Page 124 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Notes
Example: "Do you think anything should be done to make it easier for people to pay their
phone bill, electricity bill and water bill under one roof"?

Example: "Don't you think something might be done to make it easier for people to pay
their phone bill, electricity bill, water bill under one roof"?
A change of just one word as above, can generate different responses by respondents.

Guidelines towards the use of correct wording:

Is the vocabulary simple and familiar to the respondents?

Example: Instead of using the word 'reasonably', 'usually', 'occasionally', 'generally', 'on
the whole'.

Example: "How often do you go to a movie?" "Often, may be once a week, once a month,
once in two months or even more."

Avoid Double-Barreled Questions

These are questions, in which the respondent can agree with one part of the question, but not
agree with the other or cannot answer without making a particular assumption.

Example: "Do you feel that firms today are employee-oriented and customer-oriented?"
There are two separate issues here - [yes] [no]

Example: "Are you happy with the price and quality of branded shampoo?" [yes] [no]
Avoid Leading and Loading Questions

1. Leading Questions: A leading question is one that suggests the answer to the respondent.
The question itself will influence the answer, when respondents get an idea that the data
is being collected by a company. The respondents have a tendency to respond positively.

Example: "How do you like the programme on 'Radio Mirchy'? The answer is likely to
be 'yes'. The unbiased way of asking is "which is your favorite F.M. Radio station? The
answer could be any one of the four stations namely (1) Radio City (2) Mirchy (3) Rainbow
(4) Radio-One.

Example: Do you think that offshore drilling for oil is environmentally unsound? The most
probable response is 'yes'. The same question can be modified to eliminate the leading factor.
What is your feeling about the environmental impact of offshore drilling for oil? Give choices
as follows:
(a) Offshore drilling is environmentally sound.
(b) Offshore drilling is environmentally unsound.
(c) No opinion.

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