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Chapter 6: Collecting Primary Data Using
Questionnaires
LEVENT ALTINAY
ALEX PARASKEVAS
HLTM
BUSINESS SCHOOL
Questionnaires
 One of the most popular methods of collecting
data.
 A pre-determined, structured set of questions.
 Large sample, low cost.
 Produce summaries and quantitative descriptions.
 Useful when you know exactly what to ask, reach
to large sample of respondents, ask standard
questions that everyone will be able to understand
and respond to.
Types of Questionnaire
 Self Administrated Questionnaires – Are usually
completed by respondents.
i) Internet (on-line questionnaires)
ii) Postal or mail questionnaires
iii) Delivery and collection questionnaire
 Interviewer Administrated Questionnaires – Are
recorded by the interviewer on the basis of each
respondent’s answers.
i) Telephone questionnaire
ii) Structured Interview
When to use Questionnaires
Descriptive Research – attitude and
opinion questionnaires and
questionnaires of organizational
practices.
Explanatory Research – will enable you to
examine and explain relationships
between variables, in particular causeand-effect relationships.
Different types of data through questionnaires
1.
2.
3.
Opinion (record how respondents feel about
something or what they think and believe is true
or false).
Behaviour (record what respondents do and are).
Attribute (contain data about the respondents
characteristics such as age, gender, education,
occupation and income).
Different types of data through questionnaires
 How would you rate the service quality in the pool
bar?
 To what extent do you agree with the statement
that British Airways is the best flag carrier in the
world?
 How often do you fly to long-haul destinations?
 How many trips do you intend to do by air within
the next six months?
 How old are you?
 What is your nationality?
Deciding what data need to be collected
 Review literature carefully
 Discuss your ideas with colleagues, your
project tutor and other interested parties.
 Types of variable that can be collected
through questionnaires:
Ensuring that essential data are collected
 Review literature carefully.
 Decide whether the main outcome of your research is
descriptive or explanatory.
 Subdivide each research question or objective into
more specific investigative questions about which you
need to gather data.
 Repeat the second stage if you feel that the investigative
questions are not sufficiently precise.
 Identify the variables about which you will need to
collect data to answer each investigative question (what
kind of data you will need to collect).
 Establish how to measure the data for each variable
E.g., Alex was asked to discover staff attitudes to the
possible introduction of a no smoking policy at his
workplace.
Research question/objective: To establish employees’ attitudes to the
possible introduction of a no-smoking policy at their workplace.
Investigative Questions
Variable (s) required
Detail in which data
measured
Do employees feel that they
should be able to smoke in their
office if they want to as a right?
(opinion)
Opinion of employee to smoking
in their office as a right
Feel … should be allowed,
should not be allowed, no strong
Do employees feel that the
employer should provide a
smoking room for smokers if
smoking in offices is banned?
(opinion)
Opinion of employee to the
provision of a smoking room for
smokers
Feel.. very strongly that it should,
quite strongly that it should, no
strong opinions, quite strongly
that it should not, very strongly
that it should not
Would employees accept a
smoking ban at work if the
majority of people agreed to it?
Likely behaviour of employee
regarding the acceptance of a ban
Would… accept with no
preconditions, accept if a
smoking room was provided, not
accept without additional
conditions, would not accept
whatever the conditions.
Age of employee
(youngest 16, oldest 65)
Non-smoker, smokes but not in
office, smokes
feelings
(behaviour)
Age (attribute), whether or not a
smoker (behaviour)
Smoker
Types of Questions
 Open, useful when you require a detailed answer
 List, where the respondent is offered a list of items, any of




which may be selected
Category, where only one response can be selected from a
given set of categories,
Ranking, where the respondent is asked to place something
in order
Scale or rating, in which a rating device is used to record
responses
Quantity, to which the response is a number giving the
amount
Open Questions
 Useful if you are unsure of the response
 When you require a detailed answer
 When you want to find out what is uppermost in the
respondent’s mind
E.g. Please list up to three things you like about your job.
1………..
2………
3………
List Questions
 Offer the respondent a list of responses, any of which they
can choose.
 Must be defined clearly and meaningfully to the
respondent.
E.g. Please tick “ ⁄ “ the box in the ‘provided’ column for
services you provided as a home care assistant for this
client in the past month
Service
provided
Cleaning rooms
□
Shopping
□
Bed making
□
Other
□
(please describe):……………………..
Category Questions
 Designed so that each respondent’s answer
can fit only one category.
 Useful if you need to collect data about
behaviour or attributes.
E.g., How often do you visit this shopping centre?
Interviewer: listen to the respondent’s answer and
tick “ ⁄” as appropriate
□first visit
2 or more times a week □
□once a week
less than once a week to fortnightly □
□less than fortnightly to once a month
less often □
Ranking Questions
 Ask the respondent to place things in rank order.
 You can discover the relative importance of variables to
the respondent.
E.g. Please number each of the factors listed below in order of
importance to you in your choice of a new car. Number the
most important 1, the next 2 and so on. If a factor has no
importance at all, please leave blank.
Factor
importance
Acceleration
( )
Boot size
( )
Safety features
( )
Price
( )
Other
………………………………. (please describe)
Rating and Scale Questions
 They are often used to collect opinion data.
 You ask the respondents how strongly they agree or
disagree with a statement or with a series of statements
E.g. For the following statement please tick “⁄” the box that
matches you view most closely.
I feel that employees’ views have influenced the decisions
taken by management.
Agree
Tend to agree
Tend to Disagree
Disagree
□
□
□
□
Quantity Questions
 The responses to a quantity question is a number, which
gives the amount of a characteristic.
What is your year of birth? □□□□
Questionnaires
 Information required – translate the general topic of





interest into specific research aims and then questions,
break broad questions down into a detailed list of subareas.
Target informants (research sample)
Question content – An iterative process of dividing broad
research questions, identify variables about which you will
need to collect data, establish how you wish to measure.
Question wording and format – Choose the right words
and keep technical terminology and jargon to the minimum
Length of the questionnaire – length affects the response
rate – not more than thirty to forty questions
Piloting the questionnaire
Finalising the format
 Start with instructions on the top (bold or
italicised typeface)
 Group and sequence the questions into an
appropriate order
 Consider ‘positioning bias’ - random listing
 Number the questions
 Demographic questions better at the end