ISSUES...

IN
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNING

Case #1
A person was working on some research
problem. He interviewed managers and senior
managers of a particular company. The
Company was having its offices in all the
states of India.
One of the questions asked in the
questionnaire was

In which state do you work?

Case #1 (continued)
Some of the responses collected were
Confusion
Denial
Disgusting
Frustrating

Suggestion so that such error

should not happen

May be
In which Indian State, do
you work?

Case #2
Mr. R. V. Raj Shakher was working on the
Smoking Behaviour and Related Taboos in
Indian Society. He wanted to know from the
respondents whether during prayer/pooja/
worship time, smoking is considered as sin.
The question framed was

Is it all right to pray while you are

smoking?

Case #2 RESULT!!!!

Every one without any

exception responded to the
question with NO!!!!!

Case #2 Suggestion so that

such error should not happen

The Question should

have been framed as

Do you smoke during the time

of prayer/pooja/worship?

Case #3
Some one was working on a research
project related to the habits of Newspaper
Reading. One of the question framed was

Do you read
newspaper(s)?

Case #3:
RESULT!!!

When the researcher got the responses,

he was quite surprised as almost every
one said that they read newspaper(s);
while he was having an understanding
that a large number of newspaper
readers read rarely newspaper.

Case #3 Suggestion so
that such error should not
happen
The Question may be framed as

How frequently do
you read newspaper(s)
in a week?

Case #4
A sociologist is working on a project in that he
wants to know whether the present generation
parents use corporal punishment for their
children for that he framed the following
question:

Do you hit your child?

Case #4: RESULT!!!!

Think!!!

Case #4:

Some

suggestion
The question may be drafted as follows:

As a parent do you use

some form of corporal
punishments for your
children?

Case #5
Dr. A. P. Gupta was working on a project
Aggressiveness in the Behaviour of Indian
Managers; one of the hypotheses on which he
was working was Unmarried Managers are
more cold in their behaviour than those of
married managers. One of the questions that
appear in the personal information section of
the questionnaire was -

Are you a bachelor?

Case #5: Result

Some of the responses collected were

Yes, Bachelor of Commerce.

Yes, I did my bachelor in
Psychology.
Yes, I am a bachelor from Panjab
University.

Case #5:

Some suggestion

May be the question could be framed as thus-

Marital Status
Married/Unmarried.
Are you married?

YES/NO.

Case #6
Consider the following:

Case #6:
Result
Many people responded as Industrialist as
well as Self-Employed; Retired and Self
Employed.

THINK why such a

response?

Case #6:

Some

suggestion

In such cases, ensure that all classes are mutually

exclusive and exhaustive!!!!!
Try to have mutually exclusive and exhaustive classes
and NOT like the one given below:
What is your age?
16-20
20-25
25-30
35-40

Case #7:
Ms. Shyama Goel is working on Trust Among Workers and
she has asked the following question in the questionnaire
designed by her for the research purposes -

Which one of the following groups of people do you

trust most? Tick only one group.
Neighbours
Workmates
Teachers
Priests
Members of your family
Friends

Case #7: Result!!!!!

To her surprise, every one ticked

Members of your family.

Why such a response?