
- This type of questionnaire is the most widely used in market research. They follow a certain logical order in the questions, in addition to the fact that the interviewee clearly perceives the purposes pursued by the researcher. They are used in telephone, mail, and personal interviews. Standardization tends to give reliable results (same questions, identical order).Registration and analysis is easy. It is inflexible, requires pilot testing. The objective is not disguised.
The indirect and structured questionnaire
- There are individuals who will not want to answer direct questions related to various topics, however if we approach these topics in a way that they do not realize the objectives of the survey, they are more likely to become useful sources of information. Disguised methods such as projective techniques are used: Word association, Sentence completion, Storytelling. The questionnaire is disguised in its objectives.
Direct and unstructured questionnaire
- These are general questions focused on the research topic, allowing the interviewer greater freedom in formulating specific questions and in the search for more information that they deem necessary. Questions are asked in any order that you consider appropriate for the session. The respondent knows the nature and objectives of the study. In-depth interviews. The questionnaire is not disguised in its objectives.
Components of the questionnaire
Generally a questionnaire is made up of five parts:
- The cooperation request, the filling instructions, the requested information area, the classification data, and the identification area.
The request for cooperation
The cooperation request is a short writing, designed to obtain the cooperation of the interviewee. Generally, this wording identifies the interviewer (and the company when so decided), then the purpose of the study and the time required to carry out the interview are explained.
Example: Good morning / afternoon, my name is Alejandro Flores and I am doing a market study for the Hickok company. Would you like to help me by answering a questionnaire? I don't take more than 10 minutes. Thank you
Filling instructions
This is a guide prepared to indicate to the interviewer how the questionnaire is expected to be applied. These indications can appear after each question when it comes to questionnaires by mail or by phone, and on the back or on attached sheets when it comes to personal questionnaires. The instructions generally have to do with how to apply certain questions, the location of prospects, coding, etc.
Example: 1. What type of beer do you prefer to drink, light or dark?
Reply: ________________________________________________
(If you answered "dark", finish the survey and count it.)
The requested information area
This is the section where the questions are written and the spaces to write down the answers.
Classification data
These are data or characteristics that allow the interviewees to be classified, such as age, sex, income, occupation, etc. These data are generally asked at the end of the interview.
The identification area
In many occasions these data occupy the first section of a questionnaire, but due to their importance, time of obtaining and necessary collaboration, many also collect them at the end of the interview, among them are the name, address, telephone number of the interviewee; date and time of the interview; interviewer's name and code, etc.
Example: Loyalty study towards a beer brand
- Client: Guerrero Beer Sample: Men between 18 and 60 years old, who consume beer Objective: To identify the probability of purchasing Guerrero beer compared to different brands and associating its purchase with the socioeconomic level of the buyer.
Example of a market research questionnaire
Applied research sa
Good morning (afternoon, evening). We are conducting an interview between the residents of this neighborhood. Your help will be very important to assess the quality of some brands of beer that you probably consume. Thanks for your time.
Do you know light beer?
If not_____
1. What type of beer do you prefer to drink, light or dark?
(If you answered "dark", finish the survey and count it.)
I am going to show you several brands of light beer, so that you can tell me what you think of each one, regardless of whether there are some that you have not tried.
2. It seems to you that each of these marks is… (Show card)
Very Very
I don't know bad Bad Regular Good good
a) XX Lager
b) Special Model
c) Warrior
d) Crown
3. Speaking of the above brands, we want you to give us your impression of them, regardless of whether you have not bought them:
XX Lager Special Model Guerrero Corona
a) Regarding quality
3 good quality
2 regular quality
1 bad quality
b) Speaking of satisfaction, How do you imagine it to be?
3 satisfies
2 does not satisfy
1 half satisfies
XX Lager Special Model Warrior Crown
c) How do you rate the presentation of these marks?
1 Modern
2 Old-fashioned
3 National
4 Foreign
d) What kind of people do you think consume this brand?
1 young
people 2 middle-aged people
3 elderly
people 4 rich
people 5 middle-class
people 6 poor people
7 all kinds of people
4. What brands do you usually buy?
a) _______________ b) _______________ c) _______________
5. Select the brand of beer you consume most regularly. How
often do you buy it?
to. daily
b. twice a week
c. once a week
d. every fortnight
d. once a month
e. less than 1 time a month
6. Why do you buy that brand more frequently?
7. Can you show me the brand you currently consume?
to. yes ____ b. no ____
(The interviewee will write down the mark they show you.) ________________
8. Do you sometimes consume another brand or always the same?
_____________________________________________________
9. If you buy another brand of beer instead of the usual one, you do it because… (Please mark with an X all the corresponding options).
You are indifferent to any brand
You do not find the one you normally like to drink
It is cheaper than the one you consume You
want to try new brands
You liked the packaging
It is of good quality
Taking on special occasions
You do not like to take only one brand
Other reasons
10. Would you be willing to change your usual brand? to. yes _____ b. Not because? ______________________________
11. Which of the brands you know do you prefer advertising?
to. _______________________ Why? _________________
b. _______________________ Why? ___________________
C. _______________________ Why? __________________
12. Which of all the brands you know do you think has the best
packaging? ________________Why?____________________
13. How do you rate the price of these brands?
Very Very
Expensive expensive I don't know cheap Cheap Regular
a) XX Lager
b) Special Model
c) Warrior
d) Crown
Thank you very much for your cooperation, within days (weeks) we will come back to ask you some questions again.
Data of the interviewee
Date of the interview __________ Name of the interviewee________________
Sex________ Age ________ Occupation ________ Schooling__________
Address _____________________________ Colony___________________ Telephone ______________________
Interviewer Supervisor
Interviewer's signature:
How the questionnaire is designed
Before designing a questionnaire, it is highly advisable to have a detailed list of the necessary information and a clear definition of the group of people to interview, the latter is very important because the wording of the questions should not lose sight of the ability and goodwill of the people to answer. Much data may be collected inaccurately because interviewees may be misinformed, forgetful, or simply unwilling to answer. To solve these problems, the following options are available:
- An interviewee may not answer when the behavior implicit in the question is not well regarded socially, so start the question by stating that the behavior in question is common among people. An interviewee may not answer a question when the wording suggests that he is in a mistake. So, frame the question in such a way that he answers referring to other people. There are interviewees who feel uncomfortable and do not answer certain questions because the options or words to answer have to do with sensitive topics such as sex. In these cases, prepare a card with the answer options and ask the interviewee to answer with the corresponding number or letter. When the interviewees do not remember they can answer for answering and this is nothing else than obtaining worthless data,again the cards are the answer options are of great help for the memory of the interviewees.
Kind of questions
Basically, and due to the response obtained, there are four types of questions:
- open answer, for multiple selection of answers, dichotomous, and hierarchical answer
Open-ended questions
The open-ended question is one in which the interviewee is given freedom to answer in their own words and express the ideas they consider appropriate. For example, if the question is asked: "Why do you buy in such stores?" and then no answer alternatives are offered, so it is an open question.
Open-ended questions allow a completely free answer to the respondent and use their own language. However, in order to be statistically treated, they must be grouped and coded, which can entail some difficulty. However, they are especially suitable in exploratory research or when there is little knowledge of the possible answers.
These types of questions are also known as open-ended questions, allow the interviewee to expand on their answer, and can compel the interviewer to write down a large amount of information.
For example, if you ask Mexican soccer fans: What do you think of the national team? You will need a large notebook to write down the answers.
Open-ended questions are helpful in engaging interviewees to win their collaboration, to break boredom in multiple-question quizzes, and to get general ideas and explanations for research hypotheses.
Unfortunately, open-ended questions are not easy to handle for interviewers, who generally do not have the time to write down exactly what the interviewee answers, and then simply write down generalities by deleting aspects that they consider unimportant.
Another problem with open-ended questions is their difficulty in coding, processing, and incorporating them into the final report.
Closed-ended questions
The closed question is that type of question in a questionnaire that contains an exhaustive list of the possible answers.
As for the number of answer alternatives, the closed question can be dichotomous, if you have only two possible answers.
Dichotomous questions
This type of question is from the multiple-choice family, only in this case the interviewee only has two options to choose from: Yes - No; False true; Agree - Disagree; etc.
Example. Do you plan to purchase a new car next year?
Yes___ No___ I don't know ___
Advantages: Ease in answering the interviewee, agile registration, coding and analysis.
Disadvantages: it may be that the answers to the questions do not close to one or the other option and you are forced to answer in this way, which will lead to simplistic answers.
Multiple choice questions for answers
In these types of questions, the interviewee is asked to select one or more answers from a list of options provided. These types of questions are easier to apply and administer than open-ended questions, and therefore in many cases they are preferred by both interviewers and interviewees.
It is important to relate the greatest possible number of response alternatives in the list that is presented to the interviewee, therefore, the other option should not be forgotten (specify). It is also important that the alternatives are mutually exclusive, that is, that it allows the interviewee to accurately identify the alternative that represents their answer, otherwise the interviewee may lean towards more than one alternative, which could complicate the processing and analysis. of the collected data.
A further recommendation to ensure that the interviewee makes his choice correctly is to prepare a card with the answer alternatives and to let the interviewee review it once we have read the question.
Eg. For what reason do you buy in this store?
Instruction: mark with an X the option that defines your reason:
Closeness ___ Cleaning___
Custom ___ Service ___
Offers ___ I don't know ___
- Advantages: These questions are easier to answer, since they involve less elaboration and less effort on the part of the respondent, they are easier to code, record and analyze. Disadvantages: They are related to the limitations of the fixed set of alternatives and their effect. with the subject…
And as for the number of possible answers, the closed question can be a single answer, if the answer alternatives are mutually exclusive and the respondent can only choose one, or multiple answer or multi-answer if the respondent can provide more than one answer..
Closed-ended questions are adequate when the possible answers are known, either due to knowledge of the study topic, or due to the existence of previous research, or due to the completion of a survey pretest. They are easier to answer than open-ended questions, since the respondent only has to choose one or more alternatives, and their statistical treatment is simple.
These types of questions are usually the most used in surveys.
The semi-open question is a closed question modality in which an open question is added, generally under the name of “other answers”, which allows other opinions not included in the alternative answers suggested in the closed part of the question to be added to the respondent..
Nested Answer Questions
In these types of questions, the interviewee is asked to order, generally in descending order, a series of options, in such a way that with this order they express their preference. Here it is also important to prepare a card with the response alternatives, let the interviewee review it once we have read the question and in the questionnaire write down the order of preference that the interviewee indicates.
Other types of questions
In addition to the basic questions, the questionnaire may contain other questions that complement or facilitate the answer to the fundamental questions of the research:
- Introductory question: It is a question that is formulated to establish contact with the respondent, which is placed at the beginning of the questionnaire and which aims to interest the interviewee and gain their trust. Filter question: It is a closed question, generally with few options, which aims to select specific subsamples of respondents to continue administering the questionnaire in totally or partially different ways. For example, in a survey on smoking, respondents who claim to do so will be asked different questions than those who declare not to smoke. Control question: It is the one that is formulated to check the consistency of the answers, and in general, to contrast the quality of the information provided by the respondent. Fill-in question: It is a simple, neutral question, the information of which is not necessary for the investigation, but which is used to start the survey, change the subject or relax the environment when the subject of the questionnaire is sensitive or controversial. Classification questions: It is the one asked to the respondent about their personal attributes (age, sex, studies, home, socioeconomic level, etc.) or the characteristics of the entity they represent (number of employees, sales figure, etc.) that serve for their classification.
Principles for writing questions
Use simple words. The suggestion is to use the same words with which the interviewee communicates daily. Never lose sight of the fact that the vocabulary of high school youth is vast and different from that of children, mechanics, or housewives. Example:
Have you ever had Hypnagogic Myoclonus?
Do you drink industrialized drinks?
Which brand is positioned in the target group to which it belongs?
Use clear words. Words that are clear have the same meaning for all interviewees, while ambiguous words have several meanings, this causes interpretation problems and therefore confusion when answering.
For example, the early morning statement can have several interpretations, for some early it can mean before 6 AM, for others before 11 AM.
Another example: How much orange juice do you think is in this bottle? This question is incorrect in its wording.
What percentage of orange juice do you think this bottle has? This question is correct in its wording.
The first question can be answered in many ways, while the second leads to a more correct answer.
Other examples of ambiguous questions:
Do you come often here?
Do you go on vacation frequently?
Are you a light or strong beer drinker?
Do you change your brand of cigarettes constantly or
sporadically?
To avoid falling into the use of ambiguous words, test them with the following questions:
- Does the word mean what we intend? Does the word have other meanings? Which ones? Does the word have different pronunciations? Which ones? Are there clearer or less ambiguous words for the meaning we intend? Which?
Avoid subjective questions that suggest the answer. Efforts should be made to ask questions as objectively as possible. A question that suggests an answer is one that, when read, gives the interviewee guidance on a possible answer. For example:
Do you think Ford is a better car brand than General Motors? Or what do you think is the best brand of cars?
The second question is objective and leads to a closer answer to the truth than the first question.
Avoid biased questions. A biased question includes phrases or words that suggest a feeling of approval and disapproval. For example, the following question skews the answer:
Isn't it true that the increase in taxes does not necessarily favor the improvement of municipal services?
Another example: Do you think advertising is good?
Do you think advertising is bad?
People will be more likely to answer one of the two statements simply because they are obviously "leaning" to one side. It is better to ask:
What do you think of advertising?
Avoid manipulating responses. It may be the case that the researcher has a special interest in demonstrating or rejecting a hypothesis. In that case, you will tend to manipulate the responses. To avoid such a situation, the researcher must remember that first of all he is looking for real and reliable facts that allow him to make better decisions. A case of response manipulation could be:
Do you think it is right to buy a foreign drink brand and leave your countrymen out of work?
Avoid questions that force the interviewee to make estimates or to answer by making a generalization. For example, the question.
How many liters of coffee do you drink annually? Forces daily, weekly, and monthly accounts to arrive at annual figures.
Avoid questions with two answers. In the question:
What do you think of computers and the speed at which they process today?
Two answers will surely be given, at best, the first one related to computers and the second one with its processing speed. Ask yourself whether it is better to ask two questions rather than one, or to focus interest in a single topic in one question.
Consider regionality. It is very important to note that different terms are used in each region to refer to the same thing. For example:
Which brand of soda do you prefer?
Are you having trouble parking?
Start with simple and interesting questions. The introductory question should serve to immediately achieve the interest and collaboration of the interviewee.
Leave difficult questions to the end. Asking about sex, drugs, religion, personal income and even age, in the case of women, is uncomfortable for those interviewed. Leave them for the end when there is already a harmony with the interviewee.
Distribute the questions within the questionnaire in a logical order. This means that the interviewee must seem logical about the pace of the interview. First the general questions and then the specific ones; easy ones first and then difficult ones; in the same block all those that have to do with the same topic; etc.
Test, review and adjust your questionnaire. Test the questionnaire (piloting) by applying it to a small group representative of the target audience. By doing 5 or 10 interviews you will be able to test the most important aspects of the questionnaire and discover areas where it can be improved.
- Are the questions being answered as expected? Is the questionnaire becoming clear to both the interviewer and the respondent? Is the order of the questions consistent?
These are some of the tests that the questionnaire must undergo before being released for mass application.
Then Professor Gessler Lupi teaches the steps to design a market research questionnaire.
