Questionnaire Design

How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for Effective Market Research

Ian Brace

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780749481988
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing Research
• Index: Business

Market research in business is changing. Questionnaire Design, fourth edition, delivers a complete handbook for the mounting challenge of acquiring more data in less time, generating an entire rethink on how data is collected. The growth in mobile devices is limiting the readability of traditional measurement tools, new consumer channels are altering access, whilst time spent answering questions is decreasing exponentially. This book provides practical guidelines to plan, structure and compose questionnaires across all industries and purposes, ensuring valuable data insights are captured with accuracy and efficiency.

Fully updated, the fourth edition of Questionnaire Design includes a new chapter on how to navigate the multiple software options available, with guidance on how to engage and retain respondents earlier on at planning stage, using new mobile design approaches and measurement tools. Updates also cover advances in data privacy, maximizing international reach and managing the transition from face-to-face surveys towards soft launches online. Whether applying to business positioning, consumer insights, employee feedback or product analysis, the ability to gauge a market snapshot on a global scale is escalating the demand for online survey and questionnaire data, making this is an essential addition to every professional's shelf.

APPENDIX 1

Case study: whisky usage and attitude study

The questionnaire

We now have the final questionnaire. On the following pages, it will be shown as it will appear to respondents. Notes beneath each screen show the filtering or logic that that follows from each question.

Screen 1. The welcome screen. Here we need to tell the respondent the broad nature of the subject matter – we do not want to reveal that it is about Scotch whisky at this point. We also say how long it is likely to take. For people who do not pass the screening questions it will take a lot less, which is why we say ‘up to about 10 minutes’.

Our Data Protection responsibilities are taken care of through the link to ‘Data Protection and Privacy Policy’.

Screen 2. Because survey is about an alcoholic drink we need to screen out anyone below the legal drinking age, in this case 18 years. We disguise that this is what we are doing by having a range of age bands both above and below the 18 years. This makes it more difficult to guess that this is what we are doing and lie about their age.

Anyone under 18 is routed to Screen 33, the closure screen for those who do not qualify.

Others to QA.

Screen 3. QA. Security screener. Here we identify people who work in, or have close relatives who work in, professions which would skew the representivity of the sample. People who work for competitors to Crianlarich could also deduce the Crianlarich strategy from some of the questions. The other answers are included as blinds, to give everyone a chance of providing an answer.

Anyone who answers Advertising, Marketing/Market Research or Alcoholic drinks goes to Screen 33.

Others to QB.

Screen 4. QB. This identifies those who drink Scotch whisky. Again, a set of blind answers are provided to allow everyone to answer something, and not be ‘helpful’ by claiming to drink Scotch which might happen if it were the only option available. This also provides valuable information about what other drinks are used by Scotch whisky drinkers.

Those who do not drink Scotch whisky, go to Screen 33.

Others to QC.

Screen 5. QC. We want to identify people who drink Scotch whisky at least once every three months. The inclusion of other answers is partly to disguise where out cut off is, but also provides valuable information about frequency of drinking amongst the sample. In a tracking study, this, taken together with the penetration of Scotch whisky drinkers from QB, can provide valuable information about whether the market as a whole is in growth or decline.

Those who drink Scotch whisky less often than every three months go to Screen 33. Everyone else constitutes the sample definition that we are looking for, and continues to Q1.

Screen 6. Q1. Spontaneous brand awareness. A key question. This is our challenge question to see if they can name eight brands. This is likely to elicit more brand names than if simply asked to name brands of Scotch of whisky. We can see from the order in which the boxes are completed whether Crianlarich moves up in people’s consciousness above other brands over time.

Continue with Q2.

Screen 7. Q2. Spontaneous advertising awareness. A key question. No challenge here, because we want respondents to think of recent advertising, and not go back too far simply to meet the challenge.

Continue with Q3.

Screen 8. Q3. Prompted brand awareness. Here we have a list of the major brands and those we believe to be the closest competitors to Crianlarich. This is about brand recognition, and our concern here is mostly with the proportion of people who do not recognize the name Crianlarich. That tells us whether the job of the advertising should be primarily to raise awareness if that is very low, to reinforce brand positioning for an already well-known brand, or if there is more scope to create a brand positioning for a brand that is known but not well known.

Screen 9. Q4. Prompted advertising awareness. What we are looking for here is whether the Crianlarich advertising h...