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QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND CRITICAL THINKING/ANSWERS
1. Name several nonbusiness applications of survey research.
Students should be able to provide numerous examples. Many not-for-profit organizations such
2. What is self-selection bias? How might we avoid this?
Self-selection bias is a problem that frequently plagues self-administered questionnaires, such as
a satisfaction card left at the table at a restaurant. It distorts surveys because they overrepresent
3. Do surveys tend to gather qualitative or quantitative data? What types of information are
commonly measured with surveys?
A survey is defined as a method of collecting primary data based on communication with a
representative sample of individuals. Because most survey research is descriptive research, the
term survey is most often associated with quantitative findings, but some aspects of surveys may
4. Give an example of each type of error listed in Exhibit 9.1.
Students should be able to generate numerous examples of errors other than those provided in the
textbook.
Some possible answers are:
118
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 119
Administrative error—Interviewer cheating—An interviewer guesses respondent income rather
Response Bias (General)—A bank officer is asked what percentage of the time she spends talking
on the phone, in meetings, working on a computer, and on other on-the-job activities. Most
In a course evaluation survey asking students who was the best professor they had taken a course
Response Bias—Interviewer Bias—Female interviewers asking questions about sexual
Response bias (general)—Deliberate falsification—It has been said that “The average age of
Response bias—Extreme bias—Someone “hates” all politicians on a questionnaire but doesn’t
Response bias—Interviewer bias—Interviewer is an employee of sponsoring firms and he frowns
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Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 120
Response bias—Social desirability bias—A respondent feels he or she must claim to always drive
5. In a survey, chief executive officers (CEOs) indicated that they would prefer to relocate their
businesses in Atlanta (first choice), San Diego, Tampa, Los Angeles, or Boston. The CEOs
who said they were going to build the required office space in the next year were asked where
they were going to build. The CEOs indicated they were to build in New York, Los Angeles,
San Francisco, or Chicago. Explain the difference between these two responses.
The difference between the chief executive officers’ answers of where they want to go and where
they will actually end up reflects the fact that the two questions address different issues. Atlanta
6. What potential sources of error might be associated with the following situations?
a. In a survey of frequent fliers age 50 and older, researchers concluded that price does not
play a significant role in airline travel because only 25 percent of the respondents check
off price as the most important consideration in determining where and how they travel,
while 35 percent rated price as unimportant.
There is a potential for response bias due to social desirability, which may be deliberate
falsification or unconscious misrepresentation. Furthermore, the frequent fliers, who are likely to
b. A survey of voters finds that most respondents do not like negative political ads—that is,
advertising by one political candidate that criticizes or exposes secrets about the
opponent’s “dirty laundry.”
This question has the potential of response bias because the question asks about negative
c. Researchers who must conduct a 45-minute personal interview decide that they will offer
$25 to each respondent because they believe that people who will sell their opinions are
more typical than someone who will talk to a stranger for 45 minutes.
In general, researchers avoid paying people for responses. Some individuals would welcome the
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 121
d. A company’s sales representatives are asked what percentage of the time they spend
making presentations to prospects, traveling, talking on the telephone, participating in
meetings, working on the computer, and engaging in other on-the-job activities.
A respondent in this typical situation will give an answer to questions about time spent in various
activities. However, it is very likely that the respondent has some memory problems and does not
e. A survey comes with a water hardness packet to test the hardness of the water in a
respondent’s home. The packet includes a color chart and a plastic strip to dip into hot
water. The respondent is given instruction in six steps on how to compare the color of the
plastic strip with the color chart that indicates water hardness.
7. A researcher investigating public health issues goes into a junior high school classroom and
asks the students if they have ever smoked a cigarette. The students are asked to respond
orally in the presence of other students. What types of error might enter into this process?
What might be a better approach?
A social desirability bias will most likely occur, but perhaps not in the direction one may first
assume. Children of this age know they should not smoke, so they may say they don’t in the
8. A survey conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts asked, “Have you read a book
within the last year?” What response bias might arise from this question?
A direct question like this would often be answered “yes” to keep the respondent from being
embarrassed. Because most feel that reading books is socially desirable, they would probably
9. Name some common objectives of cross-sectional surveys.
Typically, surveys attempt to describe what is happening or to learn the response for a particular
activity. Identifying characteristics of target markets, measuring consumer attitudes, and
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 122
10. Give an example of a political situation where longitudinal research might be useful. Name
some common objectives for a longitudinal study in a business situation.
The presidential campaign is a long, involved process. Candidates almost always track their
progress during the campaign for a year or more prior to the election.
Business applications of longitudinal studies include cohort studies, tracking studies, and
consumer panels. Cohort studies use successive samples; its researchers survey several different
samples at different times. These are called cohort studies because similar groups of people share
11. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using consumer panels?
Consumer panels involve a longitudinal study which includes gathering data from the same
sample over time. The panelists record their purchasing habits in a diary for a set period of time.
12. Search either your local newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, or USA Today to find some
stories derived from survey research results. Often, these stores deal with public opinions
about product complaints, product consumption, job-related issues, marriage and family,
public policy issues, or politics. Was the study’s methodology appropriate to draw
conclusions?
This is an individual student project and the answer will vary. The professor should encourage
13. Suppose you are the research director for your state’s tourism bureau. Assess the state’s
information needs, and identify the information you will collect in a survey of tourists who
visit your state.
The state will want to know how many tourists visit the state and where they live. The state will
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 123
14. [Ethics Question] A researcher sends out 2,000 questionnaires via e-mail. Fifty are returned
because the addresses are inaccurate. Of the 1,950 delivered questionnaires, 100 were
completed and e-mailed back. However, 40 of these respondents wrote that they did not
want to participate in the survey. The researcher indicates the response rate was 5.0
percent. Is this the right thing to do?
The 5% (100/2000 = .05 or 5%) response rate figure is a bit deceptive. Though the chapter did
RESEARCH ACTIVITES
1. [Internet Question] Go to Survey Monkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com). Then, visit
http://www.mysurvey.com. What is the difference between the two web sites in terms of the
services they provide to users?
2. [Internet Question] The National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) conducted by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics provide data on the labor force experience (current labor force and
employment status, work history, and characteristics of current or last job) of five groups of
the U.S. population. Go to http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homtoc.htm to learn about the
objectives and methodology for this study. How accurate do you believe the information
reported here really is? What sources of error might be present in the data?
Instructors will have to explore this site themselves to get a feel for what information is provided
3. Ask a small sample of students at your local university to report their GPA. Then, try to find
the average GPA of students at your school. If you have to, ask several professors to give
their opinion. Does it seem that the student data are subject to error? Explain.
Students’ responses will vary, but they will probably discuss response bias as a potential error
4. [Internet Question] Located at the University of Connecticut, the Roper Center is the largest
library of public opinion data in the world. An online polling magazine and the methodology
and findings of many surveys may be found at http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu. Report on
an article or study of your choice.
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 124
Students’ responses will vary, but they should not have difficulty finding reports. Instructors may
CASE 9.1 SAT and ACT Writing Tests
Objective: To appreciate how survey research can be used to develop products and services that
meet customers’ needs.
Summary: The SAT and ACT college entrance exams once were completely multiple-choice,
but both tests recently began including an essay portion (which is optional for the ACT). One
survey suggests that some admission officers harbor doubts about the essay tests. Research
conducted by ACT, Inc. reported that among schools it surveyed, only about one-fifth require the
writing portion of the exam, and another one-fifth merely recommend the essay. Kaplan, Inc.,
which markets test preparation services, asked colleges whether they would be using the SAT
writing test to screen candidates, and 47 percent said they would not use it, and another 22
percent said they would use it but give it less weight. Kaplan also surveys students and says on
its Web site that “More than 25% of students run out of time on the essay!”
Questions:
1. What survey objectives would ACT have in asking colleges how they use its essay test?
What objectives would Kaplan have for its survey research?
ACT, Inc. would be interested in learning if colleges will actually use the results of the essay in
2. If you a marketer for the College Board (the SAT’s company) or ACT, Inc., what further
information would you want to gather after receiving the results described here?
3. What sources of error or response bias might be present in the surveys described here?
CASE 9.2 Walker Information Group
Objective: To appreciate how consumer research firms can help clients with various products
and services to do market research.
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 125
Summary: Walker Information Group is one of the largest research firms in the world. It is
based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1939 as a field interviewing service by Frank
Walker’s mother, it is now a full service research supplier.
The Walker Information Group specializes in business, health care, and consumer research, as
well as database marketing. The company is organized into size strategic business units.
Walker Research conducts traditional market research services ranging from questionnaire design
and data collection to advanced analysis and consultation. Walker has expertise helping
companies measure how their actions are perceived by the audiences most important to them, and
how this affects their image, reputation, corporate citizenship, recruiting, sales and more.
Data Source is a business unit primarily concerned with data collection and processing data.
They specialize in telephone data collection.
Customer Satisfaction Measurement (CSM), as the name implies, specializes in measuring
customer satisfaction and helping clients improve their relationships with customers.
CSM Worldwide Network spans more than fifty countries. It is the first international network of
professional research and consulting businesses dedicated to customer satisfaction measurement
and management. The CSM Worldwide Network assures that multi-country customer satisfaction
research is consistent by taking into account local conditions and cultural norms. Network
members are trained to use consistent methods that allow standardization and comparability of
information from country to country.
Walker Direct designs and develops databases and implements direct marketing programs that
help generate leads for businesses and raise funds for nonprofit organizations.
Walker Clinical is a health-care product use research company. Walker helps pharmaceutical,
medical device and consumer-product manufacturers test how well new products work and how
customers like them.
Questions
1. What type of custom survey research projects might a research supplier like Walker
Information, Inc. (www.walkerinfo.com) conduct for its clients?
They do surveys for consumer soft goods and grocery store products. For example, they might
do a study to see what people are doing with their baby’s diapers (and from this might come an
2. What stages are involved in the conducting of a survey? For which stages might a client
company hire a research supplier like Walker Research? Data Source?
The stages are problem definition (possibly using exploratory research), statement of the research
objectives, selection of the type of survey (e.g., mail, telephone, mall intercept, door-to-door, etc.)
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Nine: Survey Research: An Overview 126
3. What is the purpose of customer satisfaction measurement?
Effective executives who subscribe to a total quality management philosophy, however, believe
that the product’s quality must go beyond acceptability for a given price range. Rather than
Implementing a total quality management program requires considerable survey research. A firm
must routinely ask customers to rate it against its competitors. It must periodically measure
4. What measures, other than findings from surveys, might a company use to evaluate the
effectiveness of a total quality management program?
There are many measures from observation and secondary data that can be used to measure
quality. For example, percentage of on-time delivery is a frequent measure of service quality.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
