QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPING

QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTQUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTA questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions pertaining to same research area and addressing same issue.

A question in a questionnaire is used to express a request for information and used as a tool for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. They are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses. The questionnaire was invented by the Statistical Society of London in 1838. A copy of the research instrument was published in the Journal of the Statistical Society, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1838, pages 513.

2QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTQuestionnaire Design Procedure :Convert the research objectives into the information neededSelect method of administering the questionnaire Decide about the content of the questions Frame the questions so as to motivate the respondents to answer Determine the type of questions Conduct pilot testing of the questionnaire Standardise the questionnaire

3QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT Convert the research objectives into the information areasSpell out clearly the specific research questions that the study will address.Convert these questions into statements of objectives.

Define the variables to be studied.

Identify the direction of the relation about the variables under study in the form of hypothesis.

5. Specify the information required for the study.

4QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT Research topic : Study of usage of plastic bags in Delhi NCR

Research questionsResearch objectivesVariables to be studiedInformation requiredPopulation to be studiedWhat is the nature of plastic bag usage amongst people in Delhi NCR ?1.To identify the different uses of plastic bags2.To find out the method of disposal of plastic bags3.To find out the level of consciousness that the people have about the environment1.Usage behaviour.2.Demographic details1.Uses of plastic bags.2.Disposal of plastic bags.1.Consumers2.Retailers5QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTMethod of administration : Once the researcher has identified his information area, he needs to specify how the information should be collected. The Content of the questionnaire Once the information required and the mode of administration is decided, it is now required to determine the matter to be included as the questions for extracting the required information. For example, if one is studying the usage of plastic bags, then demographic questions on age group, occupation, education and gender might make sense but questions related to marital status, family size and the state to which the respondent belongs are not required as they have no direct relation with the usage or attitude towards plastic bags.

6QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT Motivating the respondent to answer The questionnaire should be designed in a manner that it involves the respondent and motivates him/her to give comprehensive information. There might be two kinds of hindrances for active participation : The respondent might not be able to respond in the right manner.The respondent might be unwilling to part with the information. Determining the type of questions : The researcher here decides on response categories that is whether the response options would be given to the respondents or will they be left open to be completed by the respondents in his/her own words.

7QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTOpen-ended questions These are termed open ended and are also referred to as unstructured questions or free answer questions. The researchers suggest no alternative. Some illustrations of this type are listed below :What is your age? How would you evaluate the work done by present government? I like Nescafe because ----------------------------------------------------My career goal is to -------------------------------------------------------I think the quality of Maruti cars are ----------------------------------

8QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTClose-ended questions In these questions, both the question and response formats are structured and defined. The respondent needs only to select the option(s) that he feels are expressive of his opinion. There are three kinds of formats (1)dichotomous questions, (2)multiple choice questions and (3)questions having a scaled response. Dichotomous question - These are restrictive alternatives and provide the respondents only with two answers. These could be Yes or No, Like or Dislike, Similar or DifferentAre you diabetic?Yes/NoHave you read the Ramayan?Yes/No

9QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT Multiple-choice questions - Unlike dichotomous questions, the respondent is given a number of response alternatives here. The respondent is asked to choose one that he feels most applicable. Q. Will you consider selling food products in your store? Probably in the next one year Probably not in the next one year Definitely in the next one year Not yet decided

10QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTLikert scale - This scale is based on interval level of measurement. The questions are formulated by assigning numerical values to response categories.Likert scale is used for the quantification of subjective variables and attitudes .

11QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTQ. Given below are statements related to your organisation. Please indicate your agreement/disagreement with each :

SDA-1, DA-2, N-3, A-4, SA-512345The people in my company know their roles very clearlyI want to complete my current task by hook or by crookExisting systems are very effectiveI feel the need for the organisation to changeTop management is committed to long term vision of creating Value for organisation12QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTCriteria for question designing 1. Clearly specify the issue By reading the question, the person should be able to clearly understand the information required. Q. Which newspaper do you read? (Incorrect) Which newspaper or newspapers did you personally read at home during last 3 months? In case of more than one newspaper, please list all these you read. (correct)

2. Use simple terminology - The researcher must take care to ask questions in a language that is understood by the population under study.Q. Do you think thermal wear provides immunity? (Incorrect) Do you think that thermal wear provides you protection from the cold ? (correct) 13QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT3. Avoid ambiguity in questioning - The words used in the questionnaire should mean the same thing to all those answering the question. Q. How often do you visit Pizza Hut? Never /occasionally/sometimes/often/regularly (Incorrect) These are ambiguous measures, as occasionally in the above question might be three to four times in a week for one person, while for another it could be three times in a month. A much better wording would be following : Q. In a typical month, how often do you visit Pizza Hut? Less than once/ 1 or 2 times/ 3 or 4 times/more than 4 times (Correct)

14QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT 4. Avoid leading questions - Any question that provides a clue to the respondents indicating the way in which one wants them to answer is called a leading or biasing question. Q. Do you think that working mothers should buy ready-to-eat food when that might contain some chemical preservative? Yes/No/Dont know(Incorrect) The question will mostly generate a negative answer, as no working mother would like to buy something that is convenient but might be harmful. Thus it is advisable to construct a neutral question as follows :Q. Do you think that working mothers should buy ready-to-eat food? Yes/No/Dont know (Correct)

15QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT5. Avoid loaded question - Questions that address sensitive issue are termed as loaded questions and the response to these questions might not always be honest, as the person might not wish to give the correct answer even when assured about his anonymity. Q. Will you take dowry when you get married? (Incorrect)

Sensitive question like this can be camouflaged in a variety of ways :Q. Do you think that most Indian men would take dowry when they get married? (Correct)

16QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT 6. Avoid double barrelled questions - The questions that have two separate options separated by an or or an and. The example of such question is given below : Q. Did the training you go through make you feel more motivated and effective in your job ? (Incorrect)Here when the answer is no, then we do not know whether he is not motivated or whether he is not effective at this job or both. Thus to obtain required information, we must split it into separate questions. Q. Did the training you go through make you feel motivated at your job? and (Yes/No)Did the training you went through make you more effective at your job? (Yes/No)

17QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENTReliability Reliability is the degree to which a research instrument produces stable and consistent results. If findings from the research are replicated consistently they are considered reliable.Reliability also applies to individual measures. When people take a vocabulary test two times, their scores on the two occasions should be very similar. If so, the test can then be described as reliable. There are two types of reliability :(1) Internal reliability - This assesses the consistency of results across items within a test.(2) External reliability - This refers to the extent to which a measure varies from one condition to another.

18Test for Internal Reliability

Split-half method This method is designed to correlate the result of half of the items with the result of other half of research instrument.The questions are divided in half in such a way that any two questions intend to measure the same aspect fall into two halves.The scores obtained by administering the two halves are correlated. The reliability is calculated by using the product moment correlation between scores obtained from the two halves. Because the correlation is calculated on the basis of only half of the items of the instrument, it needs to be correlated to assess reliability of the whole which is known as stepped-up reliability. The stepped-up reliability for the whole instrument is calculated by a statistical procedure known as Spearman-Brown formula.

19Test for Reliability 20Test for Reliability 21