DR. C. P.

Gupta

Case #1

A person was working on some research problem. He interviewed managers and senior managers of a particular company. The Company was having its offices in all the states of India. One of the questions questionnaire was asked in the

In which state do you work?

Case #1 (continued)

Some of the responses collected were Confusion Denial Disgusting

Frustrating

Suggestion so that such error should not happen

May

be

In which Indian State, do you work?

Case #2

Mr. R. V. Raj Shakher was working on the Smoking Behaviour and Related Taboos in Indian Society. He wanted to know from the respondents whether during prayer/pooja/ worship time, smoking is considered as sin. The question framed was

Is it all right to pray while you are smoking?

Case #2 RESULT!!!!
Every

one without any exception responded to the question with NO!!!!!

Case #2 Suggestion so that such error should not happen

The

Question should have been framed as

Do you smoke during the time of prayer/pooja/worship?

Case #3

Some one was working on a research project related to the habits of Newspaper Reading. One of the question framed was

Do you read newspaper(s)?

Case #3: RESULT!!!

When

the researcher got the responses, he was quite surprised as almost every one said that they read newspaper(s); while he was having an understanding that a large number of newspaper readers read rarely newspaper.

Case #3 Suggestion so that such error should not happen

The

Question may be framed as

How frequently do you read newspaper(s) in a week?

Case #4

A sociologist is working on a project in that he wants to know whether the present generation parents use corporal punishment for their children for that he framed the following question:

Do you hit your child?

Case #4: RESULT!!!!

Think!!!

Case #4: Some suggestion

The question may be drafted as follows:

As a parent do you use some form of corporal punishments for your children?

Case #5

Dr. Y. P. Gupta was working on a project Aggressiveness in the Behaviour of Indian Managers; one of the hypotheses on which he was working was Unmarried Managers are more cold in their behaviour than those of married managers. One of the questions that appear in the personal information section of the questionnaire was -

Are you a bachelor?

Case #5: Result

Some of the responses collected were

Yes, Bachelor of Commerce. Yes, I did my bachelor in Psychology.

Yes, I am a bachelor from Panjab University.

Case #5: Some suggestion

May be the question could be framed as thus-

Marital Status Are you married?

Married/Unmarried. YES/NO.

Case #6
Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses ( AT&C Losses) in electricity distribution.
The components of AT&C losses are technical and commercial. Major component is commercial loss which is due to theft, improper billing, under billing, no billing and poor collection. Some of the reasons for higher commercial losses in Northern States as compared to Southern States are mentioned below. Kindly rate these reasons on 1 to 7 point scale 1= Strongly disagree, 4= Neutral, 2= Disagree, 3 = Moderately disagree, 6=Agree, 7 = Strongly agree.

5=Moderately agree,

Please put cross( X ) in the appropriate column adjacent to each statement. Higher commercial losses in Northern States are due to : SN DESCRIPTION 1 1 Unreliable supply in Northern states leads customers to steal electricity 2 3 4 5 6 7

Case #6: Result

Some of the responses collected were

Cant say (respondents invented their own category!!!!)

THINK

why such a response?

Case #6: Some suggestion

Before

framing a question, please

remember and understand properly the underlying logic of the framed

question.

Case #7
Consider

the following:

Occupation: (1) Industrialist _________________ (2) Self-employed _________________ (3) Service _________________ (4) Retired_________________

Case #7: Result

Many people responded as Industrialist as well as Self-Employed; Retired and Self Employed.

THINK

why such a response?

Case #7: Some suggestion

In such cases, ensure that all classes are mutually exclusive and exhaustive!!!!! Try to have mutually exclusive and exhaustive classes and the one like given below: What age are you? 16-20 20-25 25-30 35-40

Case #8:
Mr. Jayant Prakash was working on a project which was aimed at determining the impact of a new programme implemented for the development of software known as KISS which means Keep It Simple and Sequential on software reliability. For that he designed a questionnaire and one of the questions that appear in the questionnaire was

Are you aware of KISS programme implemented in the organization? YES/NO If YES, what for it stands?

Case #8: Result

One of the Response was

Are you aware of KISS programme implemented in the

organization?

YES/NO

If YES, what for it stands? KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID.

Why such a response?

Case #9:
Ms. Shyama Goel is working on Trust Among Workers and she has asked the following question in the questionnaire designed by her for the research purposes -

Which one of the following groups of people do you trust most? Tick only one group.
Neighbours Workmates Teachers Priests Members of your family Friends

Case #9: Result!!!!!

To her surprise, every one ticked Members of your family.

Why such a response?

Case #10:

Mr. Rajeev Saxena is doing a project on Customer Satisfaction A Case Study of Indian Railways. He has designed a questionnaire targeted to those who are traveling in Indian Railways. One of the question asked in the questionnaire is

Generally, when do you go to a railway station?

a) When you have to travel from one place to another. b) When you have to book a ticket c) When you have to receive some relatives and friends coming from other cities/villages. d) When have to see-off some one

e) Any other, please specify.

Case #10: Result

Almost

every one responded

They go to station generally when they have to travel from one place to another.

Case #10: Suggestion

The

question may be rephrased as thus:

Your last visit a railway station was with an objective a) b) c)

to travel from one place to another. to book a ticket to receive some relatives and friends coming from other cities/villages. to see-off some one Any other, please specify.

d) e)

PROBLEMATIC ISSUES IN DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE

--- SOME REAL LIFE CASES

Problem #1:
1. How much of your daily office time (as a %) do you spend in ERP

transactions / reports in

PC? Please mark in the following.

|_________________________________________________________________________________|
0% 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% 100%

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #2:
27. Rank the following as in your opinion, the major reasons for the recurrence of the same problem/issue, referred above in Question 26. (Highest 1, Lowest 8)
Your rank Reason Insufficient training for the user Erroneous data feeding by the upstream user Want of mass data correction by a department Deliberate attempt to violate the system Problems with my own department generated data / process Want of data / process discipline by the users Wrong data (stock / WIP) residing in the system since initial upload Circumventing the system to manage a crisis

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #3:
1. Do you (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) like to watch advertisements? Always Most often Some time Very Occasionally Never

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #4:
1. What kind of advertisement do you like? (Please rank per your preference)
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Humorous Innovative Showing celebrities. Offering detailed information on product. Comparative Showing human emotions ( ( ( ( ( ( ) ) ) ) ) )

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #5:
STATEMENTS Please tick in the appropriate box: (SA- Strongly Agree, A- Agree, CS- Cant say, D- Disagree, SD- Strongly Disagree)

S.No. Statement 1. Advertisement featuring celebrities are very interesting.

SA

CS

SD

-------- -------- -------- -------- -------

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #6:
1. Salary structure : a) Less than Rs 15000/c) Rs 25000 Rs 35000 b) Rs15000-Rs 25 000

d) Rs 35000 and above

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #7:
Please tick ( ) mark the best choice for the questions:
15. Cost of ticket paid by self employer from business A/C (In case of self employed or business) Others

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #8:
1. Suppose you come across an issue or a problem while using a the new system of performance evaluation and it is subsequently solved, are you able to understand the cause for the problem and how to prevent its recurrence? Yes / No.

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

It is an example of a Double Barrel Question.

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #9:
Industry Interface
(1) Indicate your satisfaction level with the frequency and quality of guest lectures arranged? Not satisfied (2) Somewhat satisfied Highly satisfied Indicate your level of satisfaction of the level of industry exposure offered during the tenure of your program? Inadequate (3) Somewhat adequate Adequate

Indicate your experience with regards to Interaction / support obtained from the alumni? No interaction Little interaction Good interaction

(4)

In case you are not a sponsored candidate, indicate your assessment of placement support extended by your institute? No support Moderate support Good support Excellent support

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #10:
1. Rank the following criteria from 1 to 4 in order of your preference for a room in hotel (1 most important and 4 least important.) a) b) c) d) General appearance of the room Room Size Furniture & fixtures Natural light and Ventilation [ [ [ [ ] ] ] ]

THINK- What is the

problem/issue in the designing of the above question?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #11:
Television Viewing Habits and its Impact on Sleep

THINK- What are the

problems/issues in the designing of the questionnaire?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #12:
Impact of proposed Metro Rail on traffic pattern of Gurgaon

THINK- What are the

problems/issues in the designing of the questionnaire?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #13:
Is the current entertainment medium offered to children facilitating their growth?

THINK- What are the

problems/issues in the designing of the questionnaire?

THINK What could be the solution?

Problem #14:
Working Women Financial Literacy

THINK- What are the

problems/issues in the designing of the questionnaire?

THINK What could be the solution?

The lesson Be very careful in designing

questions. One should constantly put

oneself in the shoes of a

respondent and see that he/she

will get responses as desired.