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AdvertisingResearch:Instructor’sManual

Copyright?2012PearsonEducation,Inc.publishingasPrenticeHall

AdvertisingResearch:Instructor’sManual

Copyright?2012PearsonEducation,Inc.publishingasPrenticeHall

PAGE

12.WritingSurveyQuestions

ChapterGoals

Afterreadingthischapter,studentsshouldbeableto:

? understandtheappropriateuseofclosed-andopen-endedquestions.

? understandhowtomatchquestionformandapproachwithinformationneeds.

? createwell-writtenquestionsatalllevelsofmeasurement.

NotestotheInstructor

TheChapterLectureprovidesaguidetokeytopicsandcontent.ThePowerPointslidesarenamed:davis_adresearch_ch12.ppt.

Thischapter’sonlinesupplementalreadingsprovidetwoexamplesofsuperiorresearch.Bothstudiesarecreativeintheirapproachandinsightfulintheirfindingsandimplications.Relevanttothediscussioninthischapter,bothstudiesusewell-writtensurveyquestionstocollectthedata.Beyondtheseattributes,dataanalysisisclearandinformativeandthepresentationsthemselvesarevisuallyinteresting,wellorganizedandeasytofollow.

RazorfishDigitalBrandExperienceReport/2009

ThefullDigitalBrandExperienceReport/2009,includingtheactualsurveyquestionsanddataset,isprovidedasoneofthischapter’sonlinesupplementalreadings.Asyourstudentsreadthroughthereportmakecertaintohavethemnote:

? theoverallflowofthepresentation,thatis,howtheauthorsmovefromtopictotopicinawaythatbuildsacohesive,coherentpictureofthefindingsandimplications.

? thesuccessfulintegrationofdatatableswiththetext.

? howtheauthorsgobeyonddatatablestovisuallypresentandsummarizekeyinsightsandimplications.

? howthedataandfindingsthemselvesareseamlesslyintegratedintothenarrativewithoutbreakingthenarrativeflow.

? theExecutiveSummary(pages7to12)whichbothclearlysummarizesthekeyfindingsandencouragesthereadertoreadthemoredetailedfindings.

? howsecondaryresearchiscitedandintegratedwiththefindingstoprovideacontextforinterpretingthecurrentresearchfindings.

Keepinmindthatprioraspectsofthereportareofvalueonlybecausetheresearchquestionsthemselveswerewell-writtenandrelevanttotheresearchfocus.Becertaintoreviewthesurveyquestionsanddetailedfindingsbeginningonpage41ofthereport.

PeopleFromCossette

TheCossette2009SocialMediaStudywasdesignedtogatherinsightsonconsumerswhousesocialmedia,specifically,toprovideanin-depthunderstandingofsocialmediapenetrationaswellasocialmediausers’motivations,behaviorsandattitudes.Over3,000individualsparticipatedintheonlinesurvey.

Thefullreportisprovidedasanonlinesupplementalreading.Asyoureadthroughthereportnotethatthisreport,althoughdifferentthanTheDigitalBrandExperienceReport/2009invisualapproachandorganization,neverthelesssharesmanyofthesamestrengthswithregardto:

? theoverallflowofthepresentation.Notehowtheauthors’havelogicallyorganizedandsequencedthetopicsofdiscussion,movingwithinatopicfrommoregeneraltomoredetailedfindings.

? thesuccessfulintegrationofdatatableswiththetextualexplanations,makingcertainthatthetextprovidesasummaryofthefindings(orfocusesonaspecificfinding)ratherthansimplyrepeatingallofthenumericinformationfromthedatatables.

? howtheauthorscreativelyusedatatablestovisuallypresentandsummarizekeyinsightsandimplications.Largeamountsofcomplexdataarepresentedinawaythatmakesthefindingsreadilyaccessible.

? howtheimplicationsofthefindingsaremadeexplicitandjustifiedbytheunderlyingdata.

Finally,aswiththeDigitalBrandExperienceReport/2009,thestrengthandvalueofthisresearchisadirectreflectionofthequalityofthesurveyquestionsusedtocollectthedata.Aswiththepriorreport,theactualsurveyquestionsareprovided.

ChapterLecture

Quantitativesurveyresearchusestwotypesofquestions:closed-endedandopen-ended.Bothtypesprovidevaluableinsightsintoarespondent'sthoughts,beliefs,andattitudes.Beginwithfocusonclosed-endedquestions.

I.WritingClosed-EndedSurveyQuestions:NominalLevel

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Commontypesofnominallevelquestionsaredichotomousquestions,multiplechoicequestions,andchecklists.

A.DichotomousQuestions

Simplesttypeofnominalmeasurementandusedtoclassifyindividuals,objects,attitudes,orotherresponsesintooneoftwoexhaustive,mutuallyexclusivegroups.

Mostcommonformuses"yes"and"no"options,asshowninSlide12-4.Questionsnotlimitedtoyesandnoresponseoptionscanbeusedwhenever

thereisaneedtodividerespondents,attitudesorbehaviorsintotwogroups,asshowninSlide12-5.

Thesehaveseveraladvantagesovermorecomplexquestions:(1)easyforrespondenttoanswer,(2)areverysimpletoedit,code,tabulate,andanalyze,and(3)workwelltomoverespondentsthoughaquestionnaireinawaythatensuresthatonlyrelevantquestionsareaskedofparticularrespondents.Thisisknownasa“skippattern”or“skiplogic,”asshowninSlide12-7.

Theseshouldnotbeusedasasubstituteformoredetailedquestions.Don’task:"Haveyouusedthreeormoretubesoftoothpasteinthepastmonth?"whenthebetterquestionis:"Howmanytubesoftoothpastehaveyouusedinthepastmonth?"wouldbemoreappropriate.

B.MultipleChoiceQuestions

Nominalmeasuresthatpresentthreeormoreexclusiveandexhaustivecategoriesofresponse.Theyareusedwhenthereisaneedistocategorizeintosmaller,morefocusedcategoriesthanarepermittedbydichotomousquestions.

ThecollectionofdemographicinformationisacommonuseofthistypeofquestionasshowninSlide12-9.

Makecertainthatthecategoriesareexhaustiveandexclusive.

? Categoriesareexhaustivewhenthereisanappropriateresponseforeveryrespondent.

? Categoriesareexclusivewhenthereisnooverlapacrossresponsecategoriesandeachrespondentfitsintoonlyonecategory.

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ThequestionshowninSlide12-11isnotexhaustive(nozeroclassification)

andnotexclusive(thosewithsixchildrenfitintotwocategories).

BetterversionshowninSlide12-12.

TheexampleshowninSlide12-13alsolacksexhaustivenessandexclusivity.Absenceofan"other"optionprohibitstheclassificationofrespondentswhose

lastpurchasewasnotoneofthelistedbrands(lackofexhaustiveness).QuestionfailstoaccountforarespondentwhoboughtbothCheerandTidethelasttimeheorshewasshopping(lackofexclusivity).

Multiplechoicequestionsarenotrestrictedtocollectionofdemographicorbehavioralinformation.Theycanbeusedtoprobeattitudesandmotivations,asshowninSlide12-14.

Advantages:(1)flexibleformat,(2)appropriatetowiderangeofsituations,and

(3)versusopen-endedquestionsareeasiertocode,edit,tabulate,andanalyze.

Caution1:Makecertainthelistuseddoesnotbiasrespondent.Considerthequestion:“Whichbrandofautomobiledoyouthinkhasthebestreliability?”PossibleoptionsshownonSlide12-16.Firstapproachisbestbecauseitplacestheresponseoptionsinalphabeticalorder,avoidingimplicitcommunicationthatbrandsontopoflistare“better.”

Caution2:Whenusingmultiplechoicequestionstoprobebehaviors,makecertainthat:(1)thereisa“zero”optiondistinctfromtheotherresponseoptions,(2)responsecategoriesarerelativelybalanced,and(3)“typical”behaviorappearsnearthecenterofthelist.Forthequestion“HowmayhoursdidyouspendonYouTubeinpast24hours?Roundtonearest1/2hour.”reasonableresponseoptionswouldbethoseshowninSlide12-17.

Thissetofresponseoptionswillallowustodistinguishbetweennonusers,light,mediumandheavyusers.

C.DichotomousorMultipleChoice?

Itisrecommendedthatdichotomousquestionsonlybeusedwhentheentirerangeofresponseconsistsoftwocommonlyused/acceptedcategories,for

example,gender.

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QuestionshowninSlide12-19isnotareasonabledichotomousquestion.BetteralternativeshowninSlide12-20.

D.Checklist

Combinesaseriesofrelateddichotomousquestionsintoasinglequestion.Resultsinlesstime-consumingandtediousmethodofdatacollectionversusaskingeachquestionindividually.

ExamplesshowninSlides12-22and12-23.

Priorquestionsillustrateimportantcharacteristics:

? Mustexplicitlydefinethecriteriaonwhichitemsinthechecklistaretobeselected.

? Instructionsmustmakeitclearthatitisuptotherespondenttocheckasmanyorasfewitems(orevennoitems)asheorshefeelsisappropriate.

? Orderchoicestoreducebias.Namesandrelatedshouldbeinalphabeticalorder.Wordsandphrasesshouldcontainequalnumbersofpositiveandnegativeitemsplacedinarandomorder.

II.WritingClosed-EndedSurveyQuestions:OrdinalLevel

Askrespondentstoorderalistofitemsintermsofpredefinedcharacteristic.Mostcommonisrankorder.

Presentrespondentwithseveralcharacteristics,objects,orattributeswithrequesttoorderorrankthemwithrespecttoaspecificcharacteristicmadeexplicitinlead-in.

ExamplequestionshowninSlide12-26.

Note:(1)questioniswordedtoexplicitlystaterespondent'stask,(2)characteristictobeusedisexplicit,and(3)methodusedtoperformtherankingclearlydescribestheprocess,and(4)optionshavebeenplacedinalphabeticalordertoavoidbias.

Numberofoptionstoberankedshouldgenerallynotexceedsix.

III.WritingClosed-EndedSurveyQuestions:IntervalLevel

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Provideinformationontherankorderofitemsandprovideanestimateoftherelativedistancebetweenitems.Mostcommonformareratingscales.

A.RatingScales

Theserequirerespondenttoselectoneoptionformamongthemembersofanexplicit,well-definedcontinuum.ExampleshowninSlide12-28.

Thisquestionillustratesthreecharacteristicsofwell-writtenratingscale:

? thelead-initselfisunbiased.Bothendsofratingscaleareexplicitlystated.

? thereareequalspacesorintervalsbetweenscalepoints.

? thereisadirectcorrespondencebetweentheinformationrequestedinthequestionitselfandthescaleusedtogathertheinformation.

Considerationsinratingscalesinclude:(1)numberofscaleoptions,(2)

balance,(3)neutraloption,(4)frameofreference.

1.NumberofScaleOptions

Ageneralruleofthumbisthatbetweenfourandsevenresponsecategoriesprovidesufficientdiscrimination.Whenmoreareusedbeverycertainthatfinerdistinctionsrepresentedinthescaleoptionsarerelevantandmeaningfultotherespondent.

2.ScaleBalance

Balancedscaleprovidesanequalnumberofresponsecategoriesonbothendsofthecontinuumandtheresponseoptionsmirroreachother.Unbalancedscaleviolatestheeitherorbothcharacteristicsofabalanced.ExamplesshowninSlide12-33.

Itisrecommendedthatunbalancedscalesonlybeusedwhendirectionofresponseisgenerallyknownandfinerdistinctionsononeendofthecontinuumaredesired.

3.NeutralOption

Slide12-34showsexampleuse/nouseofneutraloption.

Donotprovideaneutraloptionwhenyouthinkmostrespondentsshouldhaveanopinionorwhenitisnecessarytoforceanopinion.

Whenused,itshouldcontainbothendsofratingscale,forexample“Neitheragreeordisagree.”Isinterpretedasaneutralopinion–isnotthesameas“noopinion”or“don’tknow.”

4.FrameofReference

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Noncomparativeratingscalesaskarespondenttoassignaratingwithoutanexplicitframeofreference.Absenceofanexplicitframeofreferenceisappropriatewhenevertheresearchrequiresanabsoluterating.

Comparativeratingscalesprovideaframeofreference.Appropriatewhenevertheresearchrequiresarelativerating.

5.AlternativeFormatsforRatingScales

Itispossibletocombineseveralrelatedscalesintoasingle“super-question,”asshowninSlide12-37.

IV.WritingClosed-EndedSurveyQuestions:RatioLevel

Acommonformofaratiomeasureistheconstantsumscale.

Constantsumscalerequiresrespondenttodivideapresetquantity(theconstantsum)amongtwoormoreobjectsorattributesinawaythatreflectstherespondent'srelativepreferencefor,orimportanceof,eachobject.ExampleshowninSlide12-38.

Notehow(1)thefocusforallocationisexplicit,(2)respondent'staskisclearlydescribed,and

(3)criteriaforpointallocationisclear.

Considerations:(1)manageablenumberofoptions,(2)numberofpointstobeallocatedneedstobereasonableand,(3)numberofpointsneedstobeeasilydivisiblegiventhenumberofitems.

V.DevelopingOpen-EndedQuestions

Writingofopen-endedquestionsentailsfollowingspecialconsiderations.

? Thequestionmustbetrulyopen-ended.

? Thequestionshouldincorporateprobes,forexample:

Whatthoughtsorfeelingsdidyouhaveasyouwatchedthecommercial?PROBE:Didyouhaveanyotherthoughtsorfeelings?PROBE:"Anythingelse?"CONTINUEPROBINGUNTILNOFURTHERRESPONSE.

? Thequestionshouldbesingle-minded."DoanystrengthsandweaknessesofSuaveshampoocometomind?"shouldbedividedintotwoseparatequestions:"DoanystrengthsofSuaveshampoocometomind?"and"DoanyweaknessesofSuaveshampoocometomind?"

VI.ConsiderationsinQuestionDevelopment

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Explicitlystatetherespondents'taskinsimplelanguage.Donotassumethatarespondentintuitivelyknowshowtoansweraspecifictypeofsurveyquestion.

Usesimple,activesentencesandcommonlyusedlanguage.

Avoidbias.Biasedorleadingquestionsimplicitlycommunicateapointofviewaspartofthequestion,forexample:

Isittruethatyoustillpurchasewhitebread?

Manypeopleareengagedinactivitiestoimprovetheenvironment.Whichoftheactivitiesshowninthefollowinglistareyoudoingtoimprovetheenvironment?

Biasisalsoavoidedwhenbothendsofopinionoptionsareplacedinquestionlead-in.Notthis:"Usethefollowingscaletoindicatehowmuchyouliketheadvertisement"butthis"Usethefollowingscaletoindicatehowmuchyoulikedordislikedthecommercial."

Avoidmultipleinformationalrequestsinasinglequestion,forexample:"Whatisyourfavoritebrandofshampooandhowoftendoyouuseit?"Asktwoquestionsinstead:"Whatisyourfavoritebrandofshampoo?"and"Howoftendoyouuseit?"

Avoidambiguity,forexample:"Whatkindofshampoodoyouuse?"Somerespondentsmayinterpret"kind"torefertothebrandnamewhileothersmayinterpret"kind"tomeanform(gelorliquid)ortype(dandruff,conditioning,orregular).Theproblemofambiguityisespeciallypronouncedwhenoneattemptstomeasurequantitiesandtime.Avoidtermssuchas“often”and“rarely”asthesearesubjecttomultipleinterpretations.Usedefiniteterms(forexample,2to3times)instead.

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Avoidassumptions.Asking"Whatdidyoulikeaboutthecommercial?"presumesthattherespondentdid,infact,likesomething.Insteadas:"What,ifanything,didyoulikeaboutthecommercial?"

Alsoavoidassumingknowledgeonthepartofarespondent.Asking,"Whatwasthepriceofthelastbrandoftoothpasteyoupurchased?"assumesrespondentrememberstheprice.Bettertofirstask,"Doyourecallthepriceofthelastbrandoftoothpasteyoupurchased?"Iftheansweris"yes"thenask,"Whatwastheprice?"

Justifyrequestsforpersonalinformation.Requestfordemographicandrelatedtypesofinformationcanbeprefacedbyastatementsuchas"Thefollowingquestionswillbeusedonlytohelpusclassifyyourresponses."Arequestforsensitiveinformationmaybeprefacedbyastatementsuchas,"NowI'dliketoaskyouafewquestionsrelatedtoIknowthatthesequestionsprobepersonalandperhapssensitiveareas,butIwouldreallyappreciateyourcooperation.Allofyouranswers,ofcourse,arestrictlyconfidential."

Provideareasonabletimeframeforbehavioralquestions.Allquestionsthatmeasurebehaviorsneedtoprovideatimeperiodinwhichthetargetbehaviortookplace.Thattimeperiodneedstobereasonablegivenindividuals’memory.

VII.QuestionWriting:AnEvaluation

(HavestudentsrefertoFigure12.4ordistributeasahand-out.Explanationsareprovidedinthetext.)

ResponsestoApplicationExercises

1a.Thisquestionisunacceptablebecauseitaskstwoquestionsatthesametime.Italsoassumesthattherespondentinfactownsatleastonepet.Abettersequencewouldbe:

1.Doyoucurrentlyownanypets?

YesGOTOQ2

NoGOTOQ4

2.Howmanypetsdoyoucurrentlyown?

3.FOREACHPETMENTIONEDINQ2ASK“Whatistheageofeachofyour(INSERTNUMBERFROMQ2)pet(s)?”USESPACESBELOWTORECORDAGES.

4.InterviewContinues

1b.Thisquestionisambiguousas“kind”canrefertomake,modelortypeofvehicle.Thequestionalsoassumesthatonlyonecariscurrentlyownedandthat(infact)atleastonecarisowned.Amoreprecisequestionwouldbe:

1.Doyoucurrentlyownacar?

YesGOTOQ2

NoGOTOQ3

2.Whatisthemake(thatis,manufacturer)ofyourmostrecentlypurchasedcar?

3.Interviewcontinues

1c.Thelead-intothequestionisinappropriate.Thecategoriesareneitherexhaustivenorexclusive.Itisdifficultforrespondentstorecall“aftertax”income.Theresponsecategoriesarenotreasonable.Abetterversionwouldbe:

InorderhelpusclassifyyouranswersI’dliketoaskyousomequestionsaboutyouandyourhousehold.AsImentionedearlier,allofthisinformationwillbestrictlyconfidential.First,canyoupleasetellmeyourtotalannualhouseholdincome?Pleaseroundtothenearestthousanddollars.PROVIDEINCOMEINSPACEBELOW.

1d.Theresponseoptionsarenotbalanced.The“neither”optiondoesnotstatebothendsofthecontinuum.Betterscaleoptionswouldbe:

Stronglyagree

Slightlyagree

Neitheragreeordisagree

Slightlydisagree

Stronglydisagree

1e.Theresponseoptionsdonotagreewiththequestion.“New”carisambiguousasitcanrefertoapreviouslyun-ownedcaroracarthat(neworused)waspreviouslyun-ownedbytherespondent.Thetimeframeistoolong.Abetteroptionwouldbe:

Howlikelyorunlikelyorunlikelydoyouthinkitisthatyouwill

Purchaseanew,previouslyun-owned,carwithinthenexttwomonths?

VerylikelySomewhatlikelySomewhatunlikelyVeryunlikely

1f.Thelead-intothequestionisbiased.Thecategoriesareneitherexclusivenorreasonablyspaced.Thetimeperiodisinappropriate,assavingscanvarysignificantlybyyear.Abetteralternativewouldbe:

Howmuchmoneywouldyouestimateyousavedlastyearforyourchild’scollegeeducation?

None

$1to$1,000

$2,000to$5,000

$6,000to$10,000

$11,00to$15,000

$16,000andover

1g.Atimeframeismissing.Theresponseoptionsaresubjecttomultipleinterpretations.A

betteralternativewouldbe:

Howoftendidyoushampooyourhairinthelast7days?

1h.Theinstructionsareunsatisfactoryandincomplete.Thebrandsneedtobep