Developing a Questionnaire Essay Example

The purpose of developing the semantic differential is to measure what an object means to a person. A semantic differential scale construction involves a number of steps. The researcher identifies a concept which the semantic differential scale will rate. Then the researcher chooses two pairs of adjectives that can be used to describe the selected concept. The scale is normally from 1 to 7 and respondents can rate the concept using this scale. The means of the responses for every pair of the suggested adjectives is counted and the means are marked as an image. A staple scale is for measuring the direction and the intensity of attitudes at the same time. (McDaniel,& Gates, 2006).

The Likert scale has several statements that express preference for or against the concept that is under study. It involves asking the respondent to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement using a numerical score. Once the respondent is done, the scores are counted and the total determines the attitude of the respondent. This scale is mainly used in marketing researches and it can be used to determine the respondent’s intention of buying or not buying a product.

A Likert scale evaluating the parks and recreational department in my city.

1. Has the parks and recreation department succeeded in keeping the recreation places clean?

4. Definitely 3. Probably 2. Probably not 1.Definitely not

2. Is the park and recreation department doing a better job this year than the previous year?

4. Definitely 3. Probably 2. Probably not 1. Definitely not

3. Has the department succeeded in promoting the parks and recreational facilities?

4. Definitely 3. Probably 2. Probably not 1. Definitely not

4. Do you feel comfortable visiting the parks and recreational facilities in your city?

4. Definitely 3. Probably 2. Probably not 1. Definitely not

When developing a questionnaire for a new sandwich for McDonalds I would use the following procedure to develop my questionnaire; First, I would identify the purpose of the survey, the resources required to carry out the survey and the possible constraints that would either hinder the survey or cause problems in the process of the survey. Secondly, I would determine the method I would use to collect the data I require. Thirdly, I would determine the format to be used in phrasing the questions. The fourth thing is to make a decision on the words to use in the questions to ensure clarity. I would establish a good layout of the questionnaire to ensure that there is flow. Then I would evaluate the questionnaire to determine if all the questions are necessary and if the questionnaire is too long or too short. I would then get approval from my managers and all other relevant people so that I can pretest the questionnaire. The next thing will be to get a final copy of the questionnaire making any necessary changes after pretesting. Then finally I would implement the survey.

Situations in which a census would be better than a sample include when the researcher requires knowing the true measure of the given population. This is because a sample only gives a portion of the whole population. A census is also preferred when detailed information is required about sub-groups within the population and a sample cannot give such detailed information. However, samples are normally taken over census because they are cheaper to conduct than census. Samples take a shorter time to get results than census thus samples are preferred and samples give a good representation of the actual population if good techniques are used. (Aaker, Kumar & Day, 1998)

The market researcher found out that on average the amount used in California at a fast food restaurant is $3.30 but with it came a standard deviation of $0.40 which is higher than Georgia’s standard deviation of $0.10 with an average usage of $3.25. The standard deviation in the two states differs with the state of Georgia having the least standard deviation. This means that in Georgia more people consume fast foods and hence the business is more reliable there because of the smaller standard deviation compared to the state of California. (Singleton, 2008).

References

McDaniel, C., & Gates, R. H. (2006). Marketing research essentials. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley.

Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., & Day, G. S. (1998). Marketing research. New York: Wiley.

Singleton, J. (2008). A standard deviation. New York: Pillar Press.