Nov16, 2016 - Survey Research Constructing Questions
- 1. Customer Survey Research Constructing Customer Satisfaction Questions
- 2. Learning Objectives Recall the tips for designing good customer satisfaction surveys Recall the question types you can use to write customer satisfaction surveys
- 3. Question Types Open-ended Multiple choice Rating Semantic differential scale/bipolar rating scale Rank-ordering Examples of when to use measurement scales: Attitude toward an idea, product, service, practice, etc. Behavior Knowledge Measureme nt Scales
- 4. Question Types – Open-Ended Respondents answer in own words Good for asking for attitude or feelings, likes and dislikes, memory recall, opinions, or comments Open-ended questions take time & effort to fill out Customers usually skip open-ended questions more than closed-ended questions Data analysis can be time consuming & difficult Examples: What do you dislike about the product you bought from Purina Feed? What is your favorite aspect of the product you bought from Purina Feed?
- 5. Question Types – Multiple Choice Respondents select pre-determined answer choices Dichotomous, Multi-chotomous Forced-choice or select all that apply Example of multi-chotomous question with forced choice: How often do you typically use the product? Do not use Once a year 2-3 times a year Every 2-3 months Once a month Weekly
- 6. Question Types – Multiple Choice Example of multi-chotomous question with select all that apply: Which of the following words would you use to describe our products? Select all that apply. Reliable High quality Useful Unique Good value for money Overpriced Impractical Ineffective Poor quality Unreliable
- 7. Question Types - Rating Good for measuring behavior or attitude Each answer choice is weighted Write multiple statements related to same topic to create construct Code responses consistently so high scores indicate stronger agreement with attitude in question Answer choices go from negative to positive
- 8. Rating Example Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with our company? Very dissatisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied
- 9. Rating Example Based on your experience with Purina’s mineral tub, would you recommend this product to a friend? Definitely will not Probably will not Might not or might Probably will Definitely will
- 10. What do you think? Let’s critique this question. What was done correctly? What needs to be corrected? Write your answer down before sharing with the class. Overall, I am very satisfied with the way Agri-Service provided customer service on my equipment. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
- 11. What do you think? Let’s critique this question. What was done correctly? What needs to be corrected? Write your answer down before sharing with the class.
- 12. Question Types – Semantic Differential or Bipolar Rating Scale A name or concept is place at top of series of 7-point scales anchored by bipolar adjectives Usually measures attitude toward task, experience, or object Use short and precise statements Example How do you perceive the company? Fun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boring Complicated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Easy Good 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bad
- 13. What do you think? Let’s critique this question. What was done correctly? What needs to be corrected? Write your answer down before sharing with the class.
- 14. Question Types – Rank Ordering Respondent indicates a priority among a number of alternatives Example: Please rank the following words in order of your preference in characteristics you look for in a product. Put a 1 next to the characteristic you value the most, a 5 next to the characteristic you value least and so on. ____ Reliable ____ Good value for money ____ High quality ____ Unique ____ Easy to use
- 15. What do you think? Let’s critique this question. What was done correctly? What needs to be corrected? Write your answer down before sharing with the class. Please rank us on the following attributes: ____ Customer service ____ Professionalism ____ Quality of products ____ Sales staff ____ Price
- 16. Questionnaire Design Opening questions First few questions are easy & interesting Build participants’ confidence in survey Question flow Use headings to separate sections Location of sensitive questions Place demographics & personal information toward end of survey
- 17. Visual Design Elements Graphics Use text boxes, square check boxes, images, or logo Participants perceive survey as more legitimate when client logo used Font Use darker and/or larger print for question stem Use different font for instructions versus question stems & answer choices Make answer choices same font as question
- 18. Visual Design Elements Brightness/Contrast/Color Changes in shading and color influence how elements perceived & whether they stand out from background Location Make answer spaces or response options same readable size with same character spacing Spacing Place answer choices in close vertical proximity
Editor's Notes
- #5: The open-ended question seeks to explore the qualitative, in-depth aspects of a particular topic or issue. It gives a person the chance to respond in detail. Although open-ended questions are important, they are time-consuming and should not be over-used.
- #6: The multiple-choice question consists of three or more exhaustive, mutually exclusive categories. Multiple choice questions can ask for single or multiple answers.
- #8: A rating scale question requires a person to rate a product or brand along a well-defined, evenly spaced continuum. Rating scales are often used to measure the direction and intensity of attitudes or behaviors.
- #13: The semantic differential scale asks a person to rate a product, brand, or company based upon a seven-point rating scale that has two bi-polar adjectives at each end. Notice that unlike the rating scale, the semantic differential scale does not have a neutral or middle selection. A person must choose, to a certain extent, one or the other adjective. Good/Bad Right/Wrong Dull/exciting Happy/sad Interesting/uninteresting
- #15: Rank order scaling questions allow a certain set of brands or products to be ranked based upon specific attributes or characteristics.
- #17: Good survey design motivates respondents to reply Sequence of questions creates flow Opening questions – The first few questions in the survey should be easy and interesting in order to calm any participants’ suspicions about the survey’s integrity. This allows the participants to build up confidence in the survey’s objective. In return, this may stimulate their interest and overall participation (Iraossi 2006, 74-78). Question flow – After you have established the first general topic, all related questions should come up before a second topic is raised. It is a good idea to use “pages” in the online design to house each different section of the survey. Here you can raise one topic on one page and include the instructions/information for this section in the Page Description area. When you are then ready to introduce a new topic to the survey, you can create a new page to include that page’s description and purpose. Conditional or Skip Logic questions are also a good way to control the respondent’s flow or route through the survey. You can apply question or page skip logic to the survey when you want to guide respondents and exclude them from certain pages of questions that do not apply to them (Iraossi 2006, 74-78). Location of sensitive questions – Some suggest that sensitive questions should not be included at the beginning of the survey. However, there are no set rules on this. If you do include sensitive questions at the beginning of the survey, then you may run into respondents rejecting the survey and exiting early. They may not have built up confidence yet in the survey’s integrity quite so early. Questions like demographics or personal information are usually best to introduce towards the end of the survey. This way, respondents are likely to have already developed confidence in the survey’s objective (Iraossi 2006, 74-78).
- #18: Font It is important to know your audience in order to determine the optimal font size for legibility. A good rule of thumb is to start with 12 pt size font, then adjust based on the needs of your audience (e.g. larger font for aging populations). This size font is also a good baseline for text within the online survey, such as question stems. Use larger and smaller sizes for headers, responses, and other information on the page. Utilizing different styling (e.g. italics, bold) creates a visual hierarchy and contrast between elements, helping to guide the participant. The most important thing is to use styling consistently throughout the survey. A simple way to use this technique is to italicize instructions in order to separate from question prompts.
- #19: Color Color is a great way to not only make your survey look branded and beautiful, but it can also help create contrast between elements by showing emphasis or de-emphasis. Choosing a color palette can often be daunting with shades, tints, hues, and colors that look the same (is it off white, egg shell, or cream?). Just take a deep breath – it’s going to be okay. Start with your organization’s color. If you don’t have a standard brand palate, then choose a color that you like Group similar question together or in the same area of the survey. Spacing and alignment influence whether elements perceived as related or unrelated To avoid clutter, use white space. Ask only one question per line.