Market Research Chapter 11-Questionnaire design

A questionnaire is a common form of collecting information on markets and behavour which can be described and analysed in detail so that opportunities can be taken, company performance assessed and companyactivities can be tracked.

Before the questionnaire can be developed the researcher has to sit down and determine what the research objectives will be. Factors should has determining how the data will be collected, the wording of questions and the response format for questions all need careful consideration.

There are a number of stages invovled in the development of a questionnaire.

1.Determine survey objectives, research and constraints

2.Determine the data collection method

3.Determine the questionnaire response format

4.Decide on questionnaire wording

5.Develop questionnaire flow and layout

6. Evaluate the questionnaire

7. Obtain approval of all relevant parties

8. Pre-test and revise

9. Prepare the final questionnaire copy.

10.Implementing the study

Step 1 Determine survey objectives, research and

constraints-during this stage the research needs to

communicate with their clients to identify what the

survey objectives will be.

Step 2-determine the data collection method. The data

collection method will depends on a number of factors

such as time and budget. Some of the methods that can

be used are: E-mail, postal, person to person or telephone

Step 3-Determine the questionnaire response format3 major types of questions are used in market research:

•Open questions

•Closed questions

•Scale questions

Step 4-decide on questionnaire wording-time should

be spent on the wording of the questions in the

questionnaire.

Step 5-Develop questionnaire flow and layout-the

researcher should ask general questions first,

sensitive questions should be put towards the end of

the questionnaire.

Step 6 Evaluate the questionnaire -when the first

draft of the questionnaire has been complete the

researcher should look to see if:

-there are questions that are deemed 'nice to know'.

-is the questionnaire too long

-will the questions asked achieve the objectives of

the survey

Step 7-Obtain approval of the relevant parties

before the questionnaire is sent out to the public,

managers or the board of directors need to approve

the questionnaire.

Step 8-Pre-test and revise the questionnaire

Step 9-prepare the final copy of the questionnaire

Step 10-implementing the study-need to ensure that

the interviewers and supervisors instructions are

followed