COM CM 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Panda Express, Content Analysis, Likert Scale
26 Oct 2019
School
Course
Professor
CM321
➔ Oct. 16th, 2019
Survey: Question Design
Question design
- Things to consider:
o Is the question something you need to measure for answering your RQs or testing
your Hs?
o Do you actually need to ask the respondents to get the answer?
o Will your respondents have the knowledge to answer the question?
o Can this question be broken down into several more detailed ones?
- How to write good questions:
o Use simple sentences
▪ Using conversational vocabulary
▪ Avoid difficult or specialized terms, or else provide definitions
o Keep questions brief
o Include enough instruction
▪ EXAMPLE. “Think about your experience in the past three months…”
▪ EXAMPLE. “Assuming that you are the manager of this shop, how would
you…”
o As specific as possible?
▪ “What is your favorite restaurant?” versus “What is your favorite
restaurant in Boston for family gathering?
- Things to avoid:
o Biased expressions
▪ “Do you have any problems with your boss?” versus “Tell me about your
relationship with your boss.”
o Leading questions (social desirability)
▪ “Most BU students like Panda Express, how much do you like it?”
o Loaded questions
▪ “Do you still party every week?” (pre-assumption that you party every
week)
o Double-barreled questions
▪ “How satisfied are you with FitRec’s membership fee and class
diversity?”
o Over-demanding recall
▪ “How many minutes did you use social media for this month?”
o Too sensitive or embarrassing questions
Answer Design
- Types of answers:
o Open-ended
▪ Ask for respondents’ original answers
▪ No existing answer choices
▪ Advantages:
