SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
The questionnaire is an important tool for gathering primary data. Poorly constructed questionnaires can result in errors and invalidate the research data.
A well-designed questionnaire motivates the respondent to provide complete and accurate information, so we put every effort into the questionnaire design stage of the research process.
Questionnaires must be designed in such a way to sustain interest for both the respondent and the interviewer. Our approach uses a range of the following to vary our interviewing approach:
- Dichotomous questions
- Single response questions
- Multiple response questions
- Semantic scales
- Rating scales
- Continua
- Open-ended questions
Below is an example of how we conduct our questionnaires;
“What I’d like to do now is to go through a number of aspects of their service again, and could you tell me how satisfied you are that XXX provide this service when you last bought ABC from them. For each of the next few questions, I’d like you to give me one of the following answers…Very satisfied, satisfied, neither satisfied nor unsatisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied.
(a) And how satisfied were you that when you contacted XXX, you were dealt with promptly?
(b) And what about your enquiry being answered in a professional manner?
(c) And what about you getting a satisfactory answer to your enquiry?
(d) And how satisfied were you that when you contacted XXX, you were dealt with in a polite and courteous manner?
(e) And what about your enquiry being dealt with by one person only, and that you were not passed from department to department?
(f) And what about dealing with knowledgeable staff?
(g) And how satisfied were you that when you contacted XXX, you were made to feel that your enquiry was important to XXX?
(h) And how satisfied were that the ABC product was delivered on the day XXX specified?
Based on what we’ve just been talking about, how satisfied were you with the service provided by XXX? Please give one of the following answers…READ OUT
Please rate the service provided by XXX on a score of one to ten with ten being the highest score you can give and one the lowest?
And how can XXX improve the service it provides?
