Chapter 11—Questionnaire Design
TRUE/FALSE
1. For a questionnaire to fulfill a researcher’s purposes, the questions must meet the basic criteria of
relevance and accuracy.
2. A questionnaire is accurate to the extent that no unnecessary information is collected in order to solve
the marketing problem under study.
3. Accuracy means that the information collected from a questionnaire is valid.
4. There exists a step-by-step process for ensuring accuracy in the wording of questions in surveys.
5. Question wording and sequence can substantially influence accuracy.
6. Fixed-alternative questions give respondents specific limited-alternative responses and ask them to
choose the one closest to their own viewpoints.
7. Open-ended response questions are frequently used in exploratory research.
8. Open-ended response questions are valuable at the beginning of personal interview sessions.
9. The cost of administering open-ended questions is much lower than that of administering fixed-
alternative questions.
10. One advantage of open-ended response questions is the possibility that interviewer bias will affect the
results.
11. Articulate respondents tend to give shorter answers to open-ended response questions than respondents
who are less articulate.
12. Fixed-alternative questions require more interviewer skill to administer than open-ended response
questions.
13. A fixed-alternative question may tempt respondents to check an answer that is more prestigious or
socially acceptable than the true answer.
14. A frequency-determination question allows the respondent to provide multiple answers to a single
question.
15. Surveys used in telephone interviews should typically be written in a conversational style.
16. A loaded question is one that is emotionally charged or that suggests a socially desirable answer.
17. A counterbiasing technique is used with the expectation that two alternative phrasings of the same
question will yield a more accurate total response than will a single phrasing.
18. A question covering several issues at once is referred to as a leading question.
19. Telescoping and squishing can occur when respondents forget the exact details of their behavior.
20. Order bias may occur when broader questions are asked before specific issues are explored.
21. The anchoring technique involves asking general questions before specific questions.
22. Speeders are respondents who take relatively little time to move through a survey.
23. A heat map question is a multiple choice question.
24. Piping software allows answers from previous questions to be inserted into unfolding questions in an
Internet survey.
25. A pretest of a questionnaire can help to establish the likely response rate for mail surveys.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The degree to which all information collected in a questionnaire addresses a research question that will
help the decision maker address the current marketing problem is the extent to which the questionnaire
is ____.
a.
relevant
b.
accuracy
c.
frequency
d.
counterbalanced
2. A questionnaire that collects information that is valid is said to be ____.
a.
relevant
b.
accurate
c.
counterbalanced
d.
balanced
3. A question that poses some problem or topic and asks respondents to answer in their own words is
called a(n) ____.
a.
sentence completion question
b.
unbalanced question
c.
fixed-alternative question
d.
open-ended question
4. “Can you name five brands of tires?” is a(n) ____ question.
a.
fixed-alternative
b.
branching
c.
open-ended response
d.
filter
5. What is another term for a fixed-alternative question?
a.
open-ended response
b.
closed
c.
branching
d.
concise
6. “What is your gender? ____ M ____ F” is an example of a(n) ____ question.
a.
loaded
b.
leading
c.
fixed-alternative
d.
filter
7. All of the following are disadvantages of open-ended response questions EXCEPT:
a.
cost
b.
interviewer bias
c.
irrelevancy
d.
nonrepresentativeness of respondents
8. Compared to open-ended response questions, fixed-alternative questions:
a.
require less interviewer skill
b.
take more time
c.
are more difficult for the respondent to answer
d.
take the same amount of time
9. “Do you own a cell phone? ____ Yes ____ No” is a(n) ____ question.
a.
leading
b.
simple-dichotomy
c.
loaded
d.
open-ended response
10. What type of question is the following?
Which of the following services of the United Missouri Bank, besides your personal
checking account, do you currently use? (check all that apply)
______ Savings account
______ Car loan
______ Home mortgage loan
a.
branching question
b.
filter question
c.
checklist question
d.
counterbalancing question
11. Dichotomous and multiple-choice alternatives in fixed-alternative questions should not have overlap
among categories. That is, the categories should be ____.
a.
exhaustive
b.
mutually exclusive
c.
positively worded
d.
balanced
12. Three guidelines below help prevent the most common mistakes in designing questions. Which one is
typically NOT used for this purpose?
a.
Avoid personal questions.
b.
Avoid complexity.
c.
Avoid leading questions.
d.
Avoid double-barreled questions.
13. “What is your favorite hobby, playing video games, or what?” is an example of what type of question.
a.
loaded
b.
branching
c.
filter
d.
leading
14. “In light of the current economic crisis, do you agree or disagree that the President of the United States
is doing a good job of managing the economy?” is an example of what type of question.
a.
counterbalancing
b.
order bias
c.
double-barreled
d.
loaded
15. An introductory statement or preamble to a potentially embarrassing question that reduces a
respondent’s reluctance to answer by suggesting that certain behavior is not unusual is called a ____
statement.
a.
filter
b.
lead-in
c.
reassurance
d.
counterbiasing
16. “Do you agree or disagree with the statement: The Federal Reserve Bank and the large U.S. banks are
responsible for the high foreclosures on home mortgages” is an example of a(n) ____ question.
a.
counterbiasing
b.
open-ended response
c.
counterbalancing
d.
double-barreled
17. “Should Dillard’s keep its excellent department store credit card program? ____ Yes ____ No” is an
example of ____.
a.
using a branching question
b.
making an assumption
c.
a double-barreled question
d.
using a checklist
18. Asking respondents to remember something without providing any clues to help them remember is
called ____.
a.
unaided recall
b.
aided recall
c.
recognition
d.
cognitive retrieval
19. What type of error occurs when respondents believe that past events happened more recently than they
actually did?
a.
telescoping
b.
squishing
c.
myopic remembering
d.
zooming
20. When respondents think that recent events took place longer ago than they really did, what type of
error is occurring?
a.
telescoping
b.
squishing
c.
faltering
d.
misredemption
21. Which technique recommends asking general questions before specific questions in order to obtain
unbiased responses?
a.
skip logic technique
b.
telescoping
c.
squishing
d.
funnel technique
22. In political elections involving candidates who are not well-known by many voters, the candidate who
is listed first on the ballot often receives the most votes. This is an example of a(n) ____.
a.
Hawthorne effect
b.
self-fulfilling prophecy
c.
order bias
d.
split-ballot technique
23. A respondent in a personal interview is asked questions about shopping at a specific department store
in the shopping mall, and then is asked general questions about shopping at that mall. What type of
mistake in design has been made?
a.
filter effect
b.
order bias
c.
double-barreled effect
d.
loaded effect
24. The question: “Have you ever received a speeding ticket? ____ Yes ____ No,” is followed by a
question: “When did you receive that ticket?” if the respondent answers yes to the first question. In this
situation, the first question functions as a ____ question.
a.
double-barreled
b.
leading
c.
filter
d.
anchoring
25. A filter question that used to determine what part of the questionnaire respondents are directed to is
called a(n) ____.
a.
anchoring question
b.
branching question
c.
funneling question
d.
piping question
26. Which type of question is most likely to conserve space in a questionnaire?
a.
branching question
b.
funnel question
c.
multi-faceted question
d.
multiple-grid question
27. A bar at the top of the page in an Internet survey that indicates how much of the survey still needs to
be completed is called a(n) ____ bar.
a.
drop-down
b.
radio
c.
push
d.
status
28. Which type of software allows answers from previous questions to be inserted into unfolding questions
on Internet surveys?
a.
piping software
b.
interactive software
c.
error trapping software
d.
funneling software
29. A tabulation of the results of a pretest to help determine whether the questionnaire will meet the
objectives of the research is referred to as a(n) ____ tabulation.
a.
preliminary
b.
primary
c.
initial
d.
back
30. When “out of sight, out of mind” was translated into a foreign language, and then was translated back
into English by a language expert in the foreign language, it became “invisible things are insane.” This
is an example of ____.
a.
the linguistic effect
b.
a loaded question
c.
back translation
d.
a counterbiasing statement
COMPLETION
1. A(n) ____________________ question allows the respondent to answer the question in a personal
interview in his or her own words.
2. A question in which the respondent is given a list of possible responses and is asked to choose one of
them is a(n) ____________________ question.
3. A fixed-alternative question in which the respondent is asked to check either “_____ Yes or _____
No” is a(n) ____________________ question.
4. A type of fixed-alternative question in which a respondent is asked to select the category that best
represents his gross income for the previous year is an example of a(n) ____________________
question.
5. Consider a fixed-alternative question lists ten possible services that could be provided by a local bank
and asks respondents to check as many as apply such as: “Which of the following banking services do
you currently use for First City Bank?” Such a question is a(n) ____________________ question.
6. Questions that suggest or imply a certain answer are called ____________________ questions.
7. A question that is written in such a way as to arouse strong emotion in the respondent is called a(n)
____________________ question.
8. A single question that really asks two questions at the same time is called a(n)
____________________ question.
9. When the respondent’s answers to previous questions in a questionnaire create a bias in his or her
answers to later questions, this is known as ____________________ bias.
10. In a personal interview, asking general questions before asking specific questions in order to create
less bias in the responses is called the ____________________ technique.
11. A question that “screens out” respondents because they do not qualify to answer a subsequent question
(e.g. asking “Do you own a DVD player?” before asking the brand of DVD player) is called a(n)
____________________ question.
12. A filter question that is used to determine what question will be asked next is called a(n)
____________________ question.
13. The ordering of questions through a survey is referred to as ____________________.
14. When a respondent stops answering questions before reaching the end of the survey,
____________________ has occurred.
15. The process of taking a questionnaire that has previously been translated from one language to another
and then having it translated to the initial language by a second, independent translator is called
____________________.
ESSAY
1. List the key decisions that researchers must make in their questionnaire design.
2. Compare and contrast open-ended and fixed-alternative questions and provide an example of each.
3. Name and define the primary types of fixed-alternative questions.
4. Discuss factors to consider when determining the order of questions on a questionnaire.
5. Why are pretests conducted? List the questions pretests are typically conducted to answer.
ANS: