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Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

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132 ASKING QUESTIONS<br />

to the question, but the person who answers the likelihood question<br />

as being “extremely likely” or as “100% likely” is different from the<br />

person who answers “somewhat likely” or as “60% likely.”<br />

A second solution is to ask two different types of likelihood<br />

questions that provide a range of responses. One can be a more general<br />

question that represents the baseline condition. (“How likely<br />

are you to buy a car within the next twelve months?”) <strong>The</strong> second<br />

can provide a realistic or more favorable “upper bound” scenario.<br />

(“How likely are you to buy a car within the next twelve months if<br />

car prices drop by 10%?”) <strong>The</strong> use of two (or more) likelihood questions<br />

provides some measure of sensitivity and also provides a comparison<br />

point when reported in conjunction with their answers to<br />

the first question.<br />

Consider the questions that the Girl Scouts used to anticipate<br />

demand for their annual cookie sales. <strong>Questions</strong> were asked in two<br />

different ways.<br />

1. How likely are you going to be to buy Girl Scout Cookies this<br />

year?<br />

Not Very Likely 1— 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8 — 9 Very Likely<br />

2. If approached, how likely are you to buy Girl Scout Cookies<br />

from a friend’s daughter?<br />

Not Very Likely 1— 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8 — 9 Very Likely<br />

<strong>The</strong> first question is general and runs the risk of having a person<br />

overlook extenuating circumstances. <strong>The</strong> second question is specific<br />

and runs the risk of overestimating demand when sales efforts<br />

do not involve a friend’s daughter. <strong>To</strong>gether, however, they enabled<br />

the organization to bracket a response range. <strong>The</strong>se results can then<br />

be used either to estimate a range of expectations or to do scenariobased<br />

planning (such as calculating possible sales if parents asked<br />

their friends to buy cookies).<br />

Not surprisingly, reports of the likelihood of buying cookies<br />

increases dramatically when a person is specifically asked about

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