Questioning as a research method. Questioning as a research method makes it possible

12.10.2019

Questioning as a research method is increasingly used in modern world... It helps you gather the information you need.

This article will tell you what goals this type of research pursues, how questionnaires and questionnaires are created, what should be avoided when compiling them, and how to analyze the results.

Questioning in sociology - a general concept, goals and objectives

Social survey is useful tool to get information from people. That is, the main goal is to collect data.

How is questionnaire different from testing? Testing is a test of people for a certain level of knowledge, skills or general intellectual development.

So, testing has a different purpose compared to questioning. Testing is most often used in pedagogy.

A surveyor is a person who conducts a survey; respondent (or informant) - the one who fills out the questionnaire.

There are several different tasks that face the questionnaire:

Find out new theoretical information.
Learn more about your target audience. Questionnaires that define what consumers want, what they need, and what they like will come in handy when segmenting lists based on these factors. The narrower and more specific the listings are, the higher the chances of a successful conversion rate.
Get feedback on a recent event, product or service: If the audience gives their opinion, it will help to achieve great success in future endeavors.
Check knowledge. Interviewing can be used (but more rarely) to determine the level of knowledge. For this, testing is more often used.
Clarify point of view. The questionnaires used for clarification are of great importance in reducing misunderstandings and therefore more effective communication later on.
Establish a positive relationship: when communication lines open, it shows respondents that their opinion is appreciated.

Types of questionnaires

Depending on the number of respondents, the questionnaire is:

individual- conducted with one participant;
group- questionnaires are distributed to a small number of people who are in the same room and go through the items of the questionnaire.

Depending on the method of distribution, the questionnaires are divided into the following categories:

Computer questionnaire- participants are asked to fill out a questionnaire, which is sent by mail. Advantages of this kind include their inexpensive price, time savings, the respondent does not feel pressured, so he can answer when he has time, giving more accurate answers. However, the main disadvantage is that sometimes the informants do not bother to answer and may simply ignore the survey.
Telephone questionnaire- the researcher can call potential participants to ask them to answer the questions. The advantage of the telephone questionnaire is that it can be completed in a short period of time. The main disadvantage is that most people do not feel comfortable transferring information over the phone.
Internal survey- This view assumes that the researcher is visiting informants in their homes or workplaces. The advantage of an internal survey is that people can pay more attention to all blocks of the questionnaire. However, internal surveys also have a number of disadvantages, which include length and cost, and respondents may not want to invite a surveyor to their home or workplace for various reasons.
Mail questionnaire- Questionnaires of this kind assume that the researcher sends the psychological questionnaire to the respondent by mail, often with a prepaid envelope attached. Email questionnaires have the advantage of providing a more accurate answer because participants can answer in their spare time. The disadvantages are that this method is expensive, time-consuming and sometimes ends up in the trash can.

Separately, there is a two-round survey. In the first round, a regular survey of several participants is carried out. And in the second round, the participants exchange questionnaires and analyze each other's results.

Questionnaire and its structure

A questionnaire is a structured form consisting of a formalized set of questions designed to collect information on specific topics from one or more respondents.

In other words, it is a data collection technique in which informants are asked to provide some information. Regardless of the form (written or printed), the survey has a specific structure.

Introductory part

In this part, it is important to ensure the anonymity and security of the data, and also you need to thank the respondent in advance. The introductory template is shown below.

Passport

This is a block in which the participant tells about himself: age, gender, social status, profession, occupation and other demographic data. The passport can be placed both at the beginning and at the end of the questionnaire. An example is shown below.

Main part

This is the largest part of the survey, which consists of blocks of questions. different shapes and complexity. A sample of the main body is shown below.

Types of questions for the questionnaire

Questionnaires can include the following types:

How to compose a questionnaire for a sociological survey

It is advisable to avoid certain types of questions, such as:

Hypothetical. Formulations that are misleading with assumptions and fantasies should be avoided. The options are:
- wrong: "How should our support team work?";
- correct: "What does not suit you in the work of our support service?";
Embarrassing. Do not make respondents feel uncomfortable asking details about personal problems, which, in turn, can lead to a loss of trust. If you need to include such an item, then it is important to show the participant that he will not be condemned for the answer. Examples:
- wrong: "Do you help poor people?";
- correct: “Some people believe that it is not necessary to provide financial assistance to the able-bodied poor. What do you think? ”;
Extremely positive / negative. You need to think carefully about the wording to avoid harsh positive or negative connotations. Examples:
- wrong: “Aren't you satisfied with your job?”;
- correct: "Are you satisfied with your job?"

Rules for drawing up a questionnaire

Developing a questionnaire is a multi-step process that requires attention to detail at every step.

The following guidelines will help simplify this process:

Decide what needs to be covered in the questionnaire. Defining the topic clearly is of the utmost importance as it is a major development step.
Don't change words. It is important that the words or phrases that are used are formulated as simply as possible. If the items are unclear, the informants can simply choose any options, which will lead to inaccurate data.
Ask only one question at a time. Variants, when two are asked at once in one question, will not give an exact result, because different answers may turn out.
Correctly formulate the points of the questionnaire with multiple answers: when developing the questionnaire should be flexible in terms of “choice of an option”. Sometimes respondents do not necessarily want to choose one of the answer options provided by the survey creator, in such a situation it is useful to have a “different” option.
Open or closed question- this is a difficult choice: the interviewer may find himself in a situation where it will be necessary to make a clear choice between an open or closed view. But the decision in this case must be taken deliberately.
Knowing the audience is important: As a rule, the researcher should know his target audience. For example, if the target audience is Russians, then sending the questionnaire in a foreign language will not give the desired results.
Sensitive questions in the middle of a questionnaire can lead to participants not completing the questionnaire. The best thing place blocks of personal and demographic data at the end.

How to format the results of the survey

The design of the survey results involves data visualization. To do this, use different types diagrams depending on the types of questionnaires.

If the questions offer two choices (for example, yes and no), a pie chart is the easiest way to present the data.

If you need to compare the response rates of several groups, it is better to choose a histogram. A bunch of aligned columns is much easier to compare than multiple pie charts. It is important to label each column with a percentage for clarity.

In graded questions, participants are presented with a range of possible answers. A 100% breakdown bar chart is the easiest option to visualize the collected data.

In addition to other survey results, you can use the results of demographic surveys as part of your analysis. Including factors such as age, gender, income level and even geographical position, you can get interesting infographics.

Visualizing survey data on a map is a fun way to incorporate a demographic component into an infographic.

Histograms, on the other hand, can be used to show the age distribution of a particular population.

Processing of results open questions presents a small problem. To visualize the totals, you need to somehow group the answers using general keywords or other factors.

Word clouds, while some visualization experts condemn their use, can provide summary data.

Otherwise, you will have to do a more intensive manual analysis: review open answers and create categories. You can then display the results in a bar chart like this, which shows the percentage of comments that fall into each category.

Pros and cons of questioning

Advantages:

Questionnaires are one of the most cost effective and available ways collecting quantitative data. Especially online and mobile surveys are very low cost and generous coverage.
They practical. In addition to being inexpensive and flexible, questionnaires are also in a practical way data collection. They can be targeted to groups of a particular choice and managed in a variety of ways.
Scalability. Questionnaires allow you to collect information from a large audience.
Scientific analysis and forecasts. The more data you can collect, the clearer the picture will become. All of this information empowers marketers to create new strategies and monitor audience trends. Analyzing reports can be used to make forecasts and even create benchmarks for follow-up questionnaires.
Anonymity. In opinion polls, you do not need to indicate your identity. But to ensure a sense of accurate confidentiality, it is better to use a computerized survey. Anonymous computer interviews provide the most accurate results.
Easy standardization. The researcher can be confident that all participants in the sample answer the same items.

The survey has the following disadvantages:

Using the postal survey, the researcher can never be sure that the person to whom the psychological survey was sent will actually complete it.
The researcher cannot be completely sure that the questions asked mean the same to all informants as they do to the researcher.
Dishonesty. People cannot be completely truthful in their answers. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including social desirability bias and attempts to protect privacy.
Some data are difficult to analyze. The questionnaires provide a lot of data. Open-ended questions allow for individual answers that cannot be quantified and must be considered by a human.
Skipped items. When using questionnaires, it is likely that some points will be ignored.

A questionnaire is a procedure for conducting a written survey using pre-prepared forms. The questionnaires (from the French “list of questions”) are filled in by the respondents themselves.

One of the pioneers of using this method was Francis Galton, who studied the origin of mental personality traits from self-reports of respondents. The results of the survey were presented to him in the book " English people sciences: their nature and education "(1874).

This method has the following advantages:

High efficiency of obtaining information;

The ability to organize mass surveys;

The relatively low labor intensity of the procedures for preparing and conducting research, processing their results;

Lack of influence of the personality and behavior of the interviewee on the work of the respondents;

The lack of expression in the researcher of the relationship of subjective addiction to any of the respondents,

However, the questionnaire also has significant drawbacks:

The lack of personal contact does not allow, as, say, in a free interview, to change the order and wording of questions depending on the answers or behavior of the respondents;

The reliability of such “self-reports” is not always sufficient, the results of which are influenced by the unconscious attitudes and motives of the respondents or their desire to look in a more favorable light, deliberately embellishing the real state of affairs.

In modern psychology, questioning is considered an auxiliary research method, in such sciences as sociology or demography - one of the main ones, providing, according to some data, up to 80 % collected information.

Let's consider the main types of questions in the questionnaire.

1) about the personality of the respondent, concerning his gender, age, education, profession, marital status, etc. Their presence allows further processing of the questionnaire material within a particular subgroup of people, if necessary, comparing similar information from different subgroups;

2) about the facts of consciousness, designed to identify the opinions, motives, expectations, plans, value judgments of the respondents;

3) about the facts of behavior, revealing real actions, actions and results of people's activities.

Depending on the form of the answer, questions are divided into closed, semi-closed and open.

A closed question contains a complete set of possible answers. In this case, the respondent only indicates graphically his choice from the options given to him. The number of choices to be made (one or more) is usually stipulated by the instruction.

There are the following ways of presenting answer options for a closed question:

a) dichotomous form, offering opposite, mutually exclusive answers (such as "yes - no", "true - false", "agree - disagree", etc.);

b) a polyvariant form, providing for the so-called. "Answer menu", where it is quite possible to dwell on a few of them. For instance:

“What lectures have you attended this week?

Psychology

Sociology

Religious studies

Philosophy

Aesthetics "

c) a scale form used in cases where there is a need to express the intensity of an attitude, experience, impression, etc. Then the proposed answers may look, for example, as follows:

I completely agree

I agree, but there are exceptions

I disagree, but sometimes it happens

Totally disagree

d) tabular form. For instance:

Do you have enough time for:

When processing data from large contingents of respondents, they use coding of closed-ended questions. To do this, all answers are accompanied by three-digit numbers, in which the first two digits serve to indicate the ordinal number of the question, and the third denotes the ordinal number of the answer. In practice, such coding is also widespread, in which all digits serve to indicate the serial numbers of the responses. The subject is asked to underline or circle the codes of the selected answers.

Using closed-ended questions in the questionnaire allows you to effectively compare the results of the respondents. However, they lack the completeness of expressions of individual opinions or assessments, which sometimes arouses the dissatisfaction of the subjects, and it is also known that such questions are capable of provoking a series of properly thoughtless, "automatic" answers.

A semi-closed question is used if the compiler is not aware of all possible options answers or intends to more accurately and fully clarify the individual points of view of the surveyed persons. In addition to the list of ready-made answers, such a question contains a column "other answers" and a certain number of blank lines (usually five to seven);

An open-ended question assumes that the answer to it will be formulated entirely by the respondent himself,

Of course, this will hinder to a large extent the comparability of the answers. Therefore, such questions are used either on early stages drawing up a questionnaire, or when there is a need for the fullest possible expression of all individual answer options available in the group. Such questions are also inappropriate in cases where the anonymity of the respondents is of particular importance.

Depending on the way of formulating, questions can be direct or indirect.

Direct question is aimed at direct, open receipt of information from the respondent. An equally direct and honest response is expected to be given.

However, where it is required to express a sufficiently critical attitude towards oneself and towards others, many tend to limit themselves to socially approved answers, sometimes to the detriment of sincerity. Indeed, what will be the teacher's answer to the question "What prevents you from doing your classes well?" or the student's answer "Why do you often miss lectures?"

In such cases, an indirect question is formed, which is usually associated with the use of some imaginary situation that masks the critical potential of the transmitted information. For example: "It's no secret that some of the students in your course rarely attend lectures." Why do you think? " or “Sometimes you can hear the opinion that some teachers do not conduct their classes well. What explains this attitude towards work? "

By function, the questions of the questionnaire are divided into informational (basic), filters and control (clarifying).

Moreover, most of the questions are aimed at obtaining information from each of the respondents. This is the so-called. main questions.

Filter questions are used when information is needed not from the entire population of respondents, but only from a part of them. This is a kind of "questionnaire in the questionnaire". The start and end of the filter are usually clearly marked graphically. For instance:

“The next three questions are for psychology students only.

Are you studying at the Faculty of Psychology? ...

What is the quality of practical training in communication psychology? ...

To what extent can the knowledge gained on them help you in your work in your specialty?

Attention! Questions for everyone. "

Restrictions on the circle of respondents, implemented by the filter, make it possible to avoid distortions of information introduced by the answers of insufficiently competent persons.

Control questions make it possible to clarify the correctness of the information provided by the respondents, as well as to exclude unreliable answers or even questionnaires from further consideration.

These usually include questions of two kinds. The former are repetitions of informational questions formulated in other words. If the answers to the main and control questions are diametrically opposed, they are excluded from the subsequent analysis. Other control questions are used to identify individuals who have an increased tendency to choose socially approved answers. They offer a number of answers where, in practice, there can be only a definite answer. For example:

"Have you ever been capricious as a child?"

"Have you ever lied to other people in the past?"

"Do you always willingly come to the aid of strangers?"

As you can see from the nature of these questions, the likelihood of getting an honest, but not widespread answer in reality is very small.

There are several ways to improve the effectiveness of control:

In the questionnaire, the main and security questions should not be placed side by side, otherwise their relationship will be discovered;

Answers to direct questions are better controlled by indirect questions;

Only the most essential questions in the questionnaire should be monitored;

The need for control, as a rule, decreases if a significant part of the questions allows evasion of an answer, expression of uncertainty of opinion (such as “I don’t know”, “I find it difficult to answer”, “when how”, etc.).

Stages of preparation of the questionnaire.

I. Analysis of the questionnaire topic, highlighting individual problems in it;

II. Development of a test questionnaire with a predominance of open-ended questions;

III. Pilot survey. Analysis of its results;

IV. Clarification of the wording of instructions and the content of questions;

V. Questionnaire;

Vi. Generalization and interpretation of the results. Preparing of report.

Composition of the questionnaire. Such a standardized and correspondence conversation with a respondent has a fairly stable scenario. It usually begins with a short introduction - an appeal to the respondent, where the topic of the survey is stated, its goals, the name of the organization or person conducting the survey, and the strict confidentiality of the information received is reported.

Then, as a rule, instructions are given for completing the form. In the event that the nature of the questions or their form change during the course of the questionnaire, instructions can be not only at the beginning, but also in other parts of the form.

It rarely happens that the process of filling out the questionnaire itself is of particular benefit to the respondents. Therefore, usually the first questions are made as easy and interesting as possible. It is important to make the majority of respondents want to answer them. The functions of such contact questions are:

a) the formation of an attitude towards cooperation;

b) stimulating the interest of the subjects;

c) introduction of respondents to the range of problems discussed in the questionnaire;

d) obtaining information.

These are followed by more complex questions that make up the main content of the questionnaire.

And, finally, in the final part of the form, lighter questions follow again, which is associated with the oncoming exhaustion of attention, with an increase in respondents' fatigue.

Requirements for the wording of questions for the questionnaire:

Does the question contain explicit or implicit hints? (After all, a question like "What do you like about ...?"

Does the question exceed the respondent's level of memory or thinking? (As an example, you can try to accurately answer a question such as "How many hours per month do you spend preparing for seminars?")

Does it contain words that are incomprehensible to the respondents or have extremely vague content? (For example, such as “tolerance”, “altruism”, “rating”, “infantilism”, etc., or words like such “often”, “rarely”, “on average”, ... Not that a schoolboy, not every student will answer the question "Do you often show conformism?" And how is it "often"? Once a day, a week, a year?)

Does the question of dignity and pride of the respondent offend? Will it cause an excessive negative emotional reaction?

Is this a lengthy question about size? Are the answers to it too detailed?

Is it being asked about several different subjects at the same time? Is there an error in the logic of the presentation?

Will the question apply to everyone? Is a filter required?

Does the question need control? Which one?

What kind of question (in the form of the answer and in the way of formulating it) is the most preferable in this particular case?

Are there any options for evasion in the closed question? Are they needed?

Is there a grammatical agreement between the question and the answers to it?

Were there any distortions when reprinting the questionnaire?

An independent and very common form of survey is a questionnaire, i.e. filling out pre-prepared forms with a list of questions.

The questionnaire is a list of questions to which the respondent (respondent) must answer. The compilation of the questionnaire is preceded by a large research work described in the works on sociometry, with the aim of taking into account the psychology of the respondent, predicting his reaction to one form or another of the question, the degree of his sincerity and the ability to formulate an unambiguous answer. The set of answers should characterize the problem under study. Questioning is a common survey method in marketing. Its advantage lies in the fact that as a result of processing responses, a quantitative, statistical characteristic of the phenomenon under study can be obtained, and causal relationships can be identified and modeled.

Scroll possible questions does not lend itself to strict regulation. Each compiler, depending on the goals, object of research and their own capabilities, offers their own set and wording of questions. However, with the seeming anarchy, there are certain rules and regulations that every researcher must follow.

A questionnaire is not just a list of questions. It is a very thin and flexible tool. It requires careful study. Everything is important: the types and wording of questions, their sequence and number, correctness and relevance. It can take from one to several weeks of work to develop a competent questionnaire. Before starting the study, it is necessary to conduct a test questionnaire - "aerobatics", the purpose of which is to bring the questionnaire to condition, eliminate errors, inaccuracies, ambiguities and leading elements. The scope of the pilot study usually affects 5% of the estimated number of respondents.

Drawing up a questionnaire is a complex research process that includes setting goals, proposing hypotheses, formulating questions, developing a sample, determining a questionnaire method, etc. The questionnaire can be carried out orally, i.e. the registrar fills in the form himself according to the respondent's words (expeditionary method). Another form is written (self-registration method), when the respondent fills out a questionnaire with his own hand, which is sent by mail (correspondence method). The disadvantage of this (cheaper) method is a certain percentage of incorrectly completed questionnaires. In addition, some of the questionnaires are not returned at all. Sometimes even control selective walks of the respondents are carried out. The questionnaire method is also used when organizing panels, working with trade correspondents. The questionnaires are filled in by experts, specialists, etc.

Usually the questionnaire is in the form of a table with printed questions and free space for an answer (the questionnaire can be multi-page). The traditional scheme includes three blocks:

Introduction (the purpose of the survey, information about the respondents: name, characteristics, address, guarantee of the anonymity of the survey and the confidentiality of the answers);

List of questions characterizing the subject of the survey (main part);

Information about the respondents (requisite part, or passport-tick).

In the introduction (preamble) b short form informs about who is doing the research and why, about the firm, its reputation and the goals that the survey pursues. It would be nice to emphasize that the answers of the respondents will be used in their own interests, and to assure the absolute anonymity of the survey.

The introduction gives instructions on how to fill out the questionnaire and return it. It also expresses gratitude for the time kindly given by the respondent to the researchers. If the survey is being conducted by mail, the introduction may be written in the form of a cover letter.

When developing the main part of the questionnaire, you should pay attention to the content of the questions, their type, number, sequence of presentation, the presence of control questions. The content of the questions should characterize the subject of the survey. But here it is necessary to find a reasonable compromise between the desire to make the questionnaire as complete as possible and a realistic opportunity to get answers. The main part of the questionnaire can be roughly divided into two blocks, sometimes they are called "fish" and "detector".

"A fish"- this is the part containing the questions for which, in fact, the research was started.

"Detector" consists of control questions designed to check the attentiveness, seriousness and frankness of the respondents when filling out the questionnaire, as well as the decency and professionalism of the interviewers. There may be duplicate questions, conflicting positions, a sequence of questions with previously known answers. Only in the case of complete trust between customers, researchers and interviewers, and with the relative simplicity and tolerance of the research topic, it is possible to do without a "detector". A sure way to increase the reliability of the study is to include in the text of the questionnaire a request to leave a contact phone number. As practice shows, from 30 to 60% of metropolitan respondents and from 15 to 25% of provincial respondents respond to it. And this is more than enough for verification.

The requisite part (passport) contains information concerning the respondents: age, gender, belonging to a particular class, occupation, marital status, name and address - for individuals, and for organizations: size, location, direction of production and economic activities, position respondent in the organization, his name. In addition, it is necessary to identify the questionnaire itself, i.e. give it a name, indicate the date, time and place of the survey, the name of the interviewer.

The number of questions should be optimal, i.e. providing completeness of information, but not excessive, which makes the survey more expensive (a reasonable compromise is needed). Questions should be written in a tactful manner, so as not to offend or alarm the respondents, or cause a negative reaction from them.

The questions of the questionnaire are classified according to the degree of freedom, the nature of the answers and the form of the questions. They are subdivided into open, when the answer is given in free form, without restrictions, and closed, when a list of answer options is offered, from which one or several are selected ("fan" of answers). Alternative questions are often posed, to which the answer is: "yes", "no", "I do not know." An important role in the survey is played by questions about intentions and opinions, in the answers to which a greater degree of freedom is allowed than in questions about facts and actions. Sometimes filtering questions are asked to cut off some of the respondents. For example, if the question "Do you have any product?" - the respondent answers “no”, then questions about the assessment of his properties are unnecessary. Finally, any questionnaire contains control questions that are used to assess the reliability of the answers. The formulation of questions is a laborious research work that requires high qualifications and erudition, knowledge of the basics of sociometry. This is a creative activity that does not allow mechanical copying. The questionnaire should be linked to the questionnaire development plan, table layouts, model options. In the development of questionnaires, statistical methods are used (groupings, correlation-regression analysis, etc.).

Open question- question of the questionnaire, with the help of which the primary marketing information is collected; it enables the respondent to answer in his own words, which allows the latter to feel free enough when answering, to give examples. Open-ended questions are often given at the beginning of the questionnaire to warm up the respondents. However, keep in mind that they are difficult to handle.

There are five options for open-ended questions:

Simple open-ended question ("What do you think of ...?");

Word association;

Completion of the proposal;

Completion of the story, drawing;

Thematic apperception test (the respondent is shown a picture and asked to come up with a story about what, in his opinion, is happening or may be happening on it).

In such questions, there is no bias, the desire to impose a definite answer. However, the answers to this type of questions require sufficient high costs time, as they usually raise new, additional questions. In addition, the responses received can be interpreted in different ways. Therefore, they are not often used in questionnaires.

Closed question- question of the questionnaire, with the help of which - the primary marketing information is collected; it includes all possible answers, from which the respondent chooses his own. There are three types of closed-ended questions:

Alternative (dichotomous). Assumes an answer like “yes” or “no”, no third is given (simple, closed, alternative question). Alternative questions are very easy to use. Their interpretation is simple and unambiguous;

Multiple choice, for example: “Where do you keep your savings?”, Where there are the following answers: “in the bank”; "In an insurance company"; "in the building company"; “Houses” from which you can choose (cross out, leave, circle). The main disadvantage of multivariate questions is the difficulty of formulating all possible answers, characteristics or factors;

Scale question. Assumes the presence of any scale: evaluative (excellent, good, satisfactory, bad, terrible); importance (exceptional, important, medium, small, negligible); Lakert scale (absolutely agree, not sure, disagree, not true).

According to the form of questions, two groups are distinguished: 1) about facts or actions; 2) opinions and intentions. In particular, the first include questions characterizing the purchase made (its type and size), the availability of the goods in the respondent's use, purchase costs, the prices at which the goods were purchased, etc. It is very difficult to formulate questions about the intentions and opinions of buyers, which can change, and not be rigidly articulated.

An important role in the questionnaire is assigned to the so-called filtering questions that are asked if some of the questions do not apply to all respondents. For example: "Do you have this product?" If "no", then "Are you going to buy it?" It is clear that the second question and all subsequent ones are addressed only to those who answered negatively to the first.

Sometimes the so-called tabular questions are introduced - the combination of various questions, their design in the form of a table.

As an illustration, Fig. 2.4 presents a layout of the questionnaire, the purpose of which is to obtain information from consumers about the clothing market.

Continuation

With regard to the sequence of presentation of questions in the questionnaire, it is not recommended to start the questionnaire with difficult or personal questions or with questions that are not interesting to the respondents; such questions are recommended to be asked in the middle or at the end of the questionnaire. The first question should interest the respondents. It is desirable that the questions be stated in a specific logical sequence, allowing you to consider individual topics as fully as possible. The transition to the next topic should begin with some introductory phrase. The questionnaire should not contain questions that they do not want to answer, cannot be answered or do not require an answer. Sometimes you can get the information you want by asking indirect questions. So, instead of asking a direct question about the respondent's income, they ask which social group he refers to himself (as a high-income population, well-off, medium-income, low-income, etc.).

The formulation of questions is a difficult and time-consuming work that requires high qualifications, knowledge of economics, statistics and sociometry, and certain literary abilities. Despite the fact that there are uniform survey principles, it is impossible to mechanically copy existing samples.

Particular attention should be paid to the design of the questionnaire, which sometimes turns out to be unsuccessful, inconvenient: the semantic blocks are not separated from each other, a poorly readable font is chosen, there is no space for codes, etc. If you do not pay attention to these factors in time, the work of the interviewer, and then the coder, operator will be difficult and may even lead to errors.

Sending / distributing questionnaires can be a serious problem. During trade fairs, in the shop floor, on the street, etc. questionnaires are handed out to everyone with a request to fill them out on the spot and return them to any of the employees. This is essentially a random, no-repetition sample, the characteristics of which will be determined after the questionnaires are returned. Naturally, these questionnaires should include a minimum of questions and be simple in content. Very often, a survey is carried out during a test marketing. Sometimes the questionnaire is embedded as a tear-off label in a popular publication. If you have good connections with the management of a certain enterprise or institution, then it can assist you in distributing the questionnaire among its employees.

Rice. 2.5. Questionnaire organization scheme

A widely used method is the layout of questionnaires by mailboxes(possibly by agreement with the postman). Usually, in this case, either mechanical sampling is used (for example, every tenth addressee), or serial sampling (houses are selected in which the continuous distribution of questionnaires is carried out). In any case, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of non-return of questionnaires (up to 50% of the total number). Return of questionnaires by mail is paid in advance.

Considering that the development of questionnaires is a creative task, its plan is drawn up in advance and discussed, linked to common tasks and the goals of marketing research. The following diagram reflects a certain sequence of actions in the questionnaire process (Figure 2.5).

The survey costs are quite high. So, according to consulting firm MsKshzeu api Sotrapu, these costs depend on the number of respondents (Table 2.7).

Table 2.7 Costs of the survey

From a financial point of view, large groups of respondents are more efficient, and this is confirmed by the calculation of costs per respondent.

CONTROL QUESTIONS

1. What is called a survey? What types of surveys do you know?

2. For what purposes are focus groups formed?

3. What are the criteria for attracting participants to focus groups?

4. What are the requirements for an interviewer?

5. How is the questionnaire built? Name its structures.

TESTS

1. The panel is:

a) wood paneling the office of the manager of the company;

b) part of the street;

c) a permanent sample of persons / enterprises.

2. Omnibus is:

a) double-decker bus in England;

b) a panel with a changing polling program;

c) a panel with a permanent polling program.

3. Questioning is:

a) a survey in the form of written answers to the questions given in the form of a table;

b) studying the biographical data of the respondent;

c) drawing up a list of questions.

4. Content analysis is:

a) quantitative methods of document analysis;

b) bibliographic information;

c) search for a source of information in the catalog.

5. The fan of questions / answers aims to:

a) give a list of open questions arranged in a logical sequence;

b) select one or more options from the list of closed questions with suggested answers;

c) give a list of questions to which answers are given in the form of numbers.

Questionnaire is a procedure for conducting a written survey using a developed questionnaire. It is one of the methods of quantitative research in marketing.

Application form is a series of questions that the interviewee must answer. The questionnaire is a very flexible tool in the sense that to obtain the necessary information, questions can be used that differ in form, wording and sequence, that is, questions can be asked in many different ways... A good questionnaire should: facilitate the respondent's response; formulate a question taking into account its influence on the respondent's answer; allow easy analysis. In this case, the questionnaire should be tested, and all identified deficiencies should be eliminated in it before its widespread use.

Before starting the study, it is necessary: to conduct a trial survey, the purpose of which is to eliminate obvious errors, inaccuracies, ambiguities; “Closing” of those open questions that could not be closed at the stage of developing the questionnaire; timing; preparation of instructions for interviewers.

There are the following types of questionnaires:

1. By the way of communication between the researcher and the respondents:
- a) press: the questionnaire is printed in a newspaper or magazine;
- b) postal: the questionnaires are sent by mail;
- c) handout: personal delivery and collection of questionnaires from respondents;
- d) publication of questionnaires on the Internet.

Press, mail and poll on the Internet are correspondence. With such a questionnaire, there is no direct contact between the questionnaire and the respondent. In the case of a handout survey (face-to-face questioning), the questionnaire acts as an instructor in filling out questionnaires, distributing questionnaires, however, the questionnaire is filled in by the respondent independently.

Email polling is one of the most ineffective types, however, if organized correctly, you can significantly increase its return. To increase the number of those wishing to take part in the mail survey, it is imperative to motivate the respondents: the answer sent will participate in the prize drawing, the first to send will receive a discount coupon, and so on.

2. By venue:
- a) at the place of residence;
- b) at the place of work;
- c) at the place of study.

In the last two cases, the survey can be group (or classroom).

This type of questionnaire is determined by the nature of the questions (closed or semi-closed).

3. By coverage:
- a) continuous: a survey of all representatives of the sample;
- b) selective: a survey of a part of the sample.

The questionnaire has both dignity(high efficiency in obtaining information; strict regulation of the procedure allows obtaining well-structured and comparable results; the anonymity of the respondents increases the objectivity and sincerity of the answers received; the possibility of organizing mass surveys and collecting large volume data; relatively low labor intensity of the procedures for preparing and conducting research, processing their results; lack of influence of the interviewer on the work of the respondents; the researcher's lack of expression of the relationship of subjective addiction to any of the respondents), and limitations(the lack of personal contact does not allow changing the order and wording of questions depending on the answers or behavior of the respondents; impossibility to control the correctness of the respondent's understanding of the wording of questions and answers, as well as the respondent's receipt of explanations in case of misunderstanding; impossibility to guarantee the exact implementation of instructions by the respondent (in particular, the observance of the order answers to the questions); the possible influence of the wording of the questions and answers on the choice of the respondent; in the case of correspondence questionnaires, it is impossible to guarantee that the respondent fills out the questionnaire on his own, without the influence of other persons). Therefore, the questionnaire must be combined with other methods of collecting primary information.

In this way, questionnaire- this is a series of questions to which the interviewee must give answers. It is a key tool when conducting marketing research by an enterprise. When drawing up the questionnaires, the marketer must carefully consider how great the contribution of the answer to the formulated question will be for the manufacturer's subsequent actions. The questionnaires are compiled in order to get answers to a variety of questions, which, depending on the objectives of the research, are structured and take on a narrow focus. In order to increase the speed and ease of processing the information received, closed questions are widely used in questionnaires, despite the fact that open questions allow you to get more useful information for the marketer of the customer organization.

It also follows from the above that the classification of the questionnaires used in marketing is very diverse. The division of questionnaires by type depends on the selected classification criterion, which determines what exactly will be "found out" with the help of the compiled questionnaire. Recently, the scope of using questionnaires has expanded: if earlier they were used to study consumer behavior, now they are resorted to in order to track the opinion of experts in one area or another. Every year there are new methods of drawing up questionnaires and conducting the actual questionnaire. The fact is that in modern economic conditions, the market is overflowing with goods of the same type, and, consequently, the consumer strives to distinguish them no longer by outward appearance and other visible characteristics, but also in terms of emotional and psychological components. In general, a questionnaire is one of the means of collecting primary information that must be processed quickly, since it quickly suits and loses its value for the researcher.

A questionnaire is a procedure for conducting a written survey using pre-prepared forms. The questionnaires (from the French “list of questions”) are filled in by the respondents themselves.

This method has the following advantages:

High efficiency of obtaining information;

The ability to organize mass surveys;

The relatively low labor intensity of the procedures for preparing and conducting research, processing their results;

Lack of influence of the personality and behavior of the interviewee on the work of the respondents;

The lack of expression in the researcher of the relationship of subjective addiction to any of the respondents,

However, the questionnaire also has significant drawbacks:

The lack of personal contact does not allow, as, say, in a free interview, to change the order and wording of questions depending on the answers or behavior of the respondents;

Let's consider the main types of questions in the questionnaire.

1) about the personality of the respondent concerning his gender, age, education, profession, marital status, etc. Their presence allows further processing of the questionnaire material within a particular subgroup of people, if necessary, comparing similar information from different subgroups;

2) about the facts of consciousness, designed to identify the opinions, motives, expectations, plans, value judgments of the respondents;

3) about the facts of behavior that reveal the real actions, actions and results of people's activities.

A semi-closed question is used if the compiler is not aware of all possible answer options, or if he intends to more accurately and fully clarify the individual points of view of the surveyed persons. In addition to the list of ready-made answers, such a question contains a column "other answers" and a certain number of blank lines (usually five to seven);

An open-ended question assumes that the answer to it will be formulated entirely by the respondent himself,

Of course, this will hinder to a large extent the comparability of the answers. Therefore, such questions are used either at the early stages of compiling the questionnaire, or when there is a need for the fullest possible expression of all the individual answer options available in the group. Such questions are also inappropriate in cases where the anonymity of the respondents is of particular importance.

Depending on the way of formulating, questions can be direct or indirect.

Direct question is aimed at direct, open receipt of information from the respondent. An equally direct and honest response is expected to be given.

By function, the questions of the questionnaire are divided into informational (basic), filters and control (clarifying).

Moreover, most of the questions are aimed at obtaining information from each of the respondents. This is the so-called. main questions.

“The next three questions are for psychology students only.

Are you studying at the Faculty of Psychology? ...

What is the quality of practical training in communication psychology? ...

To what extent can the knowledge gained on them help you in your work in your specialty?

Attention! Questions for everyone. "

Restrictions on the circle of respondents, implemented by the filter, make it possible to avoid distortions of information introduced by the answers of insufficiently competent persons.

"Have you ever been capricious as a child?"

As you can see from the nature of these questions, the likelihood of getting an honest, but not widespread answer in reality is very small.

There are several ways to improve the effectiveness of control:

In the questionnaire, the main and security questions should not be placed side by side, otherwise their relationship will be discovered;

Answers to direct questions are better controlled by indirect questions;

Only the most essential questions in the questionnaire should be monitored;

Stages of preparation of the questionnaire.

I. Analysis of the questionnaire topic, highlighting individual problems in it;

II. Development of a test questionnaire with a predominance of open-ended questions;

III. Pilot survey. Analysis of its results;

IV. Clarification of the wording of instructions and the content of questions;

V. Questionnaire;

Vi. Generalization and interpretation of the results. Preparing of report.

a) the formation of an attitude towards cooperation;

b) stimulating the interest of the subjects;

c) introduction of respondents to the range of problems discussed in the questionnaire;

d) obtaining information.

They are followed by more difficult questions that make up the main content of the questionnaire.

And, finally, in the final part of the form, lighter questions follow again, which is associated with the oncoming exhaustion of attention, with an increase in respondents' fatigue.

Requirements for the wording of questions for the questionnaire:

Does the question contain explicit or implicit hints? (After all, a question like "What do you like about ...?"

Does the question of dignity and pride of the respondent offend? Will it cause an excessive negative emotional reaction?

Is this a lengthy question about size? Are the answers to it too detailed?

Is it being asked about several different subjects at the same time? Is there an error in the logic of the presentation?

Will the question apply to everyone? Is a filter required?

Does the question need control? Which one?

What kind of question (in the form of the answer and in the way of formulating it) is the most preferable in this particular case?

Are there any options for evasion in the closed question? Are they needed?

Is there a grammatical agreement between the question and the answers to it?

Were there any distortions when reprinting the questionnaire?

Examination ticket number 15

1. Repeated exercise method (purpose, content, methodological features, options).

Repeated method characterized by repeated exercise at intervals of rest, during which there is a fairly complete restoration of working capacity. When using this method, the training effect on the body is provided not only during the exercise period, but also due to the summation of the body's fatigue from each repetition of the task.

This method is used in both cyclic and acyclic sports.

In practice, the repeated method is used in several versions:

1) repeated work with a uniform unsaturated intensity;

2) repeated work with uniform limiting intensity;

The main goal of the repeated method is to perform movements, actions, tasks a certain number of times, trying to adhere to the required form and character and achieve improvement in them. Such methods are also called training sometimes gymnastic. Such methods may differ in the nature and magnitude of the efforts shown (methods of maximum, moderate impact, etc.); by the nature of repetition (methods repeated, interval, etc.); by the nature of the execution (tempo, uniform, variable, etc.); according to the composition of the exercise (holistic, dismembered, etc.); by direction (facilitating, complicating, etc.). Differences in methods are also determined by the external conditions in which educational and training tasks are performed, as well as by the use of shells, simulators, special equipment, etc.

The speed of movement is planned in advance, based on a personal record for a given segment. Exercises are performed in series. The number of repetitions of exercises in each series is small and is limited by the ability of the practitioners to maintain a given intensity (speed of movement, pace of movement, amount of external resistance, etc.).

Rest intervals depend on the duration and intensity of the exercise. However, they are installed in such a way as to ensure the restoration of working capacity for the next repetition of the exercise.

In cyclic exercises, repetitive work on short intervals is aimed at developing speed abilities. At medium to long endurance speed.

Movement with high intensity in skating, walking and other exercises on relatively long intervals contributes to the development of a "sense of competitive pace", improvement of the technique of movement. For this reason, the repetitive method is sometimes called the repetitive training method.

The nature of energy supply when working on short sections is mainly anaerobic, and on medium and long ones - mixed, i.e. aerobic-anaerobic. In acyclic exercises (weightlifting, jumping, throwing), along with improving the technique of movements, this method is mainly used to develop strength and speed-strength abilities.

The following tasks are solved by the repeated method: development of strength, speed and speed-power capabilities, speed endurance, development of the necessary competitive tempo and rhythm; stabilization of the technique of movements at high speed, mental stability.

In practice, the repeated method is used in several versions. The most common are the following:

1) repeated work with a uniform unsaturated intensity (90-95% of the maximum) to develop the required competitive tempo and rhythm, to stabilize the technique at high speed, etc.

2) repeated work with a uniform limiting intensity.

When using short segments, it is mainly speed abilities that are developed. Longer segments are included in classes relatively rarely and only in small series to maximize the impact on volitional qualities.