Page 123 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Unit 6: Primary Data and Questionnaire

Choice Among Alternatives Notes

Which of the following words or phrases best describes the kind of person you feel would be
most likely to use this product, based on what you have seen in the commercial?
1. Young ………… old …………….

Single ………… Married ………..
Modern ………… Old fashioned ……………...
2. Rating Scale
(i) Please tell us your overall reaction to this commercial?

(a) A great commercial; would like to see again.
(b) Just so-so, like other commercials.
(c) Another bad commercial.
(d) Pretty good commercial.

(ii) Based on what you saw in the commercial, how interested do you feel, you would be
buying the products?
(a) Definitely

(b) Probably I would buy
(c) I may or may not buy
(d) Probably I would not buy
(e) Definitely I would not buy.

Closed-ended questionnaires are easy to answer. It requires less effort on the part of the
interviewer. Tabulation and analysis is easier. There are lesser errors, since the same questions
are asked to everyone. The time taken to respond is lesser. We can compare the answer of one
respondent to another respondent.

Notes One basic criticism of closed-ended questionnaires is that middle alternatives are
not included in this, such as "don't know". This will force the respondents to choose among
the given alternative.

Step 4: Wordings of Questions

Wordings of particular questions could have a large impact on how the respondent interprets
them. Even a small shift in the wording could alter the respondent's answer.

Example: "Don't you think that Brazil played poorly in the FIFA cup?" The answer will be
'yes'. Many of them, who do not have any idea about the game, will also most likely say 'yes'. If
the question is worded in a slightly different manner, the response will be different.

Example: "Do you think that, Brazil played poorly in the FIFA cup?" This is a straightforward
question. The answer could be 'yes', 'no' or 'don't know' depending on the knowledge the
respondents have about the game.

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