7. Methods and techniques  Questioning  Questioning in not the only one way how to obtain information at marketing research, but is used very often.  7.1 Questioning

 When we talk about questioning as a method of research – questioning where the subject is chosen by researcher. Complex of persons, who will be asked, must correspond with targets and purpose of research. Here do not come questionnaires sent to

anonymous addressees.

7.2 Techniques of questioning •verbal – questioner asks and writes answers into questionnaire or computer•written – respondent gets questionnaire and fills it himself•telephone •on-line•Combined

Each of above stated technique has advantages and disadvantages :

• verbal – research company must have network of questioners, this technique has relatively high costs. Contrary verbal questioning has high returnability (filled questionnaires). Verbal questioning – personal contact – is in some types of research by obtaining of specific information irreplaceable.

• written questioning is relatively cheap, but the returnability is low and is also problem with structure of respondents who answered. Low returnability usually means marked disruption of research characteristics.

• Telephone questioning – started in the second half of last century. Boom was interconnection of telephone questioning with computers : developed and are still developing research institutions, which apply this form. Questioning in performed from central place (agency), questioner records answers directly into computer.

Advantages are mainly :• possibility of random selection of respondents

(telephone book) including possibility to agree time, when is possible to call the respondent

• continuous automatic control of questioners (is calling from agency)

• customer can listen (at preserving of codex rules)• can be reached also hard accessible groups of

respondents (repeated calls)

Disadvantages :•infrastructure, phone network•unwillingness, aversion of some groups of people to “technique”•impossibility to show anything (picture) •higher demands on respondent, on his memory, concentration•absence of direct contact

Questioning on-line : relative new technique but with big dynamic. Questioning is made through internet.

Advantages : relative small group of people has internet connection, distrust to modern processes, absence of direct contact.

Combined technique of questioning is applied to eliminate negatives of above stated techniques, for example after telephone questioning is to respondent sent picture material, about which was talked.  In practice are used combinations of different kind.

7.3 Questionnaire Questioning as method of information obtaining in scope of marketing research is used as in quantitative so in qualitative research, in different forms of research – asked are as end consumers, so economics workers in scope of B2B.For character of questions we use concept

questionnaire.

 7.4 Questions Questions in questionnaire have different function and form.According to type of answers are questions divided on :•Opened questions : do not offer any variant of answer, let the respondent freely answer.•Closed questions : offers variants of answers, respondent chooses answer from them. Closed questions can be : simple, type : yes – no (pertinently I do not know), can be from up or from below logical closed, for example How many times in a week you usually have breakfast ? or question for “dog – man” : What breed was your first dog ?”.

From closed variants of answers has the respondent, according to asked problem, to choose only one (usually is stated : choose the answer, that is the closest to your opinion), or are possible more variants (for example which from stated activities do you like ? Choose 1 to 3).

7.5 Thematic segmentation •Direct question : question concerns the nature of a thing, has no hidden meaning. It is obvious what we ask.

• Indirect question : asks as if anything else, camouflages by formulation of question own meaning of question.

(Typical is example, not ask a child “who do you like more, mum or dad” ? but rather : “when something worries you to whom you go ?”)

7.6 Position in questionnaire • questions filter / screening have to secure, that in

asked complex “do not infiltrate” persons, that do not belong there.

Filter, more often used screening is necessary there, where in correspondence with research targets are necessary information only of certain consumer segment, for example of users of certain mark, consumers of certain product.

By research it is about information of real consumers, about information following from experience by usage, not about vicarious information, even if objective, erudite. By screening questions are often eliminate from asked complex those people, whose knowledge can be influenced by any closer relation to thing of research

(opinion about yoghurts will be at person working in food production – even if in expedition – influenced and does not represent opinion of common consumer. Also opinion of doctor´s wife on certain chemical will be influenced – positively or negatively – by opinions of the husband).

Mostly the formulation and screening question does not introduce problem for respondent (people are not aggrieved by question if they eat or not eat yoghurts). But questions about reached education, life standard, knowledge (countries they visited), ownership of a prestige thing, can pose delicate problem.

Expensive article introducing on the market expects, that segment of possible consumers are people from higher social groups or usage of the product requires certain level of knowledge etc.

Marketing workers need to know information about mark knowledge in given segment, about opinions of the mark etc.

Therefore is necessary to access carefully formulation of screening question and its (categorisation) position in questionnaire.

• contact questions – have to establish and at the end also finish contact with asked question. Contact questions are necessary, have to ensure at the beginning the willingness of respondent to co-operation – that all on the base of true information, which gets from questioner (or which are given in questionnaire).

• analytic questions – create heart of whole questionnaire. Possibility, necessity, their expressing is the target of whole questionnaire action. The questions are given to already chosen segment and have to help to obtain information, leading to possibility of problem analysis, or to its solution.

• demographic questions – sometimes called statistical – questions necessary for processing of results, to be able to refer questions to certain type of consumer, search for bindings, connections and differences. From view of position in questionnaire are mostly at the end.

Statistical / demographic questions are mostly closed question, which eases obtaining of answers.