Friday February 24, 2012
Seeking answers
ENGLISH IN MANAGEMENT
By YONG AH YONG
Use of questionnaires in business.
THE aim of a questionnaire is to gather data pertaining to a certain subject matter. It is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to do this. However, for any questionnaire to be really effective it has to be well-designed.
The standard questionnaire design is a set of questions with fixed alternatives, which can be dichotomous, multiple options or rank scaling. All the respondents need to do is tick the most appropriate answer for each of the questions. Of course, any questionnaire must have a specific objective, or there is no point in collecting any data.
Questionnaires usually contain subjective/objective and qualitative/quantitative options. Questions should be framed in simple and precise language and care should be taken to avoid grammatical and spelling mistakes. Too many errors can reflect poorly on the business concerned.
Questions should be clear and unambiguous. It is better to use direct questions as well as statements. Do not use idioms or metaphors as they may have different implications or connotations.
A questionnaire aims to assess or evaluate respondents’ attitude and viewpoints with the purpose of making improvement. The questionnaire designer must be professional, polite and respectful in his wording and phrasing so that respondents will be more than willing to provide feedback. We need to appeal to their good sense.
Framing of questions
Questions can be framed in various ways. Whether we ask a question or give a statement or assertion, we need to make sure that the options provided are appropriate.
If a statement or assertion is made, the Likert scale can be used.The Likert Scale is an ordered, one-dimensional continuum from which respondents choose one option that best fits their view. There are typically between four and seven options. Five is the most common (see diagram).
A common form is an assertion or statement, with which the respondents agree or disagree to varying degrees. For a customer satisfaction questionnaire, the first section may ask for some personal details, such as name, phone number, address and e-mail address of the respondent.
The first question may be related to how often the consumer uses the product or the service:
The following options are helpful:
1 Very often
2 Often
3 Seldom
4 Never
The next question may ask whether they are recommended by their friends, family members or others.
1 Yes
2 No
Another question may ask how the consumer feels about the customer service.
1 Very satisfactory
2 Satisfactory
3 Unsatisfactory
4 Very unsatisfactory
The subsequent question may ask whether they would recommend this product or service to others.
1 Yes
2 No
The final question can be open-ended, one asking the respondents to give their opinions regarding the quality of product or service.
Example: Please suggest ways to improve the quality of our products and service.
Refrain from asking embarrassing or sensitive questions. These are questions that ask respondents details about personal and private matters. They may make your respondents uncomfortable and they may refuse to answer your questionnaire.
For instance, do not ask the exact age or income of your respondents. Most likely, they will not let you know. An age group and income range can be provided as options instead if such information is at all required. It would be much less sensitive this way.
People are certainly more willing to say they are “above 50” than “70-80”. Similarly, respondents would be more comfortable revealing that they earn “below RM2,000” than merely “RM888”.
In Western countries, asking about one’s sex life is normal. In our culture, doing so would perhaps amount to sexual harassment.
Hypothetical questions will also not benefit your business as they are based on imagination, speculation and fantasy.
An example is: “If you were the CEO of our organisation what would be the first thing you would do to improve the business?” Inconsistent or unclear suggestions would be given, which do not give much value to the down-to-earth business. Again, categorisation and analysis of data would be cumbersome.
Sample business questionnaire
Cosmopolitan Computer Technology Centre
Subang Jaya, Selangor
Introduction
We cordially invite you to help us improve our products and service by completing this questionnaire and giving us your valuable opinion.
You do not need to write your name. All the information given is confidential and will not be made known to others in any way. Just tick the appropriate option for each question or give a brief comment. We thank you for your cooperation.
Kindly answer all the questions below:
1 Your age:
Below 18 ........
19 to 30 ........
31 to 50 ........
Above 50 ........
2 Your gender:
Male ........
Female ........
3 Your profession:
Businessman .......
Accountant ........
Lawyer ........
Doctor ........
Public servant ........
Employee ........
Teacher/Lecturer ........
Others (Please specify) ........
4 How do you find our products?
Very satisfactory ........
Satisfactory ........
Unsatisfactory ........
Very unsatisfactory ........
5 How do you find our service?
Very satisfactory ........
Satisfactory ........
Unsatisfactory ........
Very unsatisfactory ........
6 What do you value most in a business organisation?
Quality of products ........
Variety/Range of products ........
Quality of service ........
Competitive prices ........
Its good image ........
Its brands of products ........
Others (Please specify: ........)
7 Our prices are comparatively low but our product quality is comparatively high.
1 Strongly agree
2 Agree
3 Neutral
4 Disagree
5 Strongly disagree
8 Please suggest some ways to improve our products and service: ........
Yong Ah Yong is a lecturer at UTAR, Kampar, Perak
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