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

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154 ASKING QUESTIONS next response, “government spending,” is ambiguous, since it does not specify what level of government is meant or what aspect of spending. Again the interviewer must probe. The interviewer then asks the final follow-up question. Advantages and Disadvantages of Open-Ended Questions The advantages of the open-ended format are considerable, but so are its disadvantages. In the hands of a good interviewer, the open format allows and encourages respondents to fully give their opinions with as much nuance as they are capable of. It also allows respondents to make distinctions that are not usually possible with precoded (or closed-ended) formats (see next section), and it allows them to express themselves in language that is comfortable for them and congenial to their views. In many instances an open-ended format can also produce vignettes of considerable richness and quotable material that will enliven research reports. It is an invaluable tool when you want to go deeply into a particular topic, and it is an absolutely essential tool when you are beginning work in an area and need to explore all aspects of an opinion area. Yet the richness of the material can also be disadvantageous if you need to summarize the data in concise form. For example, to reduce the complexity of the data to fewer or simpler categories and in order to treat the data statistically, you must code responses into categories that can be counted. Coding free-response material (sometimes called cognitive responses or verbal protocols) is not only time-consuming and costly but it also introduces a degree of coding error. If the material is very elaborate, you must develop coding manuals, train coders to use the categories, and do periodic reliability checks in order to estimate the amount of coding error. All of this costs time and money, and—as with any addition to a surveying process—allows for even more error. But it isn’t only the results that are affected by open-ended questioning. Open-ended questions also take more time, thought, patience, and concentration to answer than closed questions. If the
ASKING AND RECORDING QUESTIONS 155 question comes more or less out of the blue, the respondents’ thoughts will not be organized and may emerge somewhat haphazardly and in a confused fashion. What is reported first is sometimes taken by investigators to indicate the saliency of issues or the importance of things to the respondents. We would caution against such interpretations, however. Many aspects of the questioning process, including especially the preceding questions, affect what is easily accessible cognitively and likely to be reported first. The order in which things are reported may be more a function of the interview situation than a characteristic of the respondent. See the discussion of context effects in Chapter Four for a fuller discussion. Uncovering Key Insights from Open-Ended Questions Often valuable information is overlooked in answers to open-ended questions. In some cases, researchers may dismiss any comments that conflict with their own analysis of the issues. In other cases, researchers may pay attention only to the most commonly mentioned open-ended answers and not to the unique ones. One advantage of open-ended questions is that they can uncover uncommon but intelligent opinions of which the surveyor would otherwise have remained unaware. If surveyors focus only on frequent responses, they will continue to be unaware of these ideas. Of course, the most frequent responses to open-ended questions are also valuable. When evaluating service satisfaction, for instance, open-ended questions often point to the service issues that are most important to customers. Although customers might rate a number of service aspects as low or as high, it will be the vehement comments or the effusive ones that will show what’s really important to them. Improving the Quality of Open-Ended Questions For respondents to provide meaningful answers of the sort that justify the expense of using open-ended questions, they must be given
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Asking Questions The Definitive Gui
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Norman M. Bradburn Seymour Sudman B
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Copyright © 2004 by John Wiley & S
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viii CONTENTS 12. Asking Questions
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Preface This book is a revised and
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PREFACE xiii trate some of the subt
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The Authors Norman M. Bradburn (Ph.
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Asking Questions
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Chapter One The Social Context of Q
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THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF QUESTION ASKI
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Chapter Two Asking Nonthreatening Q
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ASKING NONTHREATENING QUESTIONS ABO
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Figure 2.4. Household Health Diary.
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Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census,
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80 ASKING QUESTIONS e. The Sealed B
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82 ASKING QUESTIONS asking about te
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84 ASKING QUESTIONS Figure 3.2. Que
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86 ASKING QUESTIONS into a car, mig
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88 ASKING QUESTIONS relationship be
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90 ASKING QUESTIONS from 55 percent
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92 ASKING QUESTIONS Illegal Drug Us
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94 ASKING QUESTIONS drinkers—may.
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100 ASKING QUESTIONS It must be rec
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102 ASKING QUESTIONS To illustrate
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204 ASKING QUESTIONS state or count
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206 ASKING QUESTIONS respondents wi
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208 ASKING QUESTIONS answers, most
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210 ASKING QUESTIONS on the Web sin
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Chapter Seven Asking Questions that
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ASKING QUESTIONS THAT EVALUATE PERF
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• Depends heavily on employee’s
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244 ASKING QUESTIONS make a particu
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246 ASKING QUESTIONS on demographic
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248 ASKING QUESTIONS Table 8.1. Eig
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250 ASKING QUESTIONS domain and rel
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252 ASKING QUESTIONS Seven Steps to
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254 ASKING QUESTIONS the frequency
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256 ASKING QUESTIONS The fourth ste
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258 ASKING QUESTIONS empty cells. I
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Chapter Nine Asking Standard Demogr
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ASKING STANDARD DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIO
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Chapter Ten Organizing and Designin
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ORGANIZING AND DESIGNING QUESTIONNA
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Fill- Ins Easily done with a Possib
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Chapter Eleven Questionnaires from
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QUESTIONNAIRES FROM START TO FINISH
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Chapter Twelve Asking Questions FAQ
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ASKING QUESTIONS FAQS 325 tain you
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Do you own an IBM-type of PC? Yes
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ASKING QUESTIONS FAQS 329 Ranking q
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ASKING QUESTIONS FAQS 331 guish bet
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ASKING QUESTIONS FAQS 333 activitie
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336 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RECOMMENDED RE
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348 GLOSSARY object. The term belie
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350 GLOSSARY are entered directly i
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352 GLOSSARY the sex of the respond
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354 GLOSSARY of an IBM card is a on
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356 GLOSSARY individual difference
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358 GLOSSARY overreporting, underre
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360 GLOSSARY because of illness or
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362 GLOSSARY response effect A gene
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364 GLOSSARY questionnaires list th
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Index A Ability, measuring, 197-202
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INDEX 369 Denver, 86; Community che
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INDEX 371 Library card ownership, 8
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INDEX 373 preferences, 167-168; thr
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Appendix A List of Academic and Not
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APPENDIX A 377 Phoenix, AZ 85003-17
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APPENDIX A 379 Fax: 310-206-4453 E-
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APPENDIX A 381 800 Florida Ave., N.
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APPENDIX A 383 E-mail: jbason@arche
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APPENDIX A 385 Phone: 312-996-5300
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APPENDIX A 387 Phone: 785-532-5510
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APPENDIX A 389 Center for the Study
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APPENDIX A 391 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-
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APPENDIX A 393 731 Oldfather Hall L
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APPENDIX A 395 New York Marist Coll
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APPENDIX A 397 Cornell University I
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APPENDIX A 399 225 South Main St. A
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APPENDIX A 401 121 University Pl. P
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APPENDIX A 403 South Dakota Busines
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APPENDIX A 405 Public Policy Resear
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APPENDIX A 407 E-mail: sesrc@wsu.ed
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APPENDIX A 409 England National Cen
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412 APPENDIX B PLEASE CIRCLE ONE CO
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414 APPENDIX B 14. Who purchased th
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416 APPENDIX B 23. What racial/ethn
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Faculty Retention Survey December 2
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2. Professional Life Important to y
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4. Environment Important to you Imp
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Appendix D Kinko’s: Open-ended Se
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