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Slide 11.1

Dissertation Units
Guided Learning 2023-24

Collecting Primary Data

using Questionnaires

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Slide 11.2

Objectives

After this session you will be able to:

n Be aware of a range of self-administered and interviewer-

administered questionnaires
n Describe the various types of questions that can be used
n Demonstrate the skills for writing appropriate individual
questions and designing questionnaires.
n Plan, design and pilot valid and reliable questionnaires.
n Write appropriate documentation to accompany
questionnaires.
n Understand the advantages and disadvantages of
questionnaires as a data collection method

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.3

Primary Data Collection Methods

n Questionnaires

n Interviews
Ÿ Semi-structured
Ÿ In-depth
Ÿ Group Interviews / Focus Group

n Observation

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Slide 11.4

Questionnaire – a definition

General definition:
All techniques of data collection in which each person
is asked to respond to the same set of questions in a
predetermined order
(de Vaus, 2002)

Includes structured interviews and telephone questionnaires as well as

questionnaires in which questions are answered without the
interviewer to be presented

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.5

When to use questionnaires?

n Not good for exploratory research that requires large

number of open questions
n Good for descriptive research – attitude and opinion
questions or questions of organizational practices,
describing the variability of different phenomena
n Explanatory or analytical research – enables to examine
relationship between variables in a particular cause-effect
relationships

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Slide 11.6

Types of questionnaire

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.7

The choice of questionnaire

Influenced by factors related to the:

n characteristics of the respondents from whom you wish to
collect data
n importance of reaching a particular person as a
respondent
n importance of answers not being contaminated or
distorted
n size of sample you require for your analysis, taking into
account the response rate
n types of questions you need to ask to collect your data
n number of questions you need to ask
n Contamination of results – uninformed response (guess at
the answer)
n Longer questionnaires are better presented by structured
interviews

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Slide 11.8

What data need to be collected?

If explanatory research:
n Relationships between variables?
n Which variables are dependent? (Change in response to
changes in other variables)
n Which variables are independent? (cause changes in
independent variables)
n Which variables are extraneous? (may also cause changes in
dependent variables)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.9

Types of variables

n Attitude (opinion)
Ÿ how respondents feel about something
n Belief
Ÿ what respondents think or believe is true or false
n Behaviour
Ÿ what respondents do
n Attribute
Ÿ characteristics of respondents

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Slide 11.10

Types of variables

n Attitude
How do you feel about the following statement?
‘Financial advisors should place their clients’ interest before their
own’.
(please tick the appropriate box)
strongly agree………………………………………

mildly agree…………………………………………

neither agree or disagree………………………….

mildly disagree………………………………………

strongly disagree…………………………………….

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.11

Types of variables

n Belief
In general, do financial advisors place their clients’ interests
before their own?
(please tick the appropriate box)

always yes………………………………………

usually yes………………………………………

sometimes yes………………………………….

seldom yes………………………………………

never yes………………………………………...

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.12

Types of variables

n Behaviour
How often do you place your clients’ interests before your own?
(please tick the appropriate box)

80-100% of the time…………………………………

60-79% of the time……………………………………

40-59% of the time……………………………………

20-39% of the time……………………………………

0-19% of the time……………………………………

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.13

Types of variables

n Attribute
How old are you?
(please tick the appropriate box)

less than 30 years………………………………

30 to 39 years……………………………………

40 to 49 years……………………………………

50 to 59 years……………………………………

60 years or over………………………………….

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.14

Will the data collected provide an

answer to the research questions?

n Decide whether the main outcome of your research

is descriptive or explanatory
n Subdivide each research question or objective into
more specific investigative questions about which
you need to gather data
n Repeat the second stage if you feel that the
investigative questions are not sufficiently precise
n Identify the variables about which you need to
collect data to answer each investigative question
n Establish how to measure the data for each variable

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.15

The Data Requirements Table

Research Question / Objective:____________________________

Type of Research:______________________________________

Investigative Variables Detail of how Question No/s

Questions Required data is
measured
Do employees Opinion of Should be 7,12,16,22
feel that they employees to allowed, should
should be able smoke in their not be allowed,
to smoke in office as a right no strong
their office if feelings
they want to as
a right (opinion)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.16

Validity and Reliability

n Validity – whether a tool (eg questionnaire)

measures what it sets out to measure
Ÿ Measurement / Construct Validity, Face Validity

n Reliability – consistency, stability and

repeatability of the results
Ÿ Stability, Internal reliability

n A measure can be
Ÿ Reliable but not valid
Ÿ Valid but not reliable

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.17

Face validity

n Do the questions make sense?

n Are all concepts in the questions
understandable?
n Are the questions interesting and motivating to
answer?
n Are the instructions for completing the
questionnaire clear?
n Is the questionnaire of the right length?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.18

Achieving face validity

n Get your questionnaire reviewed by 15 of your

peers.
n Get them to write down the problems they find
on the questionnaire.
n Talk to them.
n Note which elements need improving and
comment on how you did this in your
Methodology section.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.19

Construct validity

an instrument measures the constructs it was

intended to measure.

Theory Concept Constructs Question sets

Marketing Relation- - Loyalty - Loyalty

ship - Internal - Internal
Marketing customers customers
- Supply - Supply
chain chain
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.20

Internal reliability

The consistency between measures – sufficient

numbers of questions for each construct.

Loyalty:
• To me, brand loyalty is important.
• I tend to buy the same brand all the time.
• If I like a brand I always buy it in preference to
others.
• Brand loyalty is unimportant in my buying
decisions.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.21

Internal Reliability: Example of multiple

measures of a single construct

Loyalty:
n To me, brand loyalty is
important.
n I tend to buy the same
brand all the time.
n If I like a brand I always
buy it in preference to
others.
n Brand loyalty is
unimportant in my buying
decisions.

Note: these questions will be randomized

– scattered throughout the questionnaire
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.22

Measurement of Internal Reliability

n Cronbach alpha: at least 0.7.

n If below 0.7 you need to eliminate or make
changes to low reliability questions.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.23

Stages that must occur if a

question is to be valid and reliable

Source: developed from Foddy (1994)

Figure 11.2 Stages that must occur if a question is to be valid and reliable
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.24

Response rate, validity and reliability

can be maximized by:

n Careful design of individual questions

n Clear layout of the questionnaire form
n Clear explanation of the purpose of the
questionnaire
n Pilot testing
n Carefully planned and executed administration

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.25

Designing individual questions

n Adopt questions used in other

questionnaires

n Adapt questions used in other

questionnaires

n Develop your own questions Rati

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Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.26

Types Of Questions
n Open
Ÿ open-ended / unstructred / semi-structured

n Closed
Ÿ forced-choice / structured
Ÿ Types of closed questions
• List – list of items to be selected
• Category – only one response may be selected
• Ranking – to place information in order
• Scale or rating – rating device is used
• Quantity – response gives the amount

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.27

Questionnaire design: open

questions
n How, why, what …?

n Good for eliciting rich

responses, but…

n Harder to analyse.

n Example:
You have indicated a loyalty
to Cadbury chocolate –
please explain why
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.28

Questionnaire design: closed

questions
n Seek a predefined
response: Yes/No;
True/False, etc.
n Easy to code and
analyse.
n Make group
comparisons easy.
n Low cost, but…
n May restrict richness
of responses.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.29

List questions
What do you think is the most important influence on
the success of the organisation in the next 2 years?
Please üas many responses as you think accurate.

Changes in government policy affecting the legal

regulation of the market

The entry of new competitors to the market

The impact of the company’s current

reorganization strategy

Foreign exchange rates

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.30

Category questions
How often in an average week do you buy food from any of the
cafes on campus?
Please tick (ü) one response.

Never

Once

2–3 times

4–5 times

6 times or more

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.31

Ranking Questions

Please indicate in the boxes provided which features you believe are
the most important when visiting a supermarket
(1 indicating the most important, 2 the next most important, etc.) .
Please leave blank those features that have no importance at all.

Ease of car parking

Low prices

Friendly staff

Store loyalty card

Variety of goods

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.32

Scale Questions: Ordinal

Rank the types of mobile phones in order of preference

from most preferred to least preferred...

___ iPhone
___ Samsung
___ Nokia
___ Blackberry
___ Sony Eriksson

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.33

Scale Questions: Interval

Likert Response Scale

1 2 3 4 5
strongly disagree neutral agree strongly
disagree agree

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.34

Scale Questions: Interval (2)

Semantic Differential

very some- neither some- very

much what what much
interesting boring

simple complex

uncaring caring

useful useless

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.35

Scale Questions: Quantity

What is your year of birth?

1 9

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.36

Filter or Contingency Questions

Have you ever smoked marijuana?
yes
no

If yes, about how many times have

you smoked marijuana?
Once
2 to 5 times
6 to 10 times
11 to 20 times
more than 20 times

How do electronic questionnaires help with this?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.37

Choosing the type of questions

n Number of respondents required

n Time available to complete the data collection
n Financial implications of data collection and entry
n Availability of interviewers and field workers to
assist
n Ease of automating data entry

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.38

Questions to avoid (threats to

validity)

n Leading: Why do you like Cadbury Chocolate?

n Double: Do you like Cadbury or Galaxy Chocolate?

YES/NO

n Assumptive: How often do you eat Cadbury

Chocolate?

n Hypothetical: Suppose you were asked to eat 20

bars of Cadbury Chocolate…?

n Knowledge based: Recalling the recent Cadbury

Chocolate advertising campaign…
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.39

Good (valid) questions are…

n Simple and easily understood.

n As short as possible.
n Unambiguous.
n Not likely to offend.
n Provided with categories such as ‘Don’t know’
and ‘Not applicable’.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.40

Why questionnaires?

n Low costs (time and

money).
n Quick inflow of data.
n Can reach many people.
n Quick coding of closed
questions.
n Reliability of data.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.41

Questionnaires – disadvantages

n Low response rates (threat to

reliability).
n No opportunity for probing
questions.
n No opportunity for
respondent to seek clarity
(threat to validity).
n Socially desirable responses
(SDRs) (threat to validity).

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.42

Cover Sheet

Title of survey
This survey is being undertaken by [your name] as part of
[name of project] in conjunction with [name(s) of
organisation(s)] in order to [state purpose].

It will take approximately x minutes to complete.

All information provided is completely confidential.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.

Please return to:………………by………

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.43

Piloting the questionnaire

Through piloting you may decide to:

n Change the wording of individual questions.
n Add/eliminate some questions.
n Amend the instructions.
n Decide not to use the questionnaire!

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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Slide 11.44

Summary

n Designing individual questions

Ÿ involves a rigorous process to enhance validity and reliability of
results.
Ÿ can include open and closed questions
Ÿ Can include different types of closed questions
n Reliability and validity is dependent on
Ÿ the design of your questions
Ÿ the structure of your questionnaire
Ÿ the rigor of your pilot testing
n Advantages and disadvantages
Ÿ Depends on research question and how the construct will be
measured
n Appropriate documentation
Ÿ includes an introduction which identifies the purpose, the
researcher and ethical considerations

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

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