Presentation on
Questionnaire Design

Introduction
• Information, everyone uses information to
make decisions about the future.
• If our information is accurate, we have a
probability of making a good decision.
• If it is incorrect, our ability to make a correct
decision is diminished.

“BETTER INFORMATION USUALLY
LEADS TO BETTER DECISIONS “
• Therefore a crucial parts of good research is
concerned with making sure that the
QUESTIONNAIR design addresses the needs of
research..

Meaning of QUESTIONNAIR
A set of printed or written questions
with a choice of answers, devised for the
purposes of a survey or statistical study.
Example: question sheet, set of questions,
survey form, form.

Meaning of Questionnaire Design
• Designing a QUESTIONNAIR is not as simple
and easy as at first sight.
• A marketing research, intending to collect
primary data, is required to be extremely
careful in deciding the following quarries:

–What type of information is to collected ?
–What types of questions are to be
formulated ?
–What should be the wording of each
question ?
–What should be their sequence ?
–What should be the layout of the
questionnaire ?
–How to undertake pretesting of the
questionnaire?
–How to finalize the QUESTIONNAIR ?

• All these aspects require considerable time
and effort of the marketing researcher.
• If he is able to develop a questionnaire
suitable for his purpose, he will find that his
efforts of designing a questionnaire would be
fruitful.

Designing A Questionnaire.
(i.e. steps involved in questionnaire)
Decide the information required
Define the target respondent.
Choose the methods(s) of
reaching your target respondent.
Decide the question content

Develop the question wording.
Put question into a meaningful order and
format
Check the length of the questionnaire
Pre-test the questionnaire.
Develop the final survey form.

1. Decide the information required.
The first step is to decide’ what are the things
one needs to know from the respondent in
order to meet the survey’s objective?

2.Define the target respondent.
At the out set, the researcher must define the
population about which he/she wishes to
generalize from the sample data to be
collected.

Choose the methods(s) of reaching your
target respondent.
• Personal interviews
• Group or focus interviews
• Mailed questionnaires
• Telephone interview

4.Decide the question content
Researcher must always be prepared to ask,” is
this question really needed??
There are only 2 occasions when seemingly
”redundant” might be included:
• Opening questions that are easy to answer.
• “Dummy” question can disguise the purpose
of that survey and/or the sponsorship of the
study

5.Develop the question wording.
• It provide the respondent with an easy
method of indicating his answer- he does not
have to think about how to articulate his
answer.
• Responses can be easily classified, making
analysis very straight forward
• It permits the respondent to specify the
answer categories most suitable for their
purpose.

6.Put question into a meaningful order and
format.
• Opening questions.
• Question flow
• Question variety
• Closing question

7.Check the length of the
questionnaire.
• In general it is best for a questionnaire to be
as short as possible.
• A long questionnaire leads to a long interview
and this is open to the dangers of boredom on
the part of respondent.(and poor considered,
hurried answers)

8.Pre-test the questionnaire.
• Test the questionnaire on a small sample of
your subject first this is possible at least it on
colleagues or friends.
• The aim here to detect any flaws in your
question and correct these prior to main
survey.

10.Develop the final survey form.
It means designed questionnaire will
be administered among the selected
sample respondents to the study.

The advantages of questionnaires
• Practical
• Large amounts of information can be collected
from a large number of people in a short
period of time and in a relatively cost effective
way
• Can be carried out by the researcher or by any
number of people with limited affect to its
validity and reliability

• The results of the questionnaires can usually
be quickly and easily quantified by either a
researcher or through the use of a software
package
• Can be analyzed more 'scientifically' and
objectively than other forms of research

The disadvantages of questionnaires.
• Is argued to be inadequate to understand
some forms of information - i.e. changes of
emotions, behavior, feelings etc.
• There is no way to tell how truthful a
respondent is being
• There is no way of telling how much thought a
respondent has put in
• The respondent may be forgetful or not
thinking within the full context of the situation

• People may read differently into each question
and therefore reply based on their own
interpretation of the question - i.e. what is 'good'
to someone may be 'poor' to someone else,
therefore there is a level of subjectivity that is not
acknowledged
• There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning
that when developing the questionnaire, the
researcher is making their own decisions and
assumptions as to what is and is not
important...therefore they may be missing
something that is of importance

Any Questions