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

62 ASKING QUESTIONS
other household members to be treated? A final question to be
resolved is the definition of a soft drink. Are lemonade, iced tea,
fruit punch, and mineral water to be included or not?
A few respondents who are highly consistent in their behavior
may nearly always choose the same brand. They can answer this
question with little or no difficulty. But most respondents who buy
several brands will have to do some cognitive work in order to
answer this question. Some will respond with the first brand name
that comes to mind. That is, they will change a behavior question
into one dealing with brand awareness and salience. This leads to a
substantial overreporting of purchases of widely advertised brands,
such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. Only a few respondents will
answer that they don’t know or ask the interviewer for more information.
Thus, a small percentage of “don’t know” answers does not
ensure that the question is answered accurately. As Payne (1951)
points out, the researcher should behave like a newspaper reporter
and ask the five W’s: who, what, where, when, and sometimes why.
Whose Behavior? For behavior questions it should always be clear
whether respondents are reporting only for themselves, for other
household members, or for the entire household in total. The word
you can be either singular or plural and is often a source of confusion.
We suggest using “you, yourself” when information is wanted
only from the respondent; “you or any member of this household”
when the survey is attempting to determine whether any household
member performed a given behavior; and “you and all other members
of this household” when the survey is attempting to obtain
total household behavior. Exactly the same system can be used if
the interview takes place in an organizational or industrial setting.
Just replace the word “household” with “company,” “firm,” or “organization,”
as appropriate.
What Behavior? Question 1 in Figure 2.2 illustrates a clarification
of what behavior to report because it excluded all job-related activities.
In a question about gasoline purchasing, you would want to