by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 9, 2014 | Tips
Signup for the newsletter and get Chapter 6 for free. A link to download the chapter will be in the “Welcome” email you receive after opting-in to the newsletter. Email Address * First Name Last Name * indicates...
by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 22, 2015 | Get Better Data, Reducing bias
One of the most common tasks in survey research is to ask respondents to select from a list of numeric ranges. For example, we might ask how many hours per day do they watch TV, how much time do they spend on your computer, or how many hours per day they study....
by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 15, 2015 | Get Better Data, Unbiased Questions
Agree/disagree scales are used far too often in our questionnaires. They ask respondents to assess a statement and then indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with that statement. Over the past fifty years there have been many studies that have clearly...
by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 12, 2015 | Get Better Data
I wish I had a dollar for every time a survey was administered asking people to rate their frequency of some behavior. The unit of measurement is often unclear in questions about frequency, like this one: Q: How frequently did you visit the post office in the past 30...
by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 7, 2015 | Decisions
As marketing researchers we strive to make sure our work supports decision-making. In order to do this, we need to be well versed in the decisions marketers need to make for their brands. The key decisions marketers make for their brands are not so obvious. Both...
by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 4, 2015 | Mobile Administration, Pretesting
The fundamental problem with surveys stems from the fact that few people who write questionnaires have any serious training in the discipline. When I talk with groups who do survey research and ask, “How many of you have a book on your desk on how to write...
by davhar162_1btnku | Jun 3, 2015 | Mobile Administration
For mobile administration of surveys, the questionnaire needs to be as short as possible. The fundamental principle #1 for making questionnaires short has been around for a long time; it just takes a heck of a lot of training and discipline to pull it off. It is...
by davhar162_1btnku | May 29, 2015 | Tips
How we write questionnaires really matters. It isn’t just about getting better data for better decisions, it is about our company’s reputation. Probably because I wrote a book on the topic of questionnaire design, people contact me daily about their...
by davhar162_1btnku | May 26, 2015 | Scales
It is helpful for questionnaire writers to have a toolbox of key issues to consider when constructing rating scales. Here is a toolbox: 1. What do you want to measure (e.g., likelihood, interest, satisfaction, or something else)? Consider how people think about the...
by davhar162_1btnku | May 20, 2015 | Get Better Data
When you ask exploratory open-ended questions in a survey, keep in mind that writing is hard; most respondents expend limited effort in answering these sorts of questions. Without a trained qualitative interviewer, you also will not have the opportunity to rephrase...
by davhar162_1btnku | May 18, 2015 | Get Better Data
We often see questionnaires that contain exploratory open-ended questions. This is no surprise, because when people are studying a topic, they want to know as much as possible about it. Below are examples of exploratory open-ended questions: “What did you like most...
