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Chapter 6 - Using Questionnaires

  1. Kinds of Information Sought
    • Attitudes
    • Beliefs
    • Behavior
    • Characteristics
  2. Planning for the Use of Questionnaires
    • The people you need to question are widely dispersed
    • A large number of people involved in the systems project, and it is meaningful to know what proportion of a given group approves / disapproves of a particular feature of the proposed system.
    • You are doing an exploratory study and want to gauge overall opinion before the systems project is given any specific direction.
    • You wish to be certain that any problems with the current system are identified and addressed in follow-up interviews.
    • Writing Questions
      • Open-Ended Questions
      • Closed Questions
  3. Using Scales in Questionnaires
    • Scaling Fundamentals
      • Reasons for Scaling
        1. to measure the attitudes or characteristics of the people answering the questions
        2. to have the respondents judge the subject of the questionnaire
      • Measurement
        1. Nominal - used to classify things
        2. Ordinal - used for classification with rank ordering
        3. Interval - intervals between each of the numbers are equal
        4. Ratio - intervals are equal and there is an absolute zero
      • Validity and Reliability (consistency)
    • Constructing Scales
      1. Leniency (respondents are easy raters) - move scale
      2. Central tendency (respondents rate everything as average) - increase # of points on scale
      3. Halo effect (impressions formed in one question influence answers on other questions) - rearrange questions
  4. Designing and Administering Questionnaires
    • Designing the Questionnaire
      • Questionnaire Format
        • allow ample white space
        • allow adequate space for responses
        • ask respondents to circle their answers
        • use objectives to help determine format
        • be consistent in style
      • Order of Questions
        • Questions of importance to respondents go first
        • Cluster items of similar content together
        • Employ respondents' associated tendencies
        • Bring up less controversial items first
    • Administering the Questionnaire
      • Decide who are the respondents
      • Methods of administering the questionnaire


Transparencies


Exercises: pg. 169-70 (due - noon Sept. 29, 1998)
e-mail to summers_wayne@ColumbusState.edu your answers to the following problems: 3,4,5

turn in on Sept. 29th a solution to Group Project #1 (this may be completed in a small group of 3 to 4 students)
Explore the MRE HyperCase company and e-mail the answers to the questions on page 168[This can be done in a group of 2-3]


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