QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS & DATA COLLECTION METHODS

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Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

Lesson 08

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS &

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

OBJECTIVES:

UNDERSTANDING

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

Surveys

Personal Interview Surveys

Telephone Surveys

Mail Surveys

Online Surveys

DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

Reliability & Validity

Questionnaires

If researchers wish to ask consumers about their purchase preferences and consumption experiences they can do

so:

In person

By mail

By telephone

On-line

1. Types of Surveys

1. Personal Interview Surveys

Most often take place at:

· Home

· Retail shopping areas (Mall Intercepts)

The later referred to as Mall Intercepts are used more frequently than home interviews because of

High incidence of not at home working women

Reluctance of people to allow a stranger in their home

2. Telephone Surveys

Process

Questionnaires are carefully drafted and interviewers are briefed on the calling techniques to engage the

respondents on the telephone. Interviewers build rapport with the respondents and questions are asked and the

responses are noted on the answer sheets. Answer sheets are with the interviewer who marks the respondents'

choices. Answer sheets could be paper based or electronic computer based

Appropriate Timings

Evenings and weekends are appropriate times, however, in Pakistan a large number of females are housewives so

the time after the breakfast and before the ladies start preparing for lunch could also be available

Difficulties involved in Telephone Interviews

Increased use of answering machines makes it difficult to reach the respondents. Caller ID facility on the phone to

screen the calls sometimes plays a hampering role in getting down to the respondents. The situation is made more

complicated by the limited timings during which the respondents can be reached. Reluctance from respondents

Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

may be faced to get them on the on telephone for calls that interrupt their general relaxation or TV viewing or

running other house-hold cores time.

Some Marketing Research companies have tried to automate the telephone interviews. The find respondents are

even less willing to interact with an electronic voice than with a live interviewer

3. Mail Surveys

Process:

Mailing Surveys are conducted by sending the questionnaires directly to individuals at their homes. The

questionnaire is properly drafted so that respondents won't have any difficulty in understanding the questions

and/or how to mark the responses

Difficulties:

To understand the difficulties involved in mailing surveys you may consider the question, what will be your

response if you get a questionnaire by mail? Will you read it fill it and then put it in an envelope and send it back

through mail? Chances are a lot of people out there will not be willing to engage in any such exercise. Exactly the

same way the response rate for the mailed questionnaires is very low

Firms use various ways to increase the response rate that include:

Enclosing a self addressed stamped envelope

Asking provocative questions

Sending pre-notification letters and follow-up notes

Setting up Panels of consumers

Panels of consumers are sometimes set up in which a token fee is sometimes paid to the respondents for filling out

the questionnaires. Research companies regularly send surveys to panel members. Sometimes the panel members

are required to keep diaries of their purchases

4. On-line Surveys

Process:

After the widespread adoption of internet in personal life-styles, research companies use this medium frequently

to conduct their surveys. Research companies frequently send their questionnaires to respondents on their e-mail

addresses. Respondents are also directed to the research firm or the product company's web sites through internet

ads.

Difficulties:

Difficulties in on-line surveys involve:

· Low response rates

· Sample is self selected and therefore cannot project large population

Solutions:

Most computer polls ask respondents to complete a profile consisting of demographic questions

Questions about respondents age, locations, academic backgrounds, etc...

These questions enable the researchers to classify the responses to the substantive product or service

Paying the respondents

Respondents go on filling the questionnaires and they get paid for every questionnaire they fill

Benefits of On-line Polls

Certain benefits attached with on-line polling may include:

· Anonymity - that encourages respondents to be more forthright and honest

· Internet polls are wide reaching

· Cost effective

Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

5. Comparative Advantages/Disadvantages Mail, Telephone, Personal Interviews and On-line Surveys

Mail

Telephone

Personal

On-Line

Interview

Cost

Low

Moderate

High

Low

Speed

Slow

Immediate

Slow

Fast

Response Rate

Low

Moderate

High

Self Selected

Geographic

Excellent

Good

Difficult

Excellent

Flexibility

Interviewer Bias

N/A

Moderate

Problematic

N/A

Interviewer

N/A

Easy

Difficult

N/A

Supervision

Quality of

Limited

Excellent

Response

2. Data Collection Instruments

Data collection instruments are developed as part of study's total research design to systematize the collection of

data and to ensure that all respondents are asked the same question and in same fashion. Two concepts are

important in this regard

Reliability

A study is reliable if the same question asked of a similar people will produce the same findings. Often a sample is

systematically divided into two halves; each half is given the same questionnaire to fill. If the results from each half

are same result is said to be reliable. This way the questionnaire is said to have split-half reliability

Validity

A study is valid if it does collect the appropriate data needed to answer the questions or objectives stated in the

first stage of the research process.

Quantitative Data Collection Instruments include:

Questionnaires

Attitude Scales

1. Questionnaires

For quantitative research, primary data collection instrument is the questionnaire. Following ar some important

guidelines that need to be considered while wording questions in a questionnaire:

Guidelines for Wording Questions

1. Avoid Leading Questions.

a. Do you often shop at such cost saving shopping stores as ............

b. Weren't you satisfied at the service you received at ........................ store today

2. Avoid two questions in one

a. In your view did you save good money and received good services when you visited ......

last Sunday

3. Questions must be clear

a. Where do you usually shop for your home-office supplies

The term usually is vague

4. Use words that consumers use routinely

Consumer Psychology (PSY - 514)

Do not use verb "to rectify" use "to correct"

5. Respondents must be able to answer the question

a. How many newspaper or TV ads for .................... did you read or see during the last

week

6. Respondents must be willing to answer the question

a. Questions about money, health issues, and personal hygiene can embarrass respondents

and cause them not to answer. Sometimes asking a question in a less personal fashion

might help generate more responses.

Questionnaire Administration

Questionnaires may be administered by:

Field interviewers

Through mail

Internet

Telephone

To Get the Response

Questionnaires must be interesting

Objective

Unambiguous

Easy to complete

Generally not burdensome to complete

To Enhance the Analysis

To enhance the analysis and classification of responses into meaningful categories, questionnaires include both:

Substantive questions relevant to the objectives of study

Pertinent demographic questions

Disguised/Undisguised Questionnaires

Questionnaire can be disguised or undisguised as to its true purpose

· Disguised questionnaire sometimes yields more truthful answers and avoids responses that respondents

may think are expected or sought

Open Ended, Closed Ended Questionnaire

· Open Ended: Requiring answers in the respondents own words

Yield more insightful information

Difficult to analyze and code

Closed Ended: Respondents merely check the answers from the available answers from a list of options

The answers are limited to the existing insights of the researchers

Easy to tabulate and analyze

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