Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
- __0–5 alcoholic beverages
- __5–10 alcoholic beverages
- __10–15 alcoholic beverages
Many people don’t like to answer questions about their income levels. Asking them to specify income
ranges rather than divulge their actual incomes can help.
Other research question “don’ts” include using jargon and acronyms that could confuse people. “How
often do you IM?” is an example. Also, don’t muddy the waters by asking two questions in the same
question, something researchers refer to as a double-barreled question. “Do you think parents should
spend more time with their children and/or their teachers?” is an example of a double-barreled question.
Open-ended questions, or questions that ask respondents to elaborate, can be included. However, they
are harder to tabulate than closed-ended questions, or questions that limit a respondent’s answers.
Multiple-choice and yes-and-no questions are examples of closed-ended questions.
Testing the Questionnaire
You have probably heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” If the questions are bad, the information
gathered will be bad, too. One way to make sure you don’t end up with garbage is to test the questionnaire
before sending it out to find out if there are any problems with it. Is there enough space for people to
elaborate on open-ended questions? Is the font readable? To test the questionnaire, marketing research
professionals first administer it to a number of respondents face to face. This gives the respondents the
chance to ask the researcher about questions or instructions that are unclear or don’t make sense to them.
The researcher then administers the questionnaire to a small subset of respondents in the actual way the
survey is going to be disseminated, whether it’s delivered via phone, in person, or by mail.
Getting people to participate and complete questionnaires can be difficult. If the questionnaire is too long
or hard to read, many people won’t complete it. So, by all means, eliminate any questions that aren’t
necessary. Of course, including some sort of monetary incentive for completing the survey can increase
the number of completed questionnaires a market researcher will receive.